9 Apps Your Kids Can Use to Learn Math, Science, and Reading
By Tanni Haas
As kids continue to learn remotely from home, they may find it difficult to study on their own, away from their regular teachers and classmates. Luckily, many great study apps are available. Here’s a list of some of the very best ones. They’re all completely free, so download an app—or three!
Classify It! Apple App Store; ages 9–15. When it comes to learning biology, kids need to master the ability to categorize organisms. Developed by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Classify It! teaches kids how to sort and group animals based on shared characteristics, such as whether they’re amphibians, birds, fish, mammals, or reptiles. Kids can choose to get hints to help them along.
Cyberchase Shape Quest Apple App Store & Google Play; ages 6–9. Inspired by Cyberchase, the Emmy Award–winning math series on PBS Kids, this app teaches kids basic geometry, including the names of different shapes, spatial properties, and problem-solving.
Flashcards with Cram Apple App Store & Google Play; ages 6–18. When your kids sit down to study, flashcards are very useful tools. Flashcards with Cram gives them access to more than 80 million flashcards on all the major academic subjects. They can also create their own flashcards using text and images, and share them with classmates. They can go through entire sets of flashcards, hide the ones they’ve already mastered, or have the flashcards read out loud to them.
Khan Academy Kids Apple App Store & Google Play; ages 2–7. Developed in collaboration with experts at the Stanford University Graduate School of Education,
Khan Academy Kids is a comprehensive study aid for young kids. It covers math, reading, and writing as well as more general critical-thinking and problem-solving skills. It has lots of informative lessons, books, games, songs, and videos, as well as activities and exercises such as coloring, drawing, and storytelling. You can even monitor how well your kids are doing.
LitCharts Apple App Store & Google Play; ages 6–18. The modern-day, app version of CliffNotes is called LitCharts. The app has more than 1,000 guides to the books that are most commonly taught in schools across the country. The guides summarize major plotlines and offer detailed analyses of literary themes and symbols. If your kids need to write papers on specific books, they can search for quotes by theme, chapter, and even individual character and incorporate them into their papers.
My Study Life Apple App Store & Google Play; ages 6–18. If you want your kids to do well on their school assignments, it’s not enough that they know how to do them. They also need to submit their work on time! First task: Download My Study Life. This easy-to-use app lets them keep track of all their assignments, which will help them effectively manage their time. They can also use the app to set reminders for themselves, and get alerts before any particular project is due.
Photomath Apple App Store & Google Play; ages 12–18. Photomath is a great math study tool. All kids need to do is to take a picture of a math problem with their phones, and the app will show step-by-step instructions on how to solve it. It has a built-in calculator and can even understand hand-written math problems. Obviously, the kids should try to solve the problems themselves first and then check their answers against the app.
Read with Phonzy Apple App Store & Google Play; ages 3–5. This app is a great reading tool for the youngest kids in the house. Kids read out loud five simple sentences, which are accompanied by images to help them better understand what the sentences are about. Built-in voice recognition software gives kids feedback on whether or not they correctly pronounced the sentences. If they need extra help, they can tap a Help button to hear the narrator read the sentences out loud.
Snap&Read Universal Apple App Store; ages 6–18. While the kids are studying at home, there’ll be times when they’re assigned readings that are hard for them to understand. To help them, download Snap&Read Universal. The app can read difficult texts out loud; kids can take notes as they’re listening. They can also ask the app to edit complex texts so the sentence structure and vocabulary are simpler.
Tanni Haas, PhD, is a college communications professor.
As kids continue to learn remotely from home, they may find it difficult to study on their own, away from their regular teachers and classmates. Luckily, many great study apps are available. Here’s a list of some of the very best ones. They’re all completely free, so download an app—or three!
Classify It! Apple App Store; ages 9–15. When it comes to learning biology, kids need to master the ability to categorize organisms. Developed by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Classify It! teaches kids how to sort and group animals based on shared characteristics, such as whether they’re amphibians, birds, fish, mammals, or reptiles. Kids can choose to get hints to help them along.
Cyberchase Shape Quest Apple App Store & Google Play; ages 6–9. Inspired by Cyberchase, the Emmy Award–winning math series on PBS Kids, this app teaches kids basic geometry, including the names of different shapes, spatial properties, and problem-solving.
Flashcards with Cram Apple App Store & Google Play; ages 6–18. When your kids sit down to study, flashcards are very useful tools. Flashcards with Cram gives them access to more than 80 million flashcards on all the major academic subjects. They can also create their own flashcards using text and images, and share them with classmates. They can go through entire sets of flashcards, hide the ones they’ve already mastered, or have the flashcards read out loud to them.
Khan Academy Kids Apple App Store & Google Play; ages 2–7. Developed in collaboration with experts at the Stanford University Graduate School of Education,
Khan Academy Kids is a comprehensive study aid for young kids. It covers math, reading, and writing as well as more general critical-thinking and problem-solving skills. It has lots of informative lessons, books, games, songs, and videos, as well as activities and exercises such as coloring, drawing, and storytelling. You can even monitor how well your kids are doing.
LitCharts Apple App Store & Google Play; ages 6–18. The modern-day, app version of CliffNotes is called LitCharts. The app has more than 1,000 guides to the books that are most commonly taught in schools across the country. The guides summarize major plotlines and offer detailed analyses of literary themes and symbols. If your kids need to write papers on specific books, they can search for quotes by theme, chapter, and even individual character and incorporate them into their papers.
My Study Life Apple App Store & Google Play; ages 6–18. If you want your kids to do well on their school assignments, it’s not enough that they know how to do them. They also need to submit their work on time! First task: Download My Study Life. This easy-to-use app lets them keep track of all their assignments, which will help them effectively manage their time. They can also use the app to set reminders for themselves, and get alerts before any particular project is due.
Photomath Apple App Store & Google Play; ages 12–18. Photomath is a great math study tool. All kids need to do is to take a picture of a math problem with their phones, and the app will show step-by-step instructions on how to solve it. It has a built-in calculator and can even understand hand-written math problems. Obviously, the kids should try to solve the problems themselves first and then check their answers against the app.
Read with Phonzy Apple App Store & Google Play; ages 3–5. This app is a great reading tool for the youngest kids in the house. Kids read out loud five simple sentences, which are accompanied by images to help them better understand what the sentences are about. Built-in voice recognition software gives kids feedback on whether or not they correctly pronounced the sentences. If they need extra help, they can tap a Help button to hear the narrator read the sentences out loud.
Snap&Read Universal Apple App Store; ages 6–18. While the kids are studying at home, there’ll be times when they’re assigned readings that are hard for them to understand. To help them, download Snap&Read Universal. The app can read difficult texts out loud; kids can take notes as they’re listening. They can also ask the app to edit complex texts so the sentence structure and vocabulary are simpler.
Tanni Haas, PhD, is a college communications professor.
