iPad and Trustworthiness

If you are a long-time reader of the blog then you know I am not really a fan of electronic gadgets as toys for my kids.  I have always believed that the best way to spend their time is to engage in recreation with things that remain inanimate until they put them in motion.

But I admit that I cannot totally keep my kids from playing with their electronic gadgets.  In our house during school days, iPads are played only on weekends.  And even then, it's not a play-all-day kind of thing.  I "encourage" them to play for an hour and take a break, and then they can play again after that, but always with a healthy amount of play time only.  Similar to excercise sets, one set = one hour. I am sure not everyone agrees with my way, and we all have different ways of parenting.  But this is what I want for my kids.:)

During summer, they have one-hour in the morning and another hour in the evening to play with electronics. I have discussed with all three of  them that this rule is meant to protect them.  I have witnessed kids of my friends wherein social media/ipads have acted as addictive substance which caused these kids to neglect other areas of their lives.

iPad App {Sketches}

a sketch done by my 13- y/o daughter

Do you have any rule on how your kids use electronics?

My kids are not that addicted to electronic gadgets, but I think when left to idleness they could easily get captivated by it. I monitor the use of their gadgets, and try to keep a suitable balance by encouraging them to finish a creative pursuit before they play with their iPads or X-box.

This is easier to keep an eye on when school is on; during summer and Christmas break, it takes an extra effort to keep them off electronics. I am lucky that I have dutiful kids who have been blessed with obedient hearts; as such they already know that the best way to spend their time is to engage in recreation with things that remain inanimate until they put them in motion - Lego, sketching, coloring, etc. I have spent years guiding them that this is the best kind of play.  But of course, initially they would compare with their friends and ask, "how come so-and-so gets to play with the iPad even during school days?" or "But so-and-so can play with the iPad the whole day during weekends!"  But because through the years I never gave in, they have accepted it fully now.

And so while we have, so far, only purchased one app for their iPad (Minecraft); nevertheless, I also understand that the iPad can be also used as a gadget for productivity with the right kind of apps. It's just a matter of looking for the right kind of app that my kids will be interested in.

During the last Christmas break, my daughter was able to make good use of her iPad by doing some amazing sketches using the app also called Sketches. 

Sketches is a FREE app, and is by far one of the best drawing app that we have come across.  It is fairly easy to navigate so even a child can finish a sketch in no time.

Here she draws a word art for the year 2014

 

 Her take on "us" girls

I think she already has summer on her mind with her sketches of the beach and ice-cream!

And this Japanese girl is my favorite sketch so far! I just love how dainty it looks. If you pay more attention, you will notice how she was able to create different textures within the artwork by using the simple technique of shading.  I have been drawing and painting with my kids every summer since they were this tall, and it makes my heart burst with affection to see that all those summer art lessons have not gone to waste!

If you have kids who are also inclined toward the arts, what iPad apps do they use to cultivate their interest?

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iPad Apps for the Tutor-Mom - Part 2

I'd like to update the list I made earlier by adding some more educational apps that I found helpful... because, yes, we STILL  review in the car, or while walking, or in the school swing, or at the poolside... yes, STILL anywhere except a proper study table!:)

Google Translate is one of the most-used apps by my oldest, especially when it comes to reading her Filipino comprehension stories.  Although it does not cover all the words in the Filipino vocabulary, my daughter loves it because it is comprehensive and handy.  It also accepts voice input and allows translation of a word or phrase into one of more than 50 languages.

 

My son loves Splash Math because of its modern interactive interface.  I love it because it is in line with the educational standard of the Singapore Math curriculum.  The app is designed to help reinforce math concepts in a spiral-based way that gradually increases in difficulty. Some of the covered topics include number sense (place value, order and comparison), addition, subtractions, multiplication, fractions, time, money, and more.

 

iTalk is among the best recording apps that I have tried.  Chinese is my Achilles' heel when it comes to tutor time.  You cannot imagine the stress I feel when my son has a Chinese conversational test coming up.  This app has since made it easier since I just ask my husband to record everything, and all my son has to do is hit "play."  Et voila!

 

The drills in Pinyin Trainer Ipad app is a big help to my kids when they need to catch up on their pinyin and tones.  There are a variety of question-and-answer settings to choose from to improve the kids' Chinese listening skills.




 
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iPad Apps for the Tutor-Mom

When my family first got the Ipad Christmas 2010, we used it mostly for games; thus, it would only come out on weekends.  Starting some nine months ago, I have discovered quite a number of apps that have been very useful for me as I help my kids review their lessons.  

With a lot of educational and productivity apps installed on our Ipad, it is now a gadget that I cannot live without.  Most of the educational apps are those that help me review my kids for their Chinese lessons, given the fact that I practically do not know anything pinyin, pinyin tones, and stroke orders.  

One of the kids is currently in the middle of the 3rd quarter exam, and another one just wrapped up a three-day national finals swim competition.  As you can see our schedule is crazy hectic... While I have been busy cheering by the poolside for the last couple of days, I also tried to keep myself productive by utilizing the small pockets of time in between to review the other one for the exam.  We just carried the Ipad with us, and took to a secluded spot for a few minutes to squeeze in some study time.  Classic case of hitting two birds with one stone.... I feel so happy and productive. (gives self a pat on the back!:) )

Here are some of my recommended apps:

 

HippoDICT Plus is a Chinese-English dictionary that seamlessly integrates online and offline resources in a clean, elegant, and a super-fast lookup engine.HippoDICT also offers flaschcard decks, a simple but powerful organization and learning tool that helps my kids master their Chinese vocabulary lessons. It also uses intelligent flash cards which only drill the kids on the words and phrases that they have trouble with, cutting down our study time.

 

 Pinyin Chart is an interactive Chinese pronounciation chart. All possible combination of sounds and tones in the Chinese language included, with option of a male/female audio. This app has been instrumental in teaching my kids pinyin- most especially since I couldn't differentiate the Chinese tones... even if my life depended on it. :)

iFiles is a file manager, document viewer, text editor, voice recorder, wifi drive, and more.  I use iFiles to store the drillsheets and reviewers that I have in Word, Excel or PDF format.  This way, it is like carrying my entire reviewers folder all the time.   Transfering files from my desktop/laptop to the Ipad is effortless, too.  


How I wish the kids could study on their own desks at home, but conflicting schedules and after-school activities get in the way.  As a tutor-mom who reviews my kids in the car, or while walking, or in the school swing, or at the poolside... yes anywhere except a proper study table... the above-mentioned Ipad apps are truly a wonderful discovery that it could easily be the highlight of my year. hahaha!:)

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Happy New Year!

My family and I had a wonderful time during the holidays.  We spent Christmas in Hong Kong and flew back home just in time to prepare for the New Year's Eve celebration.

I am in the process of uploading our holiday photos, and also in the middle of writing a post about our trip.  While the family has been there a few times already, this will be the first time I will be blogging about it.  I am looking forward to sharing with you how you can enjoy Hong Kong with your kids - with or without the shopping.

Meanwhile, I am finding it hard to squeeze in some"writing time"...  See, I have been busy getting acquainted with the productive apps and functions of the Ipad.  There must be more to the Ipad other than the addicting games Plants vs. Zombies and Angry Birds...

Plants vs Zombies

Angry Birds

I am slowly building up my library of useful Ipad apps, which I will gladly share with you - if and when I find time to write about it.:)  I tell you, Plants vs. Zombies and Angry Birds are the Ipad equivalent of crack. :)

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