So many parents ask me for extra homework and I always try to encourage them to look for learning opportunities away from worksheets and drills. This is a collection of recommended apps for parents to use with their children. They will help to promote critical thinking skills and creativity as well as provide your child with essential skills for mathematical thinking and learning. You may need to guide your child and explore with them, but that only increases their value.
Create 3-D images on the iPad. You can import images, create a design, or use a template. Print, cut and fold into geometric shapes.
This is a fun app that promotes logic, mathematical thinking and problem solving capabilities. And it is as addictive as chocolates. There are over 400 challenges where the player must place the chocolates in the correct place in the chocolate box. The clues are there but logical thinking and problem solving skills are needed as well.
Create and manipulate a wide range of 3D shapes. Promote mathematical thinking, spatial awareness and an understanidng of volume. I use this with my students and highly recommend it.
Mancala is one of the oldest board games in the world and is played all over the planet. It is a favourite of my students during math games. And here is an app. This is a strategic game that will promote problem solving and logic skills.
The Tower of Hanoi game is a math puzzle the requires the player to move the disks from one peg to another. This game uses books instead of disks and has 400 levels. Encourage your child's problem-solving and reasoning skills with this game.
Play 3 dimensional Tic-Tac-Toe and develop spatial awareness, logic, reasoning and mathematical thinking skills. A challenging version of the very popular game we all have played.
This is an app that is based on a sliding block game. In this version, the red car needs to exit through the gate. There are 2500 challenges, all of which develop spatial awareness, logic, reasoning and mathematical thinking skills. This game is very popular with my students, my family and puzzle addicts of all ages.
Polymer is a logic or puzzle game where the player has to create shapes and slide them together. Promote your childs' mathematical logic, creativity and problem-solving skills with this challenging game.
Created by the National Council of the Teachers of Mathematics, this app Work against the Okta to pick cards that will add up to a certain sum. Can be made more difficult to include decimals. Promotes mathematical thinking, fluency and algebraic thinking
Navigate the Okta from top to bottom using addition, subtraction, multiplication or division. Promotes mathematical thinking and problem-solving skills. Created by Illuminations - the National Council of the Teachers of Mathematics.
This is another app developed by the National Council of the Teachers of Mathematics. Rescue the Oktas and develop counting skills and an understanding of grouping.
This app teaches and provides practice for algebraic concepts such as the preservation of equality and solving equations. There more than 20 lessons and practice questions (or your child can create their own and share with their friends).
Create geometric shapes and explore and change their properties by resizing, moving, rotating. Plot the shapes on a co-ordinate grid and explore concepts introduced in geometry. This is a great resource for the geometry/measurement units in math and I have used it with my Grade 6 class for studying polygons and my Grade 7s for circles. Transformations can be carried out and this reinforces spatial awareness and an understanding of a subject that is difficult to teach with paper and pencil.
This app can be used as a level or to measure the slope of objects both inside and out. Support mathematical thinking and measurement skills. Have your child measure the slopes and angles in the outside world and compare and contrast your results.
This app turns your device into a scrollable ruler that will extend over 1 meter (or four feet). Use for any measurement activities.
This will allow you to measure both the distance and the height of an object or building. Use this app to estimate and then solve distances in real-life situations and settings. This will help your child develop a deeper understanding of what a distance measurement actually is.
Use this app to measure the altitude of your current location. Use in Science as part of data collection - for instance, collecting data on different ecosystems. Use in Math for data collection and analysis.
Cardio Buddy measures your heart rate. The app works by measuring the variations of red in your face. It includes a comparison chart and tracks measurements over time. Use this as a data collection tool, as part of a Physical Education activity or in Life Sciences. It would lend itself to inquiry and experimentation with variables.
Use values place in a 4 x 4 array to reach target sums. There are different arrays and levels of difficulty. Promotes number sense and mathematical thinking. This is one of the challenges included in Math Doodles.
Math Doodles consists of challenges and puzzles that allow children to play with and explore mathematical concepts that will strengthen their math skills. What I like about this app is that the puzzles allow for mutliple answers - so logical thinking and reasoning skils are also strengthened. Great game based app.
The challenge here is to stack values into piles with specific target values. There are a wide range of options - from rings to dice to Roman numerals. Promotes mathematical thinking and fluency. This is one of the challenges included in Math Doodles.
An unknown square is a 3 by 3 array where all lines add up to the same value. Promotes mathematical thinking, fluency and algebraic thinking. This is one of the challenges included in Math Doodles.
This app promotes younger children's number sense with 5 activities that teach measurement. Time, weight, and volume are introduced. Students often enter the middle grades without a really good understanding of these measurements and reinforcement of these concepts in earlier grades is a good idea. While I am not a big fan of game-based learning, this does support an understanding of measurement concepts for pre-school to Grade 3 aged students.
This app has a large collection of math worksheets in all math areas to use with Grade 4 to 8 students. This developer has a large range of apps that provide worksheets for specific math concepts.
Not sure how to do the math? There's an app for that. Khan Academy has a wide range of videos that explain everything from adding to calculus. Students can watch, rewind and review.
I cannot recommend this math fluency program enough. Reflex math is an online program created by Explore Learning and costs $35 dollars a year for your child to use. They won't need to use it for more than a year. The program assesses your child's fluency on basic facts, tests, teaches and monitors their progress. The report section allows you to check their progress and usage and print milestone certificates. Built into the program are games that target your child's specific needs. Students can earn coins to spend in a store for items to personalize their avatar or treehouse. Great results with my students.
Number Line is an app that allows your child to place fractions, decimals and percentages on a number line in order. It promotes understanding of the concepts of fractions and reinforces number sense. As a Grade 7 teacher I can attest that this is the concept most difficult for my students to understand and master.