My Top 3 Apps For Teaching Kids (Educational Technology: Shortened)

My Top 3 Applications/Tools

Get Epic

Epic is a digital library for kids. This App has a tremendous number of books covering different subjects. There are also videos, audiobooks, and my favorite feature which is the read-along or the read-to-me books. If you are a teacher with a school email, this app is completely free, and your students can use it at home between certain hours. If you are a parent, you do have to pay for it, but it’s inexpensive at around eleven dollars a month. The interface is easy. A toddler could pick this up quickly, so it’s user-friendly.

It can be used online or face-to-face. I use it with my home school students. I jump on Zoom with them, share my screen, and read books with them using the app. This app can be downloaded to a desktop, a phone, an Android, a tablet, or a Mac. Because the interface is so simple, you can put it on a tablet and hand it to a kid to read books. Plus, it’s children’s books only so you don’t have to worry about inappropriate content. Teachers can assign books for students to read or even videos to watch. This is also great if you don’t feel like doing a read-aloud. Read to me books will do the reading for you.

ABCYA

I just recently discovered this little gem but it’s educational games for kids. What I really like about this site is that it can suggest games based on common core standards which can be a plus for home school parents and teachers. It covers math, literacy, and science for grades Pre-k – 6th grade. Plus, it’s not just games but also contains interactive activities. Some are super simple like Make A Pizza which is good for introducing kids to computer skills such as using the mouse. Another great interactive activity is the Story Maker where kids can type up their story, save and print it. This one is fantastic for kindergartners. This App will work on desktops and any mobile device and is user-friendly with a simple interface.

The app is free with limitations. The free version does not have a full screen, has limited play on mobile (6 games per week), and can only be used on one device. If you play on a desktop, then kids can play unlimited games on the free plan. The paid version is also inexpensive with a family plan being about six dollars a month and a classroom plan around twenty-five dollars monthly.

Wondershare Filmora

This is not a kid app but is definitely a fun one for parents or teachers to use to create content for the little ones. Filmora is a video editing software. You can make amazing videos and never record a thing. This is such an amazing tool because it has endless options for things you can create. It gives the teacher or parent control over the content. This app can be downloaded to your phone and tablet and used on the go. It is compatible with Windows 10 and up as well as Mac. The downside is that the app is not free, but it is yet inexpensive costing about forty dollars a year. You do have to be cautious about the computer you use, as gaming computers seem to work best with the software. Be sure to check and see if the software is compatible with your PC.