Best Paid Back-to-School Apps for Parents
Tackling First Day Jitters
Hooray for PreK! can lessen your kids' anxiety; photos of children in class lets them see what a typical day at PreK looks like. Personalize the app to include the name of your child's new school ($1.99; iPad only).
My First Day of School focuses on a boy who is excited--and a little scared--about his first day. The app tackles some common questions an elementary school child might have, while getting him revved up for the adventure ahead (99 cents; iPhone, iPad).
Homework Help
myHomework will help you and your child organize classes, assignments, projects, and tests by tracking what's due and when. A color coding system organizes homework by class (Free; iPhone, iPad). iStudiez Pro enables students, parents, and teachers to keep tabs on agendas, homework, tests, and grades with scheduling tools, notifications, and GPA-tracking features ($2.99; iPhone, iPad).
Parents Flash Cards can make learning 1-2-3s and ABCs (99 cents), plus colors and shapes (Free) easy and fun (iPhone, iPad). For kids who need a little math help, Parents Math Flash Cards teaches kids addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division (99 cents; iPhone, iPad).
Food Ideas for Three Meals a Day
Start the day off with plenty of morning-meal ideas with Breakfast. This collection offers recipes for both the accomplished and the inexperienced cook. A timer lets you know how much time is needed to prepare each meal (Free; iPhone, iPad).
If your kids are tired of PB&J sandwiches, take a look at LunchBag, an app conceptualized by a kid (a 12-year-old boy)for kids. There's a database of more than 100 lunch items, and you can check each off as it's made (Free; iPhone, iPad).
No longer available in U.S. iTunes stores as of July 2013.
Come up with new ideas for dinner--on a budget. Food on the Table provides enough recipes to let you skip the drive-through window. Even better: It helps you find the best deals on ingredients in your local stores (Free; iPhone, iPad).
Ensure that your kids are eating as healthily as possible with My Foodle - Nutrition Facts, which has nutrition data for hundreds of foods (including breakfast and lunch items), as well as common serving sizes (Free; iPhone, iPad).
Back-to-School Shopping
Get your back-to-school needs organized with the School Supply List, which has a database of 150 items to choose from (you can also add your own). Create individualized lists for each child, make notes for each item, and track quantities needed (99 cents; iPhone, iPad).).
Comparison shop with PriceGrabber (Free; iPhone, iPad) to scan product bar codes and see if you can get a better price elsewhere. Then use SaleLocator (Free; iPhone, iPad) to find local stores having sales, plus the exact items being discounted.
SaleLocator no longer available in U.S. iTunes stores as of July 2013.
For those who buy kids' shoes online, Pitter-Pad measures toddler feet. Simply place a child's foot in the foot icon, move the measure line down to the longest toe, and wait while the shoe size is calculated (Free; iPad only).
