App Schooling? Eight Great Apps that the Tinkels Love!



I'm going to tell you the truth. I had never thought about writing a blog post about our favorite learning apps for our phones and tablets until The TOS Review Crew invited all who wanted to write a post about learning apps for a blog round-up that they are doing. I don't know why I never thought about it, though, because we love app schooling! It may not be our major way of learning, but it is one of our favorite ways of learning.

Apps are perfect for on the go schooling and for downtimes during our regular learning. Since we use learning apps as a resource and not for our regular curriculum, I always try to choose ones that are geared to what the kids are interested in at the time. We are very delight directed learners anyway so this is a perfect fit. Here are the recent favorites of my two youngest along with a couple that I am enjoying as well.

Our middle child, Joshua, has been fascinated with geography for quite a few years now and, for several reasons, fell in love with Russian. One day a friend of ours was visiting. She and her husband had been missionaries in the Ukraine and were both fluent in Russian. As we were sitting in the yard chatting, Joshua came running out and began speaking to Karen in Russian. He didn't say a lot, it was only a word or phrase, but it was clearly Russian and Karen understood it clearly. We were all shocked! He ran back inside and came out a few minutes later with another phrase. After questioning him, we found that he was looking up Russian phrases on his tablet, remembering them, and then coming out to try them on Karen. So, a search for Russian language apps began. There really aren't that many Russian language apps that a kid can use but we did find a couple.

 

Russian Language (Bravolol) - The first is called Russian Language by Bravolol. I have to admit that I have never really used this app, but Joshua has and has learned a lot from it. It has common Russian words divided into different categories such as Eating, Emergency, Greetings, Shopping, etc. You can listen to the word as many times as you want and it also encourages you to record your own voice to compare.

Learn Russian  (babel yak) - This one is a bit more advanced than the Russian Language app from Bravolol. Learn Russian has actual lessons. They can be either audio or video lessons though I'm not quite sure what the difference is. I haven't talked to Joshua about this one much but I know he has used it and likes it. He is now s-l-o-w-l-y working his way through an online college Russian class so he hasn't used this one in a while.





I mentioned above that Joshua also loves geography. So a search was begun for a couple of good geography apps. Unlike the Russian apps which are few and far between, there are a ton of Geography apps. We have tried out quite a few and these are our favorites.

World Geography (Tsegai Corp) - Gives you information on almost anything you can think of about any country. Joshua was even fascinated that you can listen to the national anthems of each country using this app. He has sat for hours playing with this one. This one is great.

Geography Master Quiz (Primestar) - Is an app that quizzes you on different aspects about a country. You can take a quiz on flags, capitals, identifying a country and more. Joshua's favorite is the flags. He is a whiz at that and can identify almost any flag from around the world.

 





Jacob, on the other hand, loves animals and I didn't want him to be left out so I waded through the dozens, if not hundreds, of animal apps that can be found for android phones. Here are some of the ones that he really likes.

Animal World (Absologix) - Animal World is a really neat app that divides the animals into categories and then, in each category, shows the name and picture. That is perfect for Joshua since he can't read very well. Once you click on the picture it gives a brief description of the animal and then gives you a short audio clip of what the animal sounds like. When no one is around he loves to listen to the animal sounds. When I am around I also read the brief description to him.

Animals (Squalala Team) - Also divides the animals into categories. After you click on the category, though, it gives the name of a particular animal, then shows three pictures and you are to choose the right one. We aren't talking about showing three totally unrelated animals like a lion, monkey and elephant, though. With this game it shows three different types of monkeys and wants you to pick a specific type. It might show you an orangutan, chimpanzee and a howler monkey and want you to pick which one is the orangutan. It's very challenging.



Not to be outdone, Big Daddy (me) had to download a couple of apps for himself. I really try not to play frivolous games, although I do have a couple downloaded onto my phone. Instead, I try to choose games that may be fun but also stretch my mind. Here are two of my favorites.

Duolingo (Duolingo) - I took Spanish in high school and loved it. Unfortunately, since I didn't use it a lot, I forgot much of it. A couple of years ago I found Duolingo. It is a fantastic app where you can chose between several different languages. I begins with very basic words and then, as you go along, progresses you to more complex phrases and sentences. This isn't a one or two weeks and you are done kind of thing, either. It may take a couple of years for you to completely learn each language depending on how quickly you work your way through. Each lesson is about 20 questions. They will introduce a category of words such as foods. At first they may just show you a few pictures, say the word, and then have you choose the correct picture. Then, though, they progress to you having to right the word or translate the word both individually and in sentences. This is no simple elementary course, this can be difficult. I have learned a lot.

