There are many educational apps. Which are the best ones for elementary, middle and high school age students?
“Holy Shipt,” screamed Santa from his workshop. Mrs. Claus, within earshot and appalled, said, “Santa, language!”
“No, honey. Shipt is an app. They will deliver everything from food to drinks to toys. What is this world coming to? Next thing you know they won’t need me! Ho ho no!”
Mrs. Claus offered Santa some hot cocoa with extra marshmallows and encouraged him to sit down in his comfy chair. Rudolf, the emotionally intelligent reindeer, sat nearby with an eye on Santa hoping the cocoa would do the trick.
Some parents may now be feeling a lot like Santa. Most schools have gone digital, meaning every student is issued a laptop and most assignments are completed and submitted electronically. And with this relatively new way of schooling taking over – and here to stay – being proficient with learning management systems and apps is more important than ever.
But like most things in this digital world, some are better than others. Engage the Brain is here to help parents sift through the electronic world of educational apps and help offer some insights and guidance into the best ones for different age students.
Best apps for elementary age students
Khan Academy Kids is great for lower elementary age students. It has everything from math and English lessons to activities that can be printed. According to the website, the content was developed in collaboration with learning experts at Stanford and aligned with the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework and Common Core Standards.
Prodigy is another great site for learning both language arts and math. They boast a big goal: to make every student love learning. A nice feature of Prodigy is it allows parents to track the progress of their child, which can motivate children to see how they are progressing through the skills. Both the math and language arts activities are set in story mode which can make it feel like playing a video game.
ABCmouse.com is a subscription based site. It offers a variety of learning skills including reading and language arts, math, social studies, and even art. Your child will create an avatar and then work through the lessons, which allows parents to track progress. Children are motivated by earning rewards and tickets. And there are options to print activities for off-line practice.
Swift Playgrounds is an app that teaches younger children how to code. If you are raising a future Steve Jobs, this app will lead your child through the app development process. According to the site, your child needs no experience with coding and uses puzzles and challenges to teach the skills.
Write About This is a great creative writing app. It includes 175 pictures and over 375 prompts to spark creative writing in children. The app also allows parents to upload photos and add in their own prompts, making it almost endless with possibilities. Download it onto an iPad and encourage your child to write anytime anywhere.
Best Apps for middle school age students
Quizlet is a great site for studying a variety of material. Students can make digital flashcards – or search the vast library of already-prepared-cards – then play a series of different review games to help learn class material in a fun and engaging way. This app could easily be on the high school list as well.
Citizen Math, formerly known as Mathalicious, is a fantastic site for students to practice math problem solving. The goal of the site is to connect math to the real world, something that most middle school math students see little connection to. Most parents have heard the refrain, “When am I ever to going to use this?” Now you can point them here.
Duolingo boasts that it is a fun way to learn a foreign language. Set in a video game-like mode, students earn points and unlock rewards as they progress through the lessons. The app uses AI to better meet your child where they are and help them to learn the material, which includes learning to read, listen, and speak the language.
Grammaropolis comes to the rescue when students need a deep dive into grammar. In middle school, often teachers begin the (nasty) introduction to diagramming sentences and going way past nouns and verbs. Suddenly parts of speech begin dangling and modifying! For those parents old enough to remember, think School House Rock cartoons back on Saturday mornings as the site uses music videos and animated shorts to teach grammar concepts.
Cam Scanner allows your child to use their phone’s camera to scan a document and turn it into a PDF or any number of other formats. This is perfect for when your child is working on a research project because documents can be scanned then stored for later use. Or, if homework is forgotten – which we know never happens – your child can scan a classmate’s then have it to complete with no penalty for late work.
Best apps for high school age students
Google Docs is a must for high school students. Most teachers prefer it and it allows students to work collaboratively, in real time, with other classmates, which is a 21st century skill teachers ought to be emphasizing. Google docs also works seamlessly with its sister apps such Google Slides and Google Sheets. It also features Smart Compose, which allows the user to focus on their ideas and AI to suggest spelling and phrasing corrections.
The Homework App is an online version of a school planner. For whatever reason, many students – who need them the most! – refuse to use physical planners, where they can record homework assignments and upcoming tests and projects. This app allows students to quickly enter information and even color code it for added layers of organization. Students can set reminders and even upload photos if desired.
Kahoot is great study platform. While the app serves many age groups, high school students will enjoy the creative way it allows them to study information. Many teachers use Kahoot to help students practice skills both in and out of the classroom. Students can search the site for games and flashcards that are already made or they can create their own, then practice in a fun environment.
Mathway is a students’ and parents’ best friend. By high school, math can get challenging. When those pesky problems present themselves, students can enter a problem on the screen, using an easy-to-use keyboard. The site then prompts the student to ask how it would like the answer presented: graph, x or y intercepts, etc. then finally reveals the solution and steps to arrive at it. This app is a life saver for those late night homework sessions.
Insight Timer is perhaps the most important app on our list. It bills itself and the number one app for sleep, anxiety, and stress. Students are quite simply more stressed than ever and this app has both a free section and a premium section that is available with a subscription. Content includes featured speakers, guided and sleep meditations, soothing music, and even courses. Do your child (and yourself) a favor and check out this app.
Final thoughts
Schools’ and teachers’ presentation methods are changing. Even the youngest parents would not recognize what a typical classroom and learning environment looks like in a school today. Digital schools are now the norm, and students complete just about all their assignments on laptops or iPads. Even textbooks are loaded onto school-issued devices. Students need to be tech savvy in order to thrive in today’s schools. While some people may not like it, it is here to stay. This list of the best apps for each age group is an attempt to help parents sort through the clutter that exists in the digital space. Who knows, maybe even Santa will try an organizational app!
If your child struggles with learning in a digital environment or you have questions about technology and apps, please contact Jennifer Disch at Engage the Brain.