Early childhood development is so important. Here are some great resources your child can learn from while they play games, watch videos, and more – all of them are free with your library card, and they all look great on a tablet or smartphone, as well as on a computer screen.
Miss Humblebee’s Academy – your kiddos can take interactive lessons in everything from social studies to music, and you can track their progress with weekly reports emailed directly to you. The site can even remind you to make regular check-ins on soft skills needed for kindergarten. What better way to prep your children for school than by letting them play with your iPad? They’re going to do it anyway – sneak in some learning!
PebbleGo and PebbleGo Next – With lessons that read themselves, you can encourage your kid’s love of dinosaurs, animals, science, social studies, or famous historical figures by setting them up on PebbleGo. Each category offers facts in a variety of categories that they can even use in school reports. The citations and an article version of the fact in question are included right in the app. PebbleGo Next is great for older kids or more advanced learners!
ABDO Zoom – Looking for more sources for your child’s first report? Check out ABDO Zoom, an interactive encyclopedia for beginning readers. Kids can navigate on their own with simple image-and-text pairings.
Scholastic Watch and Learn – If you’ve ever wished YouTube was more educational, check out Scholastic Watch and Learn! With videos on a huge variety of topics and included vocabulary prep, optional worksheets, and quick little quizzes at the end of every video, kids can learn while they watch TV. Videos are even available in Spanish!