Educational App Reviews

APP REVIEW: PRESIDENTS vs ALIENS

An Overview of Presidents VS Aliens 

by: Ian Hall

Presidents VS Aliens is a tablet game by Dan-Russell Pinson where you answer questions about US Presidents to knock down a swarm of aliens. You must get the question correct in order to load up the President, then you aim at where you want to shoot him by dragging your finger across the screen in the direction you want to go. The level is over when all the aliens are knocked out of the sky, and when you win you gain a President to add to your collection. However, you only collect a President when you get 50% or more of the questions right. 

When you get three questions in a row correct, you get one of the many power-ups:  triple President, which triples your President so it fires three instead of one, invincible, which allows your President to pass through all objects, and alien infection, which causes every alien it touches to infect the one next to it, causing them to fall out of the sky. 

With this game, you can learn a ton of President facts, ranging from the date that the President was admitted into the presidency, to important events and date of death. This game is a fun way of learning the United States’ Presidential history, and it also helps with American history. If you know what date a President was in office, and you know what important event happened during that time, (e.g. President Kennedy and the Cuban missile crisis) then you are learning U.S. history along with Presidential history. 

This app is a fun and informative way of learning about the Presidents. And knocking down a few aliens along the way.

If you want other games by Dan-Russell Pinson, Check out Stack the States, Stack the Countries, and Monster Physics.

App Review: Splash Math

Math is high on the focus of my homeschooling plan.  Never been a big Math-thinker, or at least, never thought myself one, but I do know the importance of at least basic math skills.  I will never forget the day my dad explained to me how we would cut the angle of a deck we wanted to build (never did) by creating a triangle and doubling the sides, adding them and getting the cut side....a squared + b squared = c squared.  The Pythagorean Theorem! Who knew?  Thank you Mr. Oliva!

So, being a 20-year veteran of first and second grade math, I can safely say, I am freaked beyond belief with Trigonometry, Calculus, and beyond.  In fact, I barely passed Calc...had a wonderful, kind, VERY Portuguese Professor (and I am Portuguese) with a very thick accent which, as the class complained, was far too difficult to understand, especially for a bunch of non-math majors.  Reluctantly, we asked for some help, and URI sent a Professor's assistant; a very, nice Chinese man with VERY thick Chinese accent.  And, so, my math career ended with that class.

Luckily, today, there are several wonderful online programs available for a nominal fee to help kids learn math in a fun way.  One that I have discovered is Splash Math.  I have Splash Math for first graders.  It is 10$ to download the app, but you can sign up to 5 students.          I have my twins on this app.  You receive weekly email updates as to how your child is doing on the skills represented in the app.


I like SplashMath because the format is somewhat challenging.  The questions are not the rote memorization of old math but a challenging, variety of simple, but thoughtful math questions. 

The app allows children to think about math in an abstract way, but allowing for concrete visuals.  And, if your child cannot read well enough, the app reads the directions for them.

The app covers addition, subtraction, time, money, and more.

Awards are given for correct answers and good scores.  Kids get to play with awarded prizes.  

Check out first grade here at 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/1st-grade-math-splash-math/id463469532?mt=8

Check out second grade here at

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/2nd-grade-math-splash-math/id463471155?mt=8

Check out third grade here at

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/3rd-grade-math-splash-math/id432105525?mt=8

iPad App Review: Stack the States

We purchased the iPad over 2 years ago now.  We originally bought it so Ian could use it to help us plan this adventure and feel a part of the planning.  It has turned into an awesome piece of technology that we use daily.

The kids use it for schoolwork wherever we may happen to be.  Before they can play a game (Minecraft is the biggie) they have to do schoolwork.  Some of the apps we have purchased, or downloaded for free, I'd like to share here.

One of our absolute favorites is Stack the States...  

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/stack-the-states/id381342267?mt=8

It costs .99 to download...low-risk cost I'd say.  All three kids use it, not to mention the adults at times.  Chloe can beat any adult in recognizing the shape of any US state, and is fast becoming an expert at each state's capital and flag. Ian is right there as well, and Brendan is coming along swimmingly.

It is a fun, cute, fast-paced, reward-based game with multiple levels that need to be unlocked through acquiring states by answering questions correctly. Your kids are learning and don't even know it!

Check it out!  And you may like Stack the Countries as well.