I remember the good old days. The days where you’d get in from school and head straight down to the park to play with your mates.
Computers were just making an appearance when I left education. We had one room of Acorn desktops to cater for the entire school’s ICT lessons, but that was it.
The Mega Drive had just burst onto the scene and it was by far the most advanced technology I had ever seen. In terms of educational value however, you could beat up a few bad guys but it couldn’t teach you anything of worth.
15 years later, things are a bit different. We’ve got games consoles coming out of our ears and desktop (and laptop) computers are barely recognisable from the primitive mother boards that powered the first affordable PCs.
Rather than being tools of distraction affecting the health and social interaction of our kids as the media likes to proclaim, these technologies are now being utilised to improve our children’s education.
With a bit of regulation, many parents are introducing technology to improve their child’s understanding of core subjects such as maths, science and English.
Not only that, it’s an introduction to some of the technologies that they’ll need to understand if they’re to keep up with an increasingly digital world.
The traditionalists among us may argue that there’s nothing better than one on one tutoring. I would have to agree.
However, how many of us could genuinely claim to have the same knowledge, understanding and communication skills as their child’s teachers?
This is just a supplement to that. Many of these technologies are created in conjunction with teachers and the syllabuses that they teach to respective year groups.
Here is a list of the best technologies that can help improve our children’s education, all catered specifically for certain ages.
Junior Brain Trainer series – Nintendo DS and 3DS
This series of games are created for 6-11 year olds and designed to improve maths, writing, spelling, problem-solving, reading, logic and geometry.
It teaches children in bite size portions, encouraging them to complete five different activities per day, rewarding them with a fun mini-game on completion of each level.
The games are structured to fit in with school studies and average attention spans so as not to get bored.
I can vouch for this one personally as our two girls, 5 and 7, play it religiously.
Squeebles Maths series – iPad app
I’ll be honest, I was a bit dubious about letting the kids loose on the iPad due to their penchant for breaking anything and everything.
Once I’d overcome my trepidation I set about researching the best educational apps for kids – I wasn’t even sure if such a thing existed at that point.
Turns out it does and there are loads of them! The most comprehensive one appeared to be Squeebles, which is an incentive-driven game where the kids have to complete maths puzzles in order to save the Squeebles from the Maths Monster.
I’ve ended up buying another iPad from a voucher website because it got to a point where I couldn’t get on the iPad myself, so the kids now have their own iPad full of educational apps.
I strongly recommend this one if you have an iPad that you’re happy to share with the kids.
Professor Layton series – Nintendo DS and 3DS
This game is primarily for adults, however, our two wanted to give it a try so we let them play it.
They weren’t great at it to start with and they’re still not now – but it seems like a great way to improve their problem-solving skills.
Spatial awareness and piecing together parts of a big jigsaw are major components of this game and they’re two qualities that may well help improve their respective IQs.
Plus, you can buy this ‘for the kids’ and play it as much as you like once they’ve gone to bed.
Warning: You may end up sending the kids to bed early to squeeze in more game time because it’s highly addictive!
Montessori Letter Sounds series – iPad app
These applications have been developed alongside the teachings of famed Italian educator and physician, Maria Montessori.
The one we’ve got at home is the French version as our eldest has just begun to learn French at school and has taken quite an interest.
The aspect that really sets this app apart from the rest is that it really focuses on teaching kids the pronunciation of words rather than focusing on the spelling.
This phonetic approach appears to suit the way in which children learn because our little one can pronounce French words far better than I can even at this age!
As the child’s French ability develops, the app gets a little more challenging and asks them to fill in missing letters and words.
It’s not fair of me to say definitively that this is the best kids’ French app around because it’s the only one I’ve bought, but it would take something extra special to beat this one.
Brain Challenge – PS3 and Xbox
If your partner is anything like me, they may own a Playstation 3 or an Xbox 360. You might think that it’s just a boy’s toy – it pretty much is – but these consoles can be utilised for more than just FIFA.
Brain Challenge is great because it allows up to four players, meaning that the whole family can play at once.
It’s suitable for ages 3+ and you can select different levels and difficulties based on the respective child’s age and ability.
The main focus of the game is maths and memory, but these elements are incorporated into fun games to keep the kids interested.
The best thing about this one, as well as the others mentioned, is that the kids barely realise that they’re learning because of the fun way in which each game has been developed.
It’s true to a certain extent that most of these consoles and gadgets have been developed with a male target audience in mind. However, the market is widening and more and more educational games are being developed specifically for kids.
Just type into Google “educational games for kids on -” followed by the console or tablet or your choice and you’ll find an abundance of fun learning games that will help your child’s education out of school.
Most of the time they don’t even realise that they’re learning!
February 26, 2013
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