Hands-On Beats 80,000 Educational Apps When It Comes To Disrupting Early Childhood Learning

Search educational apps on the Apple Store, and get read to sort through a selection totaling over 80,000 choices. The growing number of educational apps to choose from is not all that surprising when you consider:

• 21 percent of children 8 years and under, use a smartphone (69 percent of families with young children under 8 years old have a smartphone).
• 38 percent of children under 2 used a mobile device for media.
• 55 percent of parents with a tablet use it to entertain their children under 12 years old while traveling.
• 41 percent used a tablet to entertain their children at restaurants.
• 45 percent of parents say they plan to buy, or already have bought a mobile device to support their child's learning.
• 68 percent of parents agree that mobile devices and apps can help teach reading. 67 percent think they can help teach math.
• 43 percent of parents say they need help finding educational apps.

The growing number of educational apps may be good business, but is it the best way for children to learn?

Sharon Wood is a 37-year businesswoman and entrepreneur, who worked with Major League Baseball's Pitch Hit & Run youth program, MTV, Frito Lay, and Sears and launched video game hits Grand Theft Auto, and Fox Kids Micro Maniacs, a bowling game hit endorsed by the Bowling Hall of Fame. Sharon created an app to foster girls' confidence that was a top 5 hit in 34 countries. She is the mother of two who were not "typical" learners. Sharon, sitting at the intersection of gaming, viral marketing and mega-downloads of mobile apps, looks at early education resources a little differently (and in a decidedly non-tech way).

Sharon is one of the founders of The Parents Brain Boost Kit - and it is a physical product. It's a box, not an app installed on a mobile device. And it simplifies proven learning systems (Vygotsky, Piaget and Montessori) that are used in modern education and makes those learning systems accessible for parents. Because as Sharon has discovered, educational achievement starts at home and families must help their children learn early.

As Sharon notes:

1. Scientific investigation tells us, children's brains most potent growth is in its first 1,000 days and that 1/3 of children never reach their potential.
2. Children need help succeeding. 66% of all students and 80% in lower-income families are reading below proficient levels by the time they reach 4th grade.
3. Research indicates that high-quality P-3 programs (preschool through third grade) can help close the "achievement gap" and have a high return on investment for society.
4. Parents are really concerned about giving their children every educational advantage, but don't know what is the right choice (game, rigorous activities or?), given so many. There is a massive deficit in understanding how to help a child learn how to learn--and how to make it fun.
5. Numerous studies show that family involvement in early childhood learning can improve performance.

Sharon recognizes that a fun, no thick-manual required kit will not replace the supremacy of apps. A recent study published by the American Academy of Pediatrics found that 96.6% of children ages 0-4 used mobile devices without help and at age 4, three-fourths had their own mobile device. Mobile devices are become ubiquitous during a formative period of cognitive development.

Like the Parents Brain Boost Kit, Sharon points to an app, "National Geographic Puzzle Explorer", that develops learning skills in a very unique way. It helps children develop strategy, planning, memory skills, critical thinking and logic, creative thinking, mental processing and the value of persistence. It comes with a Common Core/National Geography Standards Tool Kit and video for Instructors--and one for parents.

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