Word Chums  (PeopleFun) - Okay, I know this really isn't an educational app, however, it does stretch your brain. Word Chums is a lot like the game scrabble so in a way it is educational. You have to know how to spell, and you learn a lot of complex words in the process. I have played in online Word Chum tournaments and am currently in a Word Chums league.

Well, there you have it! Our eight favorite learning apps for android. There are a lot of other TOS Review Crew members that also shared there favorite learning apps. To find out all of their choices click on the banner below. Happy homeschooling!

Year Round Homeschooling - Sometimes It's a Necessity - How the Tinkels Do It - Part 2



Yesterday, in Year Round Homeschooling - Sometimes It's a Necessity - How the Tinkels Do It - Part 1, I talked about why we chose to homeschool year round, and three things that we do to make year round homeschooling both possible and fun for our family. The three things that I mentioned in part 1 were:

1. We make sure we do something every day no matter how small.
2. We try make use of every possible moment and turn it into a learning activity or mini field trip.
3. We talk about current events and subjects of interest a lot in our home.

Today I'm going to elaborate on three more things that we do and wrap it up with a few closing comments.



Since, as full time missionaries, we travel quite a bit, we try to include educational things while we travel. So, today's three items are going to talk about things we do on the road, however, the first item listed is also something that can be done at home. Here they are.

• We always read to our kids. - We, of course, read at home, but we especially read when we are traveling. Traveling in the car can be an excellent time to teach many things such as map reading skills and geography, but it is also a great time to catch up on regular reading. I remember one time when we were using Sonlight History with John Allen. Sonlight uses a literature approach to learning history. Instead of reading a dry, boring textbook, they read good historical novels. Some are on grade level and some are "read alouds" that the parent reads to the child. On one trip I grabbed one of the above level read aloud books and used the time traveling to read to the boys. They loved it as did Sarah and her mom who was traveling with us at the time. They were just as excited to learn what happened next as the kids were. On another occasion we used books on CD with the boys. The series we were listening that time was "Hank the Cowdog". The author is the one who records the book on CD and he uses all kinds of funny voices for each character. Again the entire family loved it.
• We always use our travel times as educational times. - Many children can't handle long road trips but that is especially true with kids on the autism spectrum. Traveling for hours and hours on end is just not the best thing to do with them. So, we try to break up our travel days with a lot of stops and even add days so that we can stop at a museum or historic spot along the way. We have enjoyed a lot of those type things as a family. We have explored the Blue Ridge Parkway, gone to museums, visited zoos, stopped at botanical gardens and more as extra things while we travel.
• We also try to make the times at our destinations a learning experience by doing fun but educational things while we are there. Whether it be attending a mission's conference, on a business trip, or just visiting my sister, we always do something that is enriching. We take a day to visit an interesting site or do something different. Perhaps there is a unique restaurant or store nearby. I recall a business trip to Kansas City when Sarah and the kids joined me. We looked up a very unique restaurant where your food was delivered to you by a train on a track. During that trip we also visited the St. Louis Arch. When we visit my sister we always try to take a day trip to visit a historic site, the beach (which believe me is a learning experience for these Tennessee kids) or something else. There is one store, another humongous grocery store, that we always go to when visiting my sister. In her area of New Jersey, there are many international folks and this store has a huge international food section. We always buy a new snack or drink from another culture to try. Many times we find places that go along with our kid's interest at that time. On one trip to Canada Joshua desperately wanted to see the CN Tower in Toronto so we stopped in downtown Toronto (a real adventure for we country folk) to view this amazing building. Traveling, even on a business trip with the kids tagging along, can be fun and adventurous if planned correctly.

Remember, real education is a lot more than just book learning. If you read my series on unschooling, then you know that I don't all-out completely agree with that philosophy. I do feel that for some kids a traditional style homeschool is valuable. However, I also agree that there are some children that thrive by being able to explore and research areas of interest on there own. I also agree that most children learn better by using all of their senses, not just the senses of seeing and hearing that are the main ones used in a traditional school. That is why we utilize a lot of  "field trip" type activities in our homeschool. Don't be afraid to count unusual things such as summer camp and travel as school activities. They are just as valuable as sticking a child's nose into some dry and boring textbook or doing another worksheet. Many families began homeschooling for that very reason. They realized that the traditional classroom setting wasn't always working for kids and they wanted to do something different.

