We’re starting our 3rd week of homeschool today. I must say, I’m liking our second year sooooo much better. I enjoyed the first, but didn’t love the curriculum. This year we switched to a program (Sonlight) that has been less tedious and I can already tell that they kids and getting much more out of it, and having more fun. There are lots of super great books that we will be reading this year, I can’t wait.
Here’s the boys reading one of their novels. They just watched Nacho Libre the night before and had to wrestle on all of their “breaks”…it saved time to just leave the masks on.
I also added another child to the mix, Audrey just turned 5 and really wanted to try her hand at the public school Kindergarten. I love Kindergarten and thought it was a great idea…so, off she went!
Anyway, we’ve been using the iPad every single day for homeschool. If we read about giraffes in our science book, I’ll immediately pull out the iPad and we’ll watch YouTube video clips on giraffes. If we read about an island called Capri in our novel, I’ll pull out the iPad and we check out lots of pictures of Capri. (It’s beautiful!) It’s so light and easy to use, the internet pops up in just a second, and it has really added a whole new element to my kids education. Its helping to ignite the “passion” I am hoping for my kids to find in the things they learn about. I’m finding less of a need for tests and paperwork because their minds are so tuned in and interested in what we are learning. They love that, and so do I.
Besides using the iPad to teach, the kids are also allowed to use it on their school “breaks”, provided they are playing approved educational games. There really are some wonderful apps out there…my little Isabelle who just turned 3 has learned nearly every letter because of the games she plays. The boys are getting better at their multiplication tables, geography, and presidential history. Can’t complain about that!
Here are my favorite educational apps for kids:
Older Kids (…maybe 6 and up)
Math Ninja
Presidents vs. Aliens
Chess
Stack the Countries
Stack the States
Brain Pop
TanZen
Younger Kids (2 to 5)
AlphaTots
Abby Puzzle
Tally Tots
iWriteWords
Animals
Grover Book
Dr. Seuss Books
Babies
Gravitarium2
Falling Stars
Music Ball
PhonyPhone
So, there you go! I love it, you should get one. That’s all. Oh, and if you’re interested, I’ll share some of my favorite “Mommy Apps” soon!
P.S. Check out lots more of my favorites and homeschool or educational ideas! You can find them by clicking on the Categories tab at the top of the blog. A couple favorites: Favorite Educational Products for Kids, Round 1 and Favorite Educational Products for Kids, Round 2.
