Are You an Appschooler?

Appschooler [ap-skoo-ler] noun (via The Wired Homeschool)

1. a person who teaches with apps, especially a homeschooler.
2. a child who is homeschooled with apps

Using apps for schooling gives parents tons of flexibility. You can homeschool in the car (or minivan), away from home while on vacation, or even at the park. As the use of apps becomes more popular, homeschoolers will start relying on this method much more.

I admit, since the iPad arrived in our home, under the Christmas tree in 2010, our use of apps in homeschooling is now part of our weekly repertoire, and is especially useful when we're traveling.

There are, however, thousands of apps touted as "educational", so choosing wisely isn't an easy task! There are some websites to help, that review different apps that are used for education:

Apps for Homeschooling is a great resource, where you can read reviews and search by grade, age and subject to find potential apps for your homeschool.

But, as Kristen Chase noted, at Pioneer Woman Homeschooling, A Good App is Hard to Find. What I look for in apps is similar to those she listed - along with progressive levels of difficulty, how it fits in with our lesson plan and what features lend it well to including in our homeschool day.

I still do not use apps as the lesson, but rather as reinforcement of lessons. For example, as we go though US Geography, Stack the States helps Boo by reinforcing the shapes of the states, the capitols and neighboring states. It can't teach him geography, but it can and does help with remembering what he's learned. Times Tables Songs helped him practice his times tables (which is still ongoing) and Brain Pop offers something new each day, without me needing to schedule it in, it just happens.

Where I do use the iPad as the lesson is through the Netflix app, where documentaries are readily available and easy to schedule in as part of the weekly lesson plan. In addition, if we're traveling, I can also rent movies through the iTunes store, downloading onto the iPad so I don't need WiFi, nor do I need to use up our data plan for movies!