Tech Tools Crushing the Summer Slide
School will be out for summer vacation again soon. Will your family travel and explore new places or stay home to relax and recharge? No matter how your family decides to spend the break from school, if you are like many parents, you might worry about your child losing those valuable skills they have been working so hard to master, often referred to as the “summer slide”. We decided to dive into this and gather some apps that are fun and engaging while also reinforcing important reading, writing, math, and other school skills. Keep reading to learn more, and then enjoy watching your child crush that summer slide!
For practice with a variety of school skills including reading, writing, math, science, music, art, and more, check out the LingoKids – Play and Learn app, available for both Android and Apple devices, or Starfall.com, a trusted application for teaching and practicing school skills that is available as a web application as well as for Android and Apple devices. Another great option for practicing skills that will be appealing for your children if they watch cartoons on PBS, is PBS KIDS Games. This app is fun for many ages and features familiar characters like Daniel Tiger, the Wild Kratts, Caillou, and more and is available for Android and Apple mobile devices as well as a web application. For handwriting, how about Writing Wizard- Handwriting or Cursive Letters Writing Wizard. Both of these are available for Android and Apple devices and are free to download with users being able to unlock all of their content in each app for a one-time purchase price of $4.99.
A great way to encourage creative writing skills during the summer break, that the whole family can take part in, is to take pictures while on vacation and use them later to create journals or short stories about the family’s adventures. This is also a common activity for teachers to plan for the first week of school, so having your child think through these types of exercises while on vacation gives them an advantage when they return to school. To save the pictures and write quick notes or captions about them for building a story later, use a built-in app on your smartphone or tablet like Google Docs or the Notes app.
Lastly, because we love helping families stay mentally and physically healthy, we offer you our FREE Wellness with Brittany Series on our YouTube channel. The whole family can get involved in learning how to stretch and prepare for the day with Wake Up Stretches and how to unwind with Evening Stretches after a long day of traveling or sightseeing. These are great because you can watch them anywhere you can access the internet and no special equipment is needed!
We hope these apps, tech tips, and videos spark some creativity and fun for your family while also helping your child be ready to tackle the new school year after the summer break.
LingoKids – Play and Learn
By: Monkimun Inc
Explore 1200+ learning activities with more 650+ objectives across subjects—including math, reading and literacy, science, engineering, technology, art, music, and more. At their own pace, kids can progress through a curated STEM curriculum including science, tech, engineering, arts, and math through engaging games, quizzes, digital books, videos, and songs.
Free • Offers In-App Purchases
Starfall
By: Starfall Education
Users can join Zac the Rat and his friends on an exciting learning journey, starting with the ABCs and 123s and advancing up to grade 3 grammar and mathematics. Starfall’s playful open format intuitively guides children through sequential learning guides children through sequential learning objectives for reading, math, art, music, and social subjects like kindness and caring.
Free • Offers In-App Purchases
PBS KIDS Games
By: PBS KIDS
PBS KIDS Games makes learning fun and safe with over 250 educational games from your child’s favorite shows. Play games with Daniel Tiger, Wild Kratts, Rosie’s Rules, and more! Play hundreds of free educational games designed for your child and watch as they learn with their favorite PBS characters.
Free
Writing Wizard- Handwriting
By: L’Escapadou
Writing Wizard is designed to help every child learn how to trace letters, numbers, and words through a fun system carefully designed to maintain motivation. Parents can customize by creating word lists and adjusting settings like letter size, difficulty level, and more to fit their child’s individual needs. Also, we love that for a one-time purchase of $4.99 users can unlock all of the content without worrying about on-going subscription costs.
Apple – Free • Offers In-App Purchases / Google Play – $4.99 • Offers In-App Purchases
Cursive Letters Writing Wizard
By: L’Escapadou
Cursive Letters Writing Wizard was created to show and enforce how to trace and learn to write cursive letters. Parents can customize by creating word lists and adjusting settings like letter size, difficulty level, and more to fit their child’s individual needs. Also, we love that for a one-time purchase of $4.99 users can unlock all of the content without worrying about on-going subscription costs.
Free • Offers In-App Purchases
Check out BridgingApps App Search Tool to search for apps, create lists, and share them.
BridgingApps, a program of Easter Seals Greater Houston, is a community of parents, therapists, doctors and teachers who share information about using mobile devices with people who have special needs.
Amy Fuchs is the Program Manager at BridgingApps and a former special education teacher. Amy Barry is the Digital Marketing Lead at BridgingApps and mother of five children.
Cristen Reat is co-founder of BridgingApps and a mother who found success when using a mobile device with her younger son who has multiple disabilities. We share a passion for using mobile technology to enhance the lives of people of all ages with disabilities.
