Put these helpful apps on your child’s back-to-school list
Published: July 30, 2019
By: Tanni Haas
Most parents would rather their kids didn’t spend so much time on their phones. But when it comes to school work, those little electronic appendages can sometimes be a big help. From learning a language to keeping track of homework, from vocab to math, these six apps support your child’s studies whether in elementary, middle or high school.
As they’re heading back this month, encourage your kids to download as many of the apps as possible. They’re all available for free from Apple App Store or Google Play. Your kids are going to be on their phones anyway — they might as well use them to become better students.
Dictionary.com. If there’s one thing all kids need for their schoolwork, it’s a dictionary. Gone are the days of the paper-bound tome, so you’ll have a much easier time teaching them the joys of looking up and learning new words by having them download Dictionary.com. The largest dictionary app in English with more than 2 million definitions and synonyms, it has other useful features, such as voice search, for when they don’t know the correct spelling of a word, and audio pronunciations, which can teach how the words are pronounced.
Duolingo. Most schools across the country require students to learn a language other than English. Duolingo is a great supplement to the foreign language instruction your kids receive at school. The app, which offers lessons in more than 30 major languages, teaches them how to speak, read and write another language. The lessons can even turn language-learning into a kind of game-playing. They are divided into modules that practice specific skills, and allow students to assess how much they’ve learned as they go along or when they’ve completed a module.
Flashcards with Cram. When your kids sit down to study, one of the best study tools is flashcards. Flashcards with Cram lets them access more than 8 million flashcards on all the major school subjects. They can also create their own flashcards, using both text and images, and share those flashcards with study partners. They can go through entire sets of flashcards when they study for a test or exam, or hide flashcards they already know for more effective studying. They can also have the flashcard read out loud to them, which is useful if they’re auditory learners.
Homework App. Homework — the thing kids dread the most after a long day at school. But it doesn’t have to be that way. The award-winning Homework App makes it easy for them to stay on top of all of their assignments. They can view them by day, month and year, color code different subjects, take photos of assignments and break them down into many sub-tasks — and set reminders so they don’t end up submitting their work late.
Photomath. Some students find math easy, others very difficult. They’d all find Photomath a great study tool. All they need to do is take a picture of a math problem with their phones, and the app will automatically show step-by-step instructions on how to solve the problem. The app has a built-in calculator and can even understand hand-written math problems. Obviously, they should try to solve the problems themselves first and then check their answers against the app.
Moment – Screen Time Tracker. One of kids’ biggest distractions, especially when they’re doing homework, is the constant buzzing of their phones. If you want them to withstand the temptation to constantly check them, have them download Moment – Screen Time Tracker. This app lets them track how much time they spend on their phones every day and, more importantly, lets them set daily limits on their screen time. They can also set reminders that alert them when they’re getting close to the daily limit, and see how many times they pick up their phones every day and which apps they use the most. The answers can be very revealing!
