This is the second part of our three part series (see part one) sharing our educational app recommendations for summer. Even though the traditional school year has ended, learning can continue year round. In fact, summer is a great time to practice skills gained from the previous school year, build a life-long love of reading and research and explore areas of personal interest.
BridgingApps has created a list of our favorite must-have educational apps for summer fun and learning. These apps are geared towards learners ages 8-12, have been trialed with children of various abilities and reviewed by professional educators and therapists. All of the apps listed below are educational, engaging and fun. Click the links for the full review information and links to download.
Kindle FREE The Kindle app gives users the ability to read Kindle books, newspapers, magazines, textbooks and PDF’s on their mobile device. The interface is beautiful and user friendly. This is a popular reading app due to its accessibility to over 1.5 million books and numerous features. The Kindle app provides many learning opportunities for users with special needs including visual formatting, text-to-speech, convenience, organization and a dictionary feature.
Click on the link below for full review:
http://bridgingapps.org/app/?id=302584613
Khan Academy FREE
Khan Academy is a comprehensive iOS app that allows ALL students to learn almost anything free. The app has a growing library of over 4,200 educational videos and articles. Topics include K-12 math, science, humanities, history, civics and finance. Khan Academy app provides access to all the videos, articles to read, the ability to track progress, download videos to watch offline and subtitles. Along with the Khan Academy app, we highly suggest users create an online account and engage in the knowledge map.
Click on the link below for full review:
http://bridgingapps.org/app/?id=469863705
SkyView® Free – Explore the Universe FREE
Skyview is an astrology app that turns mobile devices into a virtual telescope. It uses your location to overlay your view of the sky onto your camera view. Skyview locates planets, stars, constellations, and a few of the brightest satellites that orbit the earth. This highly engaging app makes stargazing interactive and educational.
Click on the link below for full review:
http://bridgingapps.org/app/?id=413936865
Hopscotch FREE
Hopscotch is an iPad app that teaches problem solving, critical thinking, and the fundamentals of computer programing. This app lets kids drag and drop blocks of code to create their own programs. Users can create games, stories, animations, interactive art and apps. The Hopscotch app promotes STEM education (science, technology, engineering and math) in a fun way. Hopscotch gives children the opportunity to use their natural creativity to make digital stuff with easy-to-use controls and colorful characters.
Click on the link below for full review:
http://bridgingapps.org/app/?id=617098629
Toontastic FREE
Toontastic is an app that makes learning the parts of a story not only fun but also interactive and creative. The app provides the user clear simple directions with reinforcement. The app first introduces the 5 parts of a story: Setting, Conflict, Challenge, Climax and Resolution. You are guided verbally through each section. You can use the sets and characters provided or you can make your own. In between the story parts, you can add musical transitions based upon the theme of your story. This is an opportunity for students to practice creative writing using organizational tools to help the student write.
Click on the link below for full review:
http://bridgingapps.org/app/?id=404693282
BrainPOP Featured Movie FREE
BrainPOP is a classic web based program. They have created an app with a featured movie of the day. This app can be helpful for all ages and many developmental levels. It is animated with the two famous BrainPOP characters: Moby a robot and Tim a human being. The app allows students to learn how to take turns and answer multiple-choice questions.
Click on the link below for full review:
http://bridgingapps.org/app/?id=364894352
Mad Libs FREE
Mad Libs is a super fun app that aligns with 3rd Grade Common Core Standards. Students make up silly stories by filling in sentence blanks with nouns, adjectives, verbs and other word types while teaching grammar, sentence structure, parts of speech and vocabulary. Words can also be added by voice and you can use your camera or photos from your camera roll to add an image to your story. Users of all ages enjoy playing this app and it is great for playing alone or with friends.
Click on the link below for full review:
http://bridgingapps.org/app/?id=326885152
Cursive Writing $.99
Cursive Writing is a basic cursive handwriting app that is easy to use. We have used this app with students who are trying to perfect a cursive letter in their name. A common handwriting goal is for students to be able to write their signature, as this is important for signing documents.
Click on the link below for full review:
http://bridgingapps.org/app/?id=515944679
Stack The States $.99
Stack the States is a great resource for teaching United States geography and aligns with 3rd and 4th Grade Common Core Standards. It also teaches and quizzes users on the states and their shapes, neighbors, landmarks, capital cities, flags and other geographical facts. The state images are cute with their big googly eyes and silly expressions. Stack the States is addicting and fun for all children.
Click on the link below for full review:
http://bridgingapps.org/app/?id=381342267
iDiary for Kids: journaling platform for writing & drawing $1.99
iDiary for Kids is a journaling app for children that aligns with Common Core Writing Standards. It enables them to write creative personal journal entries, add cute stickers, upload photos and draw pictures. The graphics are kid-friendly and the interface is simple and easy to use. We used this app with students with dysgraphia, ADD and autism spectrum disorder. Students who normally struggle with putting ideas and words on paper used the inspirational voiceover writing prompts and images to get their creative juices flowing. iDiary for Kids app is a fun and engaging alternative to traditional book journaling.
Click on the link below for full review:
http://bridgingapps.org/app/?id=424283623
Math Vs. Zombies $4.99
Math Vs. Zombies is an arcade-like game aligned with Common Core Standards where students can practice math skills from basic operations through multi-digit multiplication and division. The concept is original, creative and super fun. Parents and teachers will appreciate the detailed report card area of the app where they can track progress. Reports can be viewed by grade level, skill, or specific Common Core Standards.
Click on the link below for full review:
http://bridgingapps.org/app/?id=470896560
Kid in Story Book Maker $6.99
Kid in Story Book Maker is a unique app for making personalized social stories and is designed specifically for children who benefit from visual narratives. The app comes with a variety of social story templates and you can add your own. What sets this app apart from the other social stories apps is the ability to add a photo of your child into the provided scenes. By uploading a photo from the camera roll or taking a photo on the fly with the iPad camera, the child can place their image directly into a scene. The premade social stories come with text and prerecorded narration or you or the child can narrate the story.
Click on the link below for full review:
http://bridgingapps.org/app/?id=594403164#
To view this list in our App Search Tool click here: http://bridgingapps.org/list/?id=47516Â
Also, be sure to check out our Summer 2014 Educational App Recommendations for Ages 2-7.