Apple published their pick of the best apps of year 2015. There are many great apps published this year. I went through Apple’s top apps, picked those that are educational and appropriate for kids. It is such a delight to go over these apps. Having been reviewing apps for year, it is exciting to see how the app industry has evolved overtime, and how educators are utilizing new technology in making learning fun and engaging. Here are the top educational… Read more

With the Thanksgiving holiday around the corner, we are putting together some movies for kids about the history of Thanksgiving holiday. It is so much more fun to learning history with movies, and it is something the whole family can enjoy and learn together. 6 Movies for kids about the History of Thanksgiving Holiday William Bradford: William Bradford was a signatory to the Mayflower Compact while aboard the Mayflower in 1620. As a peacemaker, he befriended the Native Americans who… Read more

How to teach history to kids? Everyone has his own preference. To me it has never worked well when the teachers just asked us to memorize the historical facts. Thinking back, the part of history lessons I still remember are the historical stories I learned. They could be a story told by a teacher, a historical movie or book I read, or some historical photos I saw. So when it comes to history lessons, I prefer first hand immersion experience… Read more

ROP is a fun game app. It is very easy, yet intriguing. It helps to enhance players visual and dimensional thinking capability. It is on free app of the week on Apple App Store, and it is also available on Google Play. It is a great way to help kids be familiar with different geometry shapes and key features of the shapes. When you start the app, you are given some “ropes” with nods on them, and a pattern to… Read more

If you have kids learning algebra and geometry, you will love this free app. Desmos is a graphing calculator, it can show you on the screen the graph based on the equation you wrote. The graph will change instantly if you make changes on the equation. I just love how intuitive it is to use. What is even better, it is free, as apps on Apple app store and Google Play. It is also available on their website if you… Read more

Do you like history? How about your kids? I like history. It gives us the opportunities to reflect on what happened before, helps us to appreciate what we have today, and to anticipate what may happen in the future. There are many fun ways to learn history. We shared 4 simulation game apps for kids to learn history, and today we share more apps for kids to learn history. Apps for Kids to Learn History Medelia is a free app… Read more

Phrasal verbs are interesting. A phrasal verb has two parts: a verb and an adverb or preposition or both. The meaning of the phrasal verb is usually different from the meaning of the verb in it. Some phrasal verbs are idioms, and many are informal ways of saying something that people use in their everyday conversation. Most kids learn phrasal verbs naturally by listening and talking everyday. Since the construction of phrasal verbs don’t follow grammars or any other rules… Read more

Have you visited Instructables.com? Every time I stopped at the site, I find something amazing and interesting. Even if I am not looking for something to make, I can always get cool creative ideas from the designs on the site. I am so glad to find out that they have free apps for Apple, Android and Windows devices. It just makes search for ideas a lot easier. If you have not used Instructable before, it is a website with tons… Read more

Recently my son has been using a YouTube channel for his American history study. I remember hearing about Crash Course, but never got the chance to actually check it out. From what my son was watching, I found the learning videos are really interesting, and decided to explore a little more. I am so glad I did, and it is a wonderful YouTube channel that covers a lot subjects. The content is great for school age kids, either for the… Read more

Would you like to have your child to learn Spanish? They all say it is better to start the 2nd language when kids are young. However, if you don’t speak the language yourself, it will be hard to teach your child the 2nd language at a young age. Signing up for a class? I don’t feel it is a good idea for young children. Kids need play, not another class. One solution I found is to read bilingual books for… Read more

Do you know why birds have white and dark meat? How about human? Can you prove that the Moon Landing isn’t fake? Do you know basketball teams with teammates touching each other more often perform better? I learned all these with the free app Curiosity. It gives 5 fun facts with pictures and videos everyday. If you want to, you can also use their website on your computer. I love how broad the topics are. You will find interesting topics… Read more

A while ago a teacher friend told me she lets her students do KenKen in the classroom and spoke very highly of the program. I checked it out, and agree it is a very helpful math game for kids of any age, as long as they have learned single digit addition. It not only develops kids’ math skills, but also logic thinking and concentration stamina. It is available on their website or via the free app. What is KenKen? It… Read more

Many kids in the US are learning Spanish as the 2nd language. I have been trying to collect books and reading resources for kids to read in both English and Spanish. They are great for both English speaking and Spanish speaking kids who are trying to study the other language. Here are what I found so far. I welcome any suggestions if you know a good digital resource for English and Spanish bilingual reading, such as apps, websites. 18 Bilingual… Read more

Now more and more kids are on devices that have internet access. Survey data have shown that majority children are receiving their first smart phones between the ages of 8 and 12. Even for kids who don’t have a smart phone, they have access to parents’ devices or family computers that have internet access, with social media apps that they can use. We have seen many articles about kids spending too much time on devices and posting irresponsible posts on… Read more