10 Educational Apps for Kids To Help You Start The New School Year

This information is brought to you by Rug-Ed. All opinions are my own.

Raise your hand if you will have kids home for the next several weeks doing some kind of school. Things are changing like crazy and if your kids are doing in-person school, we never know how long that will last.

We have the option of VLA which is a Virtual Learning Academy. It’s an educational platform but we don’t have access to our county teachers. It’s being hosted by a platform we dont like so it’s not a good option.

Another option is NTI – Non-Traditional Instruction. This is basically like our kids are getting the same teachers and classes as if they were in the classroom but it’s all online with video teaching. The goal is in a few weeks they can leave NTI and go back into the classroom and it will be a seamless transition.

We didn’t like either of those options. The platform they are using for VLA has many bad reviews and our children have used it and didn’t like it.

And we don’t like NTI because they may say it’s time to go back into the classroom and we may not think it’s time for them to go back yet.

We don’t like all the inconsistencies and stress to try to figure out how our kids will be educated – so we are homeschooling for this school year.

We had originally thought we would use Sonlight homeschool curriculum to do school but because I work from home, I need them to have access to online classes.

We have decided to use PowerHomeschool.org for my 5th and 7th grader and Acellus Academy for my 10th grader because it is accredited and he can take AP classes and get a transcript.

I think we are all in this place of trying to figure out how to best educate our kids this school year. First, don’t stress! They will catch up. You can educate your kids at home.

Let me tell you a story…I am not a teacher!! I really didn’t like school, I just went for the social part. When we lived in Mexico we had to homeschool our kids because the closest school was going to make me be in the car for about 3 hours a day.

We bought the homeschool package from Sonlight and spent a couple of hours a day doing school. We did some in the morning and then bedtime stories were also part of homeschool.

I homeschooled my oldest from 1st – 4th grade and my middle child for Kindergarten and 1st. When we moved back to the US and they went to public school.

My oldest is now in 10th grade and has many AP classes. He has also received all As every quarter since he’s been in public school and tests above average.

My middle child was reading a few months into Kindergarten but my daughter didn’t start reading until a few months into 1st grade at a public school. He has also tested above average and received all As.

So take it from a mom who never in a million years planned on homeschooling because I didn’t have a clue what I was doing – you can do this!!

You may need to use an iPad to help supplement some of your children’s educational needs. So I am going to share 10 apps that you can use to help your kids master some of their skills. Plus it’s fun for them to use technology!

Top 10 Best Educational Apps For Your iPad

Duolingo

We love this app to help our kids with learning a new language. They can use it for just a few minutes per day. It uses a few techniques to help understand a new language. And there are a ton of languages to pick from!

Kahn Academy

Learn anything, for free: Thousands of interactive exercises, videos, and articles at your fingertips. Study math, science, economics, finance, grammar, history, government, politics, and much more.

Sharpen your skills: Practice exercises, quizzes, and tests with instant feedback and step-by-step hints. Follow along with what you’re learning in school, or practice at your own pace.

ABCya

For over ten years ABCya has been one of the most popular K-6+ educational gaming websites in the world! This app has over 300 games and activities and fresh content is added monthly. You can browse by grade level and al the content is organized by skill.

Prodigy – Kids Math Game

Your kids will love learning math with Prodigy! It is a no-cost math game where kids can earn prizes, go on quests and play with friends — all while learning math. You will love it because Prodigy math homework is disguised as a video-game

Teach Your Monster To Read

Teach Your Monster to Read is an award-winning phonics and reading game that’s helped millions of children learn to read.

Children create a monster and take it on a magical journey over three extensive games – meeting a host of colorful characters along the way and improving their reading skills as they progress.

Epic!

This is a great resource to give you kids access to books to read. They will have instant, unlimited access to 40,000 high-quality ebooks, audiobooks, learning videos, and quizzes. This app is best for kids 12 and under.

Quizlet

Quizlet is the easiest way to study, practice, and master what you’re learning. Create your own flashcards or choose from millions created by other students. It has fun games like race against the clock in a game of match and can help you get ready for your exams.

Seterra

Learning geography doesn’t have to be boring. Do it the easy way with Seterra! In no time, you could learn to locate every single country in the world on a map.

Seterra includes fun quizzes that help familiarize you with countries, capital cities, flags, rivers, lakes, and notable geological features.

NASA Visualization Explorer

This is the NASA Visualization Explorer, the coolest way to get stories about advanced space-based research delivered right to your iOS device.

You get a direct connection to NASA’s extraordinary fleet of research spacecraft, this app presents cutting edge research stories in an engaging and exciting format. See the Earth as you’ve never seen it before; travel to places otherwise unavailable to even the most intrepid explorers!

Swift Playgrounds

This is a pretty cool app that will help kids learn about coding. It was created by Apple. You solve interactive puzzles in the guided “Learn to Code” lessons to master the basics of coding, or experiment with a wide range of challenges that let you explore many unique coding experiences.

Bonus Tip

Kids with iPads can be scary! It’s a big investment. Make sure you have a case that will protect your iPad while your kid is using it to learn.

My recommendation is a Rug-Ed Case. We have one on our iPad and I know it gives us peace of mind when our daughter is using the iPad.

The Rug-Ed Case has a pop-out stand so we can set it on her desk and watch a lesson and still be able to take notes.

It really protects our iPad! The case is super sturdy and it protects it when it’s dropped on the floor and it also has a tempered glass screen protector.

An unprotected iPad feels so fragile and feels like it can slip out of my hand. The grips and handles on the Rug-Ed case make it easy and comfortable to hold on to while we are using the app.

It’s worth the investment at just $29.99 per case! Make sure you use code Dinero10 to save 10% on a case.

The cases are available for the following iPad devices

ProLock 10 – iPad 7th Gen 10.2″ (2019), iPad Air 3 10.5″ (2019), iPad Pro 10.5″ (2017)
ProLock 9.7 – iPad Air / Air 2 / Pro 9.7 / iPad 9.7 (2017) / 5th Gen (2017) / 6th Gen (2018)
ProLock Mini – iPad Mini 4 and Mini 5
ProLock 9.7 Handless – iPad Air / Air 2 / Pro 9.7 / iPad 9.7 (2017) / 5th Gen (2017) / 6th Gen (2018)

ProLOCK Case Highlights