I'm not saying to totally abandon the curriculum that you are using. What I am saying is that if you find yourself stressing over getting everything done in 180 school days then consider a different way of doing things. When you homeschool year round, instead of having 180 days to complete a school year, you have 365 days! Just do what you can each day and use each day to your advantage. Look for a learning opportunity in everything that you do. Don't stress and have fun learning!

Year Round Homeschooling - Sometimes It's a Necessity - How the Tinkels Do It - Part 1



I used to stress over schooling. When our oldest, John Allen, was younger, I was always on a strict schedule. We started homeschooling around 9am at the kitchen table and worked until we were done. He did great. He was that type of learner.

Then, Joshua came along. Joshua is not someone who I can force into a schedule. Being on the autism spectrum, maybe I should try harder, as spectrum kids really need a schedule, but that just doesn't work for us. Some things can and need to be scheduled for him, but school is not one of them. We need to watch and wait for the best learning time and environment. As I mentioned in my two part series, Oh No! Could We Actually Be...*Gasp*...Unschoolers?!?, we try to use the things that our children are interested in to our advantage when we homeschool. For example, when Joshua was fascinated with football, we used football a lot in our homeschooling. From math to reading, it was about football. Joshua thrives when we do that. But I use to stress about whether we were getting it all in or not.

Jacob is a mixture of John Allen and Joshua. We can sit him down to do work and he is usually okay. When he has had enough, though, we know it is time to put away the books and not do anymore for the time being. So again I used to stress.

Because of their different learning styles and schedules, although we work with our kids every day, we can't always fit everything in. Our schedule as missionaries also necessitates us taking days off here and there. So, a few years ago, we decided to be more of a year round school. It allows us to spread things out more and enjoy our learning time. It's relieved a lot of my stress!

Don't get me wrong, although we homeschool during the summer, we still allow them to enjoy the usual summer activities, we just use those activities to our advantage. We still do some regular academic subjects, although not as many, and we purposely choose fun summer activities in our learning. Warmer weather is the perfect time to go to the park and explore nature or take local field trips to museums and historic spots. Even traveling in the car and going on vacations can be used and counted for homeschool. I'll talk more about those tomorrow, but for now here are some things that we try to do on a consistent basis in our year round homeschool.

 



• Do something academic every day. - Even if it just one subject, we do it. I'm not talking about regular homeschooling days, I'm talking about days when life is busy and we can't pull it all together. When that happens, we at least do something. We might assign Joshua to read a chapter in a book, work in his geography book, or spend 30 minutes with one of his Russian language apps on his tablet. John Allen might need to do a few lessons in math or one worksheet of Latin. Jacob might read a story that is on his reading level or work on a math sheet. Whatever it is, it is usually something that they can do fairly independently and doesn't require a lot of explanation from me or Sarah.
• Make everything a field trip. - When we have to take the boys with us to run errands we try to make everything a learning experience. I remember a day recently when we were in Knoxville buying them shoes. Since all three of my boys are blessed with one leg shorter than the other, we have to buy special shoes for them and then have inserts made for them. The shoe buying is an adventure in itself, but after we bought the shoes, we went to one of those humongous grocery stores - the kind that we don't see around where we live. The kids loved sampling different spreads and crackers, looking at the huge circles of cheese and the fish on ice, and buying international snacks that they aren't use to eating. Everything was fascinating and was always accompanied  by many questions and  discussion. We try to do this type of thing every where we go. Make life interesting.
• Talk a lot about current events or things that we are interested in. - In this day and age, kids cannot escape hearing about things going on in our world. Information is everywhere. It's on 24 hour news channels, the internet, newspapers, magazines, etc. We always try to discuss the news of the day with the boys. We also discuss things that we are interested in now or that we were interested in in the past. Just telling an old story about yourself can bring about a lively question and answer session and discussion.

Let's recap what we have talked about so far. Always try to do something academic every day, even if it is little. Try to make even humdrum errands into an exciting field trip. Use present day news and interests to your advantage by discussing them with your kids.

Tomorrow we'll talk about three more things that you can do with your kids to enrich their learning and make your homeschool into a year round learning experience.

Click here to get to part 2!