There are literally hundreds of iPad apps and games that claim to teach toddlers and elementary school-aged children the basic of mathematics. Unfortunately, when it comes to combining educational content with engaging features, most of these offerings just don't add up. Here we present the top percent of great math apps, selected by teachers who like to show their work and how they arrived and their conclusions.
Motion Math: Hungry Fish (free)
This app teaches basic number value before increasing in complexity to teach number value within addition. The underwater world of Motion Math: Hungry Fish is a place where children can explore and learn the value of written numerals in an intuitive fashion before moving ahead to higher level math. Brightly colored sea life take focus in this otherwise muted underwater scene, where beautiful rays of light also inspire thinking in the science/nature category of early learning. Excellent visual and auditory tutorials empower young of math thinkers to begin the first levels of this game with complete autonomy. Increasing challenge levels offer plenty of room for growth but adults can control the ability level for new players.
As kids get a little older, we also recommend Motion Math Zoom.
Curated by Frances Judd
Jungle Time is a colorful app with jungle creatures and sounds that kids are sure to enjoy. It covers a wide range of time related skills, allows for students to take on tasks of increasing difficulty, and offers parents and teachers the ability to track progress. Using the settings menu, students can progress from hours down to minutes in various intervals (e.g. 15 minutes, 5 minutes, etc.). Students hear animal sounds after correct responses and are shown a celebratory reward screen after 5 consecutive correct answers.
Curated by Randy Rogers
There are three games contained within this app that help with directional perception- Explore, Vantage Point, and Make a Scene. Explore is a good introduction. Vantage Point asks you to choose from four cameras, each located on a different wall in a room that you are viewing from above, as you decide from which point of view a scene is shown. The Make a Scene challenge directs the player to reproduce a scene by manipulating the objects in the room. One very important feature is that it gives audio instructions - making this app accessible to a wide variety of age and ability levels.
Curated by Terri Eichholz
Mathboard ($4.99)
MathBoard is the most rigorous and comprehensive math app you can put in front of your student, without any of the classroom dread. It not only quizzes kids on the fundamentals, but explains how problems are solved at every level. As a parent, you'll appreciate the constant feedback and assessment reporting it provides. Using an elegant blackboard-inspired design, MathBoard invites kids to solve problems just as they would at the front of the classroom. Lessons are applicable to kindergartners and 5th graders alike.
Curated by Brad Spirrison
Cyberchase 3D Builder ($1.99)
One of the common core geometry standards requires students to create larger shapes from basic 2-D shapes. This app does exactly this in a fun, interactive manner. Kids are given a geometric net, and are asked to put it together so that it matches the "goal building." In higher levels, kids are asked to choose which 2-D figures make the "goal building." The interactive features and fun storyline make this app great! Kids are asked to help rebuild a town that has been accidentally reduced to 2-D shapes.
Curated By Leslie Morris