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The best apps to aid home schooling

BY READERS DIGEST

5th Apr 2020 Life

The best apps to aid home schooling

Make life a little easier for yourself by enlisting the help of these four home teaching apps

Recent school closures mean that many parents’ minds have turned to helping their children keep on track with their education. Parents and guardians across the country have had to get to grips with becoming their children’s teachers in the space of a few days. Homeschooling your children can be a bewildering task but, with tech on your side, conquering the classroom is an achievable goal.  

Fortunately, some apps have started offering their services for free in light of school closures, to support teachers, parents and students alike as they try to continue in the wake of COVID-19 closures.  

Creating a classroom environment at home is a lot easier with the right tools by your side. So, if you are looking for ways to keep education entertaining, these are the apps for you.  

 

1. Babbel 

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Language learning can present a particular challenge to parents trying to take on the role of teacher. If you are not multilingual, then you may be in need of some digital help to kick-start your child’s language classes. Luckily, the language learning app Babbel is offering one month of its service for free to school pupils and students across the UK, in response to school closures during the COVID-19 outbreak.  

Babbel’s courses, which are available in 14 different languages, are developed by a team of more than 150 linguists and designed to give you the skills to hold a basic conversation in a new language after just a few hours of use.  

If your kids are learning a language as part of the curriculum, or just as a productive activity to pass the time whilst away from school, Babbel is a great tool to support their learning and get them talking quickly.  

 

2. Quizlet 

Quizlet is a digital learning platform and app, that offers over 350 million user-generated study sets, with content relating to almost every subject imaginable. Quizlet is free to use but has now opened up its Quizlet Teacher service to teachers for free until 30th June 2020. This allows teachers to compile study sets and create live study games for their classes, while keeping track of their students’ progress and where they need to focus their attention most.  

The app also allows students to use quizzes and flashcards to consolidate learning and make the most of their memory, by using repetition as a way to affirm learning. This gamified approach to education also provides a method of revision that is more interesting than reading from a textbook, which is vital when trying to make sure that studying from home doesn’t start to feel stale. 

 

3. Mentimeter  

Ensuring that children are actively participating in their learning is the best way to keep them interested in their schoolwork. Whether you are teaching your own kids or teaming up with other parents-turned-tutors, using Mentimeter is a great way to make remote learning a more active experience.  

Mentimeter encourages audience interaction through polls and quizzes, which users can respond to via Mentimeter’s smartphone app. In Denmark, teachers have used the app as part of a YouTube streamed class to keep kids motivated and on the ball. While remote studying can sometimes be very individualistic, Mentimeter brings an interactive element to the homeschool day that can help to keep kids on their toes.  

 

4. Kast 

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Homeschooling has the potential to be a lonely experience for some children, so using technology to keep in contact with friends can be a great help. The real-time video sharing platform Kast can be used to stay connected, even while studying in isolation. With parental supervision, Kast can be a great way for kids to stave off boredom and aid loneliness.  

Many students are using the app to foster a more collaborative approach to remote learning through virtual study groups. Parents and teachers can also set up channels to give courses or lessons remotely. Also, for those missing their school friends, Kast’s watch party and video chat functions also make it ideal as a break-time diversion, whether chatting online to friends or watching a film together to relax after a hard day of studying.  


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