Homework isn’t what it used to be. Students today are much more likely to power on a device than to crack open a textbook while sitting at the kitchen table, and heavy backpacks are passé as homework is increasingly completed online using mobile devices and apps.
It all makes supporting a child’s learning at home especially challenging for parents. Here are five teacher-recommended learning apps that will help parents help their child to keep up (or maybe even get ahead).
Best age: for all ages
App store rating: n/a (available online at brainrush.com)
“Of all the apps I’ve used with my class, BrainRush is the best,” says David Vaillancourt, a teacher at C.R. Marchant Middle School in Toronto. This platform allows teachers and students to play, create and share learning games. The use of “adaptive practice” ensures that students are challenged, but not overwhelmed by the games. Each question has a time limit, which helps students to focus.
“Students look forward to using BrainRush, and the games’ ability to adapt and respond to the individual student is a unique feature not available with a lot of ed-tech apps,” Vaillancourt says. “Parents find it a valuable resource for learning at home and they can easily monitor their children's’ progress.”
Best age: 7 years old
App store rating: 4 ½ out of 5
Traditional homework is often solitary and boring, but Sandra Chow, a Grade 4 teacher at Joyce Public School with the Toronto District School Board, says Google Slides changes all that. Chow’s students use the app to write journals, create digital books, solve math problems, create presentations and a long list of other things.
“Students easily share their assignments and work together on them, and teachers and peers can provide immediate feedback using the comments feature,” says Chow. “In Google Slides, student writing comes alive with visual images, videos and links to resources that they find. It becomes a dynamic and interactive experience. A 21st-century diary of what they enjoy.”
Tools 4 Students
Best age: students 5 to 14
App store rating: not yet rated
Jonathan So, a Grade 6 teacher with the Peel District School Board, finds Tools 4 Students invaluable for the students and parents he works with. The iPad app provides 25 different organizer templates to help students organize their thinking, take better notes while reading or prepare their thoughts before writing. So recommends Tools 4 Students for essays, research activities or whenever a student needs organizational help.
“Students can use the app independently and it helps them stay organized and focused,” he says. “My students love it.”
Best age: students 5 to 12 (and up)
App store rating: 4 ½ stars out of 5
Brian Aspinall, a Grade 7 and 8 teacher at Indian Creek Road public school in Chatham, Ont., recommends DragonBox Algebra as an engaging, problem-based method of helping students learn basic concepts such as variables and balancing equations.
“I’ve been using this app for years and students really enjoy learning with it,” he says.
Parents find DragonBox easy to use as it has very little set-up. Aspinall likes how students learn at their own pace and how the lessons provide an entry point to teach and discuss coding. Parents of younger students will also want to check out DragonBox Numbers ($9.99), an interesting way for children 4 to 8 years old to learn basic number concepts.
Best age: for all ages
App store rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Completing homework is particularly challenging for the more than 25 per cent of Ontario students for whom English isn’t their native language. That’s why Mario Addesa, a 21st century and Assistive Technology Resource teacher with the Toronto Catholic District School Board, recommends Google Translate to many of the families he works with.
“Google Translate helps students to complete their work by allowing them to read it in their first language. More importantly, it allows parents to participate in their child’s learning and offer support.”
Adessa says we often forget that parents want to help, but due to language barriers cannot. Google Translate helps bridge the gap between an English speaking school and a non-English speaking home.