iPad – Is it worth it?

I can’t help with the educational apps for the younger kids, but I can say that my iPad has been well worth the purchase. It has become my regular computer. I can pretty much do everything on my iPad that I can do on my desktop computer.

We use the iPad for school for various things from listening to music of whatever composer we are studying to reading books from it.

I, also, use my iPad at church. I prefer my Bible on my iPad to my paper Bible for use at church. It is easier to attach notes to verses as there is no trying to write in a margin. 🙂

Just as Lindsey described her iPad, it is mine, and we only allow the games state stacker, country stacker, and Math Facts Stars for occasional use. My favorite apps are iBooks, Daily Notes, Penultimate, a Bible app, Calendar, Timers, Contacts Book, Dictionary (Word Web does not need the internet), Lose It (fitness/meal journal log), Mvelopes budget app, Khan Academy math video apps (once videos are downloaded, the internet is no longer needed to view them), and PDF expert.

I have the Yesterday’s Classics collection along with tons of classic literature in iBooks. (tons…that is if you could weigh digital books)

I have an apple bluetooth keyboard that I use with my iPad to journal efficiently in Daily Notes. This app has an unlimited amount of customizable tabs to categorize all kinds of writing. I can make pdfs of my writing and send it to my email to be printed from my desktop computer. I have a tab for each child (quotes, personal journal about that child), a family journal, a commonplace journal, a devotional journal, a home management journal. I have even made tabs for our Scripture memory system (daily, even, odd, weekdays, 1-31). I can cut and paste to move the memory passage to a different tab.

Penultimate is used a lot as our dry erase board. With Penultimate, the stylus is used directly on the iPad to draw and write with different colors and thickness of lines.

Pdf Expert allows us to use the stylus to hand write directly onto a pdf page. Think Math Mammoth here…no printing! I also downloaded Ambleside Online’s yahoo group pdf art prints into iBooks.

We all, 7 children and I, can view our iPad screen from a television…which makes an 42″ HDTV sound like a great family Christmas gift this year. Hint, hint.

I don’t always have internet available, but most of the apps don’t need the internet to function. I wish the SCM organizer had a fancy app that I could use offline…one of my little homeschooling dreams because we live in a rural area with limited internet access. The SCM organizer is especially efficient when I use the iPad. In fact, the SCM Organizer is one of the main reasons we purchased an iPad, and why we have plans to get a permanent wireless internet connection soon.

Janell

Hubby has one for work and I have one. We love ours. While it is mine, the kids are allowed to use it with supervision for certain tasks. Playing is 1x day, 15 minutes or less and not every day. 

Favorite apps for iOS devices – 

• Bible – I use my iphone and ipad almost exclusively now.
• Wunderlist
• iBooks
• Netflix
• Bible.is
• iBird Explorer
• Pandora
• Stack the States (or Countries)
• Rocket Math
• Bob Books
• Shake the States
• Montessori Approach to Geography (also some for math, etc)
• Fighter Verses (waiting for a SCM scripture memory system app 🙂
• Google Earth
• Penultimate
• Print n share
• Word Warp
• Preschool Memory Match – I greatly prefer over many cards!
• Rush Hour
• Yatzy
• Life
• Pages
• Around Me
• White Noise Lite
• Simply Find It
• World Book – This Day in History
• Flashcards Deluxe
• Fractions App
• Leaf Snap – lots of potential
• Montessori Crossword
• Montessori Place Value

I would LOVE a good app for cursive handwriting (maybe even print, too). The ones I’ve tried stink.

Christie

PS – While I really like the iPad, I still prefer my Macbook. I didn’t think I would, but I do.

I like typing on a keyboard for posting here or on my co-op’s website. I should probably give the iPad a better test run for say a week or so solid to form an informed opinion. I do like it in the kitchen for recipes and such, too. I have the 32 GB and use my iPhone as a mobile hotspot, too. Bonus, I only pay for that when we’re traveling. 

So we are VERY behind the technology right now. We are wondering about getting an iPad, probably the latest version. But, what does 4G mean? Does that mean we have unlimited access to the Interenet all the time? Is there a service fee each month to access the Internet? Is there a certain amount of minutes each month, like a cell phone (which we don’t have; I’m kind of guessing about some of this…)? Our main unknown is cost. We think we’d utilize it often enough to justify the initial cost, but we’re trying to figure out if there are other costs or contracts to consider. What kind of coverage is there? We live in a remote area and I know others who have issues with cell coverage here so we’re wondering if iPads work that way too? Whatever info you can offer regarding this technical side of things would be fantastic. I’ve really enjoyed reading about how you each use yours and all the different applications available. TIA! Jenni

Okay, I discovered the Star Walk app tonight. It is beautiful and very accurate. I’m finally heading off to bed…got a little carried away and its nearly 1:00 am Pacific Standard time…but what a great star gazing time I have had this clear November night. Good night!

P.S. I plan on spending the bucks tomorrow and getting iBird Explorer.