While the iPad is never going to become a perfect substitute for irreplaceable teachers like U.S. History Teacher Mr. Murphy, who opened every year’s class with the same lecture — “Farmers are debtors, my dear children…” — it can make educating kids about exactly what government is and how it works more fun.
Parents and teachers can both set the stage for learning with Mc-Graw Hill’s American History Timeline. For just $0.99 students can have a wealth of information about US Government and History at their fingertips. The app also includes edu-games that reinforce what a child has learned.
Explore the foundations of the US with Early Jamestown, an interactive textbook that cover’s the New World’s first European settlement. Some developer needs to make an app that covers Native American history in North America. When looking for an iPad app on Native Americans as a compliment to Early Jamestown, I found only Native American Pictures and History, which is iPhone-only.
Share primary source materials with your children by exploring iPad-specific versions of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and Federalist Papers. These historic documents, which form the cornerstone of our democracy, are available for free on the iPad.
Introduce kids to Presidential history with American Presidents for iPad. Not only is American Presidents graphic, with a pleasing modern feel, but it includes brief histories of important events in Presidential history, a timeline, and even covers the Supreme Court. Parents and teachers will find this app is a good value at just $3.99.
Want to learn more about current US Government? There are a number of iPad apps that cover the United States Congress. Most users will find the free MyCongress for iPad by ObjectiveApps will fill most educational needs. For more thorough information consider Congress+ and its even pricier cousin CongressPro by Cohen Reasearch Group, which retail for $4.99 and $29.99 respectively.
Think 30 bucks is too much to spend on an app about congress? Then don’t buy it. It is, as they say, a free country. One of the great things kids will learn as they study US Government is that even when it comes to making mundane decisions like buying an iPad app, as we have the freedom to choose which options are best for us.
Photo of Continental Congressman Edward Biddle with his iPad courtesy of Flickr user Mike Licht.
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