With the smartphone becoming an inevitable part of our lives, it is necessary to harness it’s power in the homeschool classroom. Most children can spend a lot more time sitting on an app on the phone than they can when given a book to read. The multimedia nature of the app is what helps capture and retain the attention of the child.

The sounds, pictures and challenges allow the child to interact with the material much more intensely than what involves reading a paperback book. It makes sense that the homeschool parent should use this to their advantage. Specially with younger children who have a relatively short attention span. Here are some apps to start off with.

Counting & Addition Kids Games

It is part of the iLearnWith series of Android apps. It focuses on one specific concept and builds student’s skills through a variety of activities. It will allow your homeschool student to meet the expectations of the Common Core standards. Plus they have fun with a set of animated figures who take them through the concepts and activities that reinforce the learning.

Slice Fractions

This app is for slightly older children and will focus on teaching them fractions. It’s more like a game where they need to put in ice bits and rocks to clear the path for a Mastodon. It’s not teaching them the theory of fractions, but instead focuses on the conceptual knowledge enrichment.

Phonics Genius

As the name suggests this is an app that teaches the homeschool student phonetics. It has a flashcard concept that allows the child to identify the letter with the different sounds it can take up in different words. Every conceivable phonetic combination is presented to the child in an enjoyable manner. Great app for young readers.

World’s Worst Pet – Vocabulary

This app is designed for children in the seven to fourteen age group. It is in the form of a narrative that takes them through a digital adventure while introducing them to new words. There are a number of levels that the children can practice their vocabulary with in the app.