10 Best Apps for Homeschooling Parents

There are thousands of educational apps available for students, but what about apps for homeschooling moms and dads? Homeschooling parents have a lot to keep track of and the right app can make the days run much smoother.

The following ten apps are some of the most frequently recommended, highest rated, and most useful apps around. While some of these apps are specific to homeschooling, not all are. So, whether your child is homeschooled, in an online school, or attending a traditional brick-and-mortar school, these apps may be just what you need to keep organized in the coming year! (Hover over the app name in the headline to link to the app site.)

1. Homeschool Helper

This tablet app is consistently recommended as one of the best apps for homeschoolers. While there are a lot of lesson planning and tracking apps out there that will work for homeschoolers, this app was built specifically for them. Use it to plan lessons, track student progress, calculate grades, manage book lists, plan field trips, and keep track of tasks. That’s a lot of functionality for a small price tag. And they offer a 30 day free trial. Homeschool Helper is available for iPad, Kindle Fire, Nook, and Android Tablets.

2. K12 Attendance App

Of course, if your student is enrolled in a K12 online school, a lot of that planning work is already done for you, so you may not need all those lesson-planning features. The K12 Attendance App is parent-recommended for tracking and logging students’ attendance from anywhere. The app is available for free in the iTunes and Google Play app stores.

3. FamilyTime

Today, all parents must be concerned with how much time their kids are spending on digital devices and what they are seeing. The smart Family Time app allows you to set limits on screen time, including bedtime restrictions, and it even lets you lock your kids phones when they are supposed to be doing homework. It will also block other apps that you want your kids to stay away from. You can try it out with their three-day trial of their premium service.

4. Cozi

Cozi is a family calendar app and website that the whole family can use to stay organized. It includes a shared family calendar, to do lists, meal planning, shopping lists, and more, and can sync with every family member’s device so everyone is on the same page. Even if you already use Google Calendar to stay organized, Cozi can also sync with it, making it a good option for kids too young for Google accounts.

5. K12 Timed Reading Practice

This app from K12 helps kids in kindergarten through fourth grade practice their reading fluency and comprehension with short, timed stories. It also includes tools to track multiple readers’ words per minute and reading level. The K12 Timed Reading & Comprehension Practice app also includes comprehension questions and is available for Apple and Android devices for $3.99 (a free lite version is also available.)

6. Evernote

We included Evernote on our recommended-websites list for students, but it’s worth mentioning again as a great organization tool for homeschooling parents. The app makes it simple to collect and save files, notes, images, and more, and syncs with all your devices so you have what you need, wherever you are. This could include lesson plans, to do lists, notes and research, or student portfolios. For more ideas, check out this mom’s explanation of how she uses Evernote for homeschooling. It’s available for free for iOS and Android, and web-based and desktop versions are also available.

7. Chore Pad

The modern day version of a chore chart, Chore Pad lets you assign and track household tasks and motivate kids to complete them. Kids earn stars for a job well done, and can accumulate stars for rewards. While not strictly a homeschool app, the app certainly might help your days run more smoothly. It’s available for iPhone and iPad as well as on the web. For Android users, Reward My Chore offers similar functionality.

8. KindleiBooks, or Nook

An e-reader app is a must for your homeschooling device. Just load up all your favorite books for reading at home or on the go. Not sure where to start? Visit Project Gutenberg for more than 45,000 free classic books for children and adults.

9. Screen Time

In addition to monitoring kids’ use of digital devices, Screen Time encourages kids to learn positive media habits. Parents can set media allowances and kids can earn screen time through good behavior or chores. They can also trade media time for other activities or rewards. Even with educational apps and media, it’s important to encourage kids to put down the devices and spend time with other activities. This app could help motivate them to do so more willingly. The app is available for Apple devices for $2.99.

10. LifeTopix

LifeTopix is an incredibly detailed app with tools for managing 12 different aspects of life, including events and appointments, tasks, lists, health, shopping, finances, and yes, education. If you’d prefer to have one app for everything, instead of a ton of different apps that do one or two things each, this might be the app for you. The education portion would be useful for lesson planning and scheduling. It’s also compatible with other apps like Evernote and Dropbox. LifeTopix is currently only available for iOS and Mac, but Windows and Android versions are in the works.

 

Technical resources are essential for homeschooling parents. Try these apps and be sure to visit K12 for individual courses and other homeschooling resources. Or visit the K12 Find a School page to learn about the online schools near you that offer challenging and interactive curriculum and state-certified public school teachers.

What are your favorite apps for homeschooling? Leave a comment and tell us your recommendations.

 

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