A Montessori homeschool Mother and her children rate popular Montessori apps
Montessori Post Editor Rachel Kincaid, a trained Early Childhood Montessori teacher, homeschools her two eldest children with Montessori principles. Both children attended Toddler and Children’s House Montessori through their Kindergarten years. Quoted below are Jack, age 10, and Ruby, age 7.
Cursive Writing Wizard by Pierre Abel
This app is an alternative to the traditional chalk-board lessons; It is a true Montessori adaptation. Good and fun graphics. It helped Jack improve his penmanship after one use. Grade: A
Estimated age group would be 4 and up.
Jack: This game is designed to help improve cursive. I honestly think it will do just that. Very interesting, and I like the little games at the end of each activity. It’s a good idea to use a stylus. Grade B+.
Ruby: It’s fun, you can learn from it. Grade B+.
This app is unique in that it offers a playroom style of options to free write, push levers and buttons to make a marble run, build a city, interact with a ‘busy board,’ explore shapes on a grid and much more. The app is described to be ‘non-addictive’ by design in that there are no levels to beat and the sounds and movements are simple. After one time playing this app, each of our children (ages 4, 7 and 10) each continued to ask, over and over, for access. I’m personally unsure about this app because it doesn’t have obvious skill building tasks, but the cause and effect of several of the games does seem beneficial. I’d rate this B. It definitely seems Montessori inspired (as the description states) but not necessarily developed by trained Montesorians.
Jack: Really fun. It’s got a lot of different choices, and I like that. My favorite is the marble run game. It’s a really good car app for long car rides. I give it a really good rating, A+.
Ruby: It’s really fun. You can make food at a restaurant. You can go to the beach. You can drive a train, a car, a bike. You can feed dogs. My favorite game is the restaurant scene. It also has a vet area and a store. Grade A+++.
Montessori Numbers for Kids by Pierre Abel
This app is an extension of the numeration series seen in Children’s House. It has activities for tracing numerals, matching numerals to quantities, creating 2- and 3-digit numbers, a 100 Board feature, and creating multi-digit numbers with a Bank Game-like activity. It is a good extension for students who have had these lessons in their Montessori classrooms; I wouldn’t recommend it as an alterntive to working with the concrete materials. Grade B.
Jack: Interesting app. Will definitely help with improving number and counting skills for kids aging from 3-5. I give it a B+.
Ruby: Boring! Grade F-.
Kids UP Montessori Online by Kids UP Viet Nam Technology
This app’s free version is a ‘sticker’ activity; the paid version is $129.99 and seems to offer flashcards and other types of academic practice. Not recommended.
Jack: “Not very well created, but is more of a entertainer or a ‘shut up and sit down’ type of app. Grade D.
Ruby: You get to play Hide-and-seek with animals. Grade A+.
Monterssori Activities Train by Mohammad Sadiq
Visual matching game. Choices are common shapes and images. One level has the students order capital letters. Visually difficult to differentiate, images are flat. It seems Montessori inspired, but may not be developed by a Montessorian.
Jack: This app uses a train theme to try to teach you how to match numbers and shapes, and how to learn letters. Grade D-.
Ruby: It’s kind of fun. Grade C+.
Hundred Board by Mobile Montessori
In this app users select numeral tiles in order as they are placed on a replica of the Children’s House Hundred Board. I can see parents wanting their children to use this as practice, but it would be a stretch for students to want to use it themselves. There is minimal movement involved–users simply tap the next correct numeral. Grade B.
Jack: I wish it was a drag and drop. It’s an interesting app, but I don’t like how it counts how many you get correct and incorrect. I wish the numerals were lined up in order rather than all over the place. Grade C.
Ruby: I love this app. You can put numbers in different places before you do the numbers in order. You tap the numbers and they go to their places. Grade A+
Montessori Kids Math: Addition & Subtraction by Math by Vu Dang
This app invites users to place numerals in position while the app moves corresponding quantities to show addition and subtraction. It is an extension of simple operation work seen in Children’s House but requires very little of the user. There are three difficulty levels, with the highest being to find the missing numeral. Certainly Montessori inspired, but it may leave some users wanting more. The popup ads were a deal breaker for me, who makes a point to avoid ads in media for my children. Grade C.
Jack: Jack: Good layout, but has ads. Hard to move the numbers: 4, 5, 6, & 7. I wish it had a different background than just black, and I wish you could have double and triple digits, and other operations. Grade C.
Ruby: I like it. It’s fun, you can make your own equations and it gives you the answer. Grade A+++.
Geometric Cabinet by Mobile Montessori
This app is an answer to the Geometric Cabinet in Children’s House. It features each of the ‘drawers’ and card extensions. Certainly created by a well-versed Montessorian (an AMI-trained teacher per the description), users learn the form names, then ‘place’ them in the correct place in the drawer. One wish would be to have written labels for each form rather than just audible terms. There is no drag and drop feature, users simply tap the correct form when prompted. The items are quite small, and of course the tactile component isn’t there as it’s an app. Could be a fun extension for students who have had this work in their Montessori classroom, but wouldn’t recommend for students that haven’t had the concrete lessons first. Grade B.
Jack: All about shapes and geometry, I wish it was a ‘drag and drop’, and I wish you could do it in any order you choose. good graphics and nice sound, though. Grade B+.
Ruby: Boring. Grade Z-.
Cross Number by Brainworks Publishing
This app is not necessarily a Montessori-inspired tool, but it is good practice for users who are learning addition and subtraction facts. It works like a crossword puzzle and allows users to drag and drop answers into the spaces; if answers are wrong, the user can self-correct. I like this for quiet downtime. Grade A.
Jack: Just like a crossword puzzle, but with numbers instead of letters. It comes with ads, but has a ‘no ad’ option, for $4.50. good graphics and nice sound. Grade B+.
Ruby: Really fun. You have to do math, you have to do the answers. And I kind of don’t like their ads. Grade A+.
Montessori City by Arjun Gupte
This app has a Minecraft-like look and feel as users create cityscapes with buildings, water features, green areas and more. I’d score it higher if there were cause and effect features. The description mentions that the app is based on Dr. Montessori’s methods, but I don’t know if I’d agree. Grade C.
Jack: Really cool, a lot like 3rd person minecraft, but not very montessori-like. Grade A+.
Ruby: I really like it, and you can build stuff. Grade A+.
Montessori Parts of Fruits by Rantek Inc.
This app was designed with the guidance of an AMI-certified teacher, and it shows. It is an extension of the Children’s House Botany Cabinet and features 5 common fruits to explore. Users learn the names of the parts and drag parts to their respective positions like the Botany puzzles provide in the classroom. My children did not find it very engaging, especially compared to other apps they tried, but I find it authentically designed and a nice answer to Montessori enrichment outside of the classroom. Grade A.
Jack: I like how it has a drag and drop option. I like the labels at the top telling you what part of the fruit you need to look for. I like the matching option. I did not know that the inside of the pumpkin is called the pulp. Grade B+.
Ruby: It tells you the parts of the fruit so you know it if someone asks you. Grade A+.
Tiny Hands by Kids Academy Co
This app is described as developed by child psychologists and involves visual discrimination sorting. Users discriminate by color, size and form. It is a good answer to a child ready for visual discrimination, though it doesn’t necessarily replace the concrete materials one would use at home or in the classroom.
Jack: Good graphics, nice sound system, it’s all about sorting, such as: bid and small, pink and yellow, and boot, bottle, or can. Grade B+.
Ruby: It’s boring. Grade F-.
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