FROM THE YELLIN CENTER NEWSLETTER - SPRING 2015
The Best Learning Apps for Children
Photo credit Brad Flickinger via flickr
There are so many high-quality, educationally-sound learning apps available to parents and educators. However, when you scroll through the app store the sheer number of options can be overwhelming. It is often incredibly difficult to sort through all the reviews and descriptions to determine what app will meet your child’s specific needs. We have gathered together some of our favorite digital tools to build literacy and numeracy skills and hope it makes it easier to navigate the selection process
Math Apps
TODO MATH
Pre-K through second grade
TODO is a comprehensive early elementary math curriculum and app created by expert teachers and game designers and aligned with US and global math standards. The TODO math program includes a variety of games and activities that build skills such as counting, addition, subtraction, patterns, problem solving, time, multi-digit equations and money skills. Furthermore, TODO make clear that they have designed their program for students with learning differences and that they were mindful of the “inclusion of children with learning differences [during] the app design and development process. We have features that make our games playable for kids with working memory or visual processing issues, language delays or under-developed fine motor skills. We even have accessibility options for left-handed students and dyslexic students.”
Reading Apps
Learn with Homer
Ages 3-8
The Homer Method infuses the best research on how children learn to read, with high quality, engaging art and storytelling to create a program that supports children in becoming successful readers. The program is designed to be a sequential, step-by-step learning process where the child progresses at his or her own personalized pace and each new skill builds upon those previously mastered. The program starts with the basics of sounds and letters before moving on to words, ideas and knowledge.
Phonics: Fun on Farm
Ages 3-7
Phonics: Fun on the Farm is a comprehensive introductory phonics program that teaches children to read. Skills developed through this app are phoneme recognition, letter-sound relationships, letter writing, blending sounds to form words, spelling, and reading words and simple sentences. If your child likes Phonics: Fun on Farm, they might enjoy 22learn’s other apps that are designed to build other early learning skills. 22 learn also offers Alphabet Aquarium, Sight Words, Pre-K Basic Skills, Phonics Island and Letter Quiz.
Writing Apps
Outline Pro
High school and above
Outline Pro is an app that helps middle and high school students organize, outline and plan their writing. It follows the six traits of writing and guides students through the process of selecting a topic, crafting a thesis statement, developing an introduction, crafting body paragraphs and formulating a strong conclusion. The program has a friendly user experience and allows students to drag, drop and reorder their ideas and bullet points with a swipe of their finger. Furthermore, Outline pro will export their outline to their writing program or to a PDF, turning it into a full paper. Additionally, there are a number of template students can choose from to help guide their writing process and the program is able to track your sources for you making organization simple.
Gadzookery
All Ages
Gadzookery is a fun word game from the folks at Dictionary.com that can be played independently or with friends. The goal of the game is to build high quality sentences and phrases. The game allows you to set your word difficulty level and will also notify you if a word is spelled incorrectly. Playing this game targets the skills of sentence building, spelling and vocabulary acquisition.
App Suites
Originator Kids
Early Elementary
Originator kids creates a variety of beautiful educational apps. Each app is designed to be interactive and provide context to some of the abstract skills your child is learning. Their Endless suite of apps use the same characters and animations to teach a variety of skills. Your child may enjoy:
Math Apps
TODO MATH
Pre-K through second grade
TODO is a comprehensive early elementary math curriculum and app created by expert teachers and game designers and aligned with US and global math standards. The TODO math program includes a variety of games and activities that build skills such as counting, addition, subtraction, patterns, problem solving, time, multi-digit equations and money skills. Furthermore, TODO make clear that they have designed their program for students with learning differences and that they were mindful of the “inclusion of children with learning differences [during] the app design and development process. We have features that make our games playable for kids with working memory or visual processing issues, language delays or under-developed fine motor skills. We even have accessibility options for left-handed students and dyslexic students.”
Reading Apps
Learn with Homer
Ages 3-8
The Homer Method infuses the best research on how children learn to read, with high quality, engaging art and storytelling to create a program that supports children in becoming successful readers. The program is designed to be a sequential, step-by-step learning process where the child progresses at his or her own personalized pace and each new skill builds upon those previously mastered. The program starts with the basics of sounds and letters before moving on to words, ideas and knowledge.
Phonics: Fun on Farm
Ages 3-7
Phonics: Fun on the Farm is a comprehensive introductory phonics program that teaches children to read. Skills developed through this app are phoneme recognition, letter-sound relationships, letter writing, blending sounds to form words, spelling, and reading words and simple sentences. If your child likes Phonics: Fun on Farm, they might enjoy 22learn’s other apps that are designed to build other early learning skills. 22 learn also offers Alphabet Aquarium, Sight Words, Pre-K Basic Skills, Phonics Island and Letter Quiz.
Writing Apps
Outline Pro
High school and above
Outline Pro is an app that helps middle and high school students organize, outline and plan their writing. It follows the six traits of writing and guides students through the process of selecting a topic, crafting a thesis statement, developing an introduction, crafting body paragraphs and formulating a strong conclusion. The program has a friendly user experience and allows students to drag, drop and reorder their ideas and bullet points with a swipe of their finger. Furthermore, Outline pro will export their outline to their writing program or to a PDF, turning it into a full paper. Additionally, there are a number of template students can choose from to help guide their writing process and the program is able to track your sources for you making organization simple.
Gadzookery
All Ages
Gadzookery is a fun word game from the folks at Dictionary.com that can be played independently or with friends. The goal of the game is to build high quality sentences and phrases. The game allows you to set your word difficulty level and will also notify you if a word is spelled incorrectly. Playing this game targets the skills of sentence building, spelling and vocabulary acquisition.
App Suites
Originator Kids
Early Elementary
Originator kids creates a variety of beautiful educational apps. Each app is designed to be interactive and provide context to some of the abstract skills your child is learning. Their Endless suite of apps use the same characters and animations to teach a variety of skills. Your child may enjoy:
- Endless Wordplay builds early reading and spelling skills by teaching kids letter patterns and phonograms through rhyme.
- Endless Numbers builds early numeracy skills by working on number recognition, sequences and understanding quality. Short animations provide context for meaning for each number or number concept learned.
- Endless Reader builds sight words skills in young children. The app derives the sight words taught from the most commonly used words in school settings and children’s books. Each word taught is accompanied by an interactive word puzzle and a sentence puzzle. Memorable animations are infused to add meaning to the learning process. For example, the word “dog” animates into a barking dog.
- Endless Alphabet teaches the alphabet and builds vocabulary using animations and high quality illustrations to give context to the letter and word sounds and meanings. Of note, this app won the App store’s Best of 2013 award.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Renee Jordan, M.A. is a Learning Specialist at The Yellin Center for Mind, Brain, and Education. She earned her bachelor's degree from the University of Victoria, British Columbia, and her master’s degree in Special Education: Guidance and Rehabilitation from Columbia University's Teachers College. Before joining The Yellin Center, Renee was an elementary and middle school teacher in British Columbia.