We look at Kindles as reading tools. They aren't gaming devices. The children are allowed 15mins of game time on Saturday and Sunday. That's it. I have a thing against screen time entertainment. Call me strange. Or call my parents strange. Most of my growing up years were accomplished without a TV.
<Gasp!>
(My mom was addicted to soaps when she got saved, so they threw out the TV to help break the hold on her. It worked.)
(I call it brave to do something countercultural to achieve an end that pleases God.)
All that to say that I am wary of buffet-type technology. The value of a wholesome pure mind is so much greater to me than being thought normal by those around me. Thus, I have the web and videos disabled on the Blossoms' Kindles. And, they don't suffer for it. Instead, I hear things like, "Mama, I'm reading Little Men right now. I'm almost through it. I love it!"
or
"Mama, can you teach me to use my Bible app?" Days later, she remarks to me that she set up a Bible reading plan so she can read through the Bible in a year. Now that's making technology work productively for you in my opinion.
Being that I'm a hardcore flashcard homeschooler, I've found another way to make the Kindles work for us - the CardDroid Math Flashcard app. It's my favorite! Here are the high points:
- It was free! (PS - now that I see how much I use this app, this would be one of the few apps I would buy.)
- There are flashcards for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
- I can adjust it so the Blossom that has only learned 3 families of multiplication so far can practice only those families. I can adjust it to drill whatever math facts I want!
- I can time them.
- I can hide the clock or show the clock.
- I can give them as many or as few flashcards as I want.
- It saves my parameters so I don't have to pick a thousand options every day.
- It gives me a report instantaneously. I can see what they got wrong, how many times it took them to get it right and how long it took. (If your children KNOW that you will check those reports, they won't tap/click and guess their way through.)
- I can change the background. I can change the sound! I can customize, customize, customize!
- Best of all, it gets results. The Blossoms are repeatedly and consistently coming in under the time limit of the timed math drills their math curriculum assigns. Please note the words repeatedly and consistently.
This app sees daily use here and I'm such a firm believer in it, that I wanted to share it with you!Check it out! Download it for your kiddos today!
(It seems that it is available from the Amazon App Store and available for iPhone/ipad and android users too.)
PS - Don't you love our new to us leather couch? I'm so pleased with it! It's like a grownup version of a hand me down. Gotta love Craigslist!!!
