Montessori Numbers is designed to help build sound mathematical foundations in children aged 3-7 by using a concrete, visually significant material inspired from the Montessori methodology.  I love the visual association they used in the app: for 100, it is a 10×10 square; for ten, it is a rod with 10 units sticked together.  We used a toy called “Big Ten” when my son started learning numbers, it had similar visuals, and it helped him greatly in understanding the real meaning… Read more

Finally, an app ALL of my kids love!  What a joy as a parent to find a place, toy, activity, or game that all of your kids can enjoy together.  Well, I bring you an app the whole family can enjoy.  What makes Toy Story: Story Theater so great is everything your kids bring to it.  It requires you as a parent to be an audience member.  But getting to see the vastly different stories each child created is a happy… Read more

Does your child like games?  Would he/she be interested in make games of his/her own?  Hopscotch is a FREE app allowing kids to create their own games and animations.  Even if the child has not shown much interest in programing, it is still worth a try on this free app.  Why?  Here is the information on App Store Hopscotch introduction: “By the year 2020, there will be a projected 1.4 million computer jobs but only 400,000 Computer science students. Computer… Read more

If you have a child who likes baseball, you have to get these two apps when they are FREE now, for limited time.  Everyday Mathematics Baseball Multiplication 1-12 Facts and Everyday Mathematics Baseball Multiplication 1-6 Facts. They both are multiplication practice apps – as you can tell one is for numbers within 6, one is for numbers 6-12.  Although the app title says 1-12, while I played the game, I only get numbers between 6-12, so you do want to… Read more

In celebration of Mother’s Day, Oceanhouse Media has set their book app Just Me and My Mom FREE.  It is part of their Little Critter series by Mercer Mayer.  Little Critter was having a special day in the city with his mother.  They had all the fun together, including the things went unexpected: the train tickets were gone when the conductor came by, the little critter got caught by the museum guard while trying on some costumes … With all these… Read more

We have reviewed 3 book apps in the Human Body Detective (HBD) Series.  As I found out, HBD series also offers learning activities designed based on the apps, and the activities are aligned with school curriculum. Our reviewer Piwi Mama reviewed the materials. Today she is sharing her experience with the curriculum as part of our “Off Screen with App” features. The Human Body detectives (HBD) series tells stories of two sisters, Merinn and Pearl, as Human Body Detectives. After reading a… Read more

Today we are reviewing the third title in the Human Body Detective (HBD) series by Dr Heather Manley. During their first trip Merrin and Pearl visited the Digestive system.  It the 2nd book, they went through the Immune system. Today’s title is ‘A heart Pumping Adventure’.  Merrin is reading about the Heart in her science book and becomes concerned about her Dad’s health. Suddenly, she and her sister Pearl are traveling down a rushing red ‘river’ on something that looks like a red… Read more

Disney just launched a new app Disney Storytime.  It has 20 Disney Stories all in one app, the largest collection of Disney stories to-date.  Three stories come with the initial download, and parents can buy credits for more books.  The three initial stories are: Toy Story: Starry Night; Tangled: Rapunzel’s Story; and Monsters, Inc: Always Time for a Laugh. When kids open the app, they see their favorite characters on the top and book titles with pictures at the bottom. … Read more

A while ago I found a Free reading app Memetales.  It offers 15 free books upon registration and every week there will be a new free book for you.  While I went through some of the books, I found out they are all very well made kids books.  Most books are for kids 10 and younger.  I was so impressed with the app and their free offers, I asked Maya Bisineer, the founder and CEO at MeMeTales, give iGameMom’s readers an introduction of… Read more

My kids’ favorite apps to play have more than one game in them and so it is with More Trucks HD.  There are four different ways your child can play that focus on stacking, cause and effect, and finding solutions to problems.  Developing good hand-eye coordination often comes into play in this app as well. Monster Truck:  Kids can choose to play with a monster truck and unlock different monster trucks with the completion of each course.  They can collect… Read more

Learn with WordFriends is an educational game from WordWorld, the Emmy-winning show seen on PBS. It is a TV show teaching kids about words.  I found their website  have a lot great activity ideas helping young kids on their literacy.  In the app, kids will see the familiar characters if they’ve been watching the show.  They will play games building and discovering words with the 7 characters: Dog, Duck, Sheep, Ant, Bear, Pig and Frog.  There are three types of games… Read more

A while ago I introduced Mindsnacks Spanish app.   Now they have a kids vocabulary app with similar game settings. Different from typical ways that English is taught at school, the app groups words by context.  The first lesson is all about animal life, so you see the words: omnivore, carnivore, herbivore, fauna, scavenger, voracious.  Kids can jump into games right away, or they can choose to take the lesson first.  In the lesson, they will see a cute picture illustrating the meaning… Read more

Last week the Piwi kids and I reviewed the first title in the Human Body Detective (HBD) Series by Dr Heather Manley. The main characters are young sisters, Merinn and Pearl, ie. Human Body Detectives.  They show kids 6-12 year olds how their bodies work, and how they can stay healthy with good choices in nutrition and exercise.  In addition to the app, they also have a website and curriculum go with the apps.  We will have a review of the immune system curriculum posted soon.  Today we are sharing… Read more

Toontastic is an app teaching kids storytelling by letting them make their own animated movies. Different from StoryKit and Educreation, the little figures in the app have moving parts – you will not only see the boy move around, you will see his legs move while he is walking. Another big difference between Toontastic and StoryKit or Educreation is that Toontastic provides guideline of story telling, and does it in a very fun way. When a child is ready to create a… Read more