Sometimes it's easiest to learn something if you can 'see it' for yourself.  Here's an example of how our iPad made learning the concept of 'gravity' an almost-instant transfer into the memory and understanding of our children...

iPad is a Practical Home Schooling Device

Drawing and visualising are two common uses for the iPad in our family.  How do you do something... let's get the iPad and sketch it out for you...

Today at home-school we were re-visiting the 'solar system'.  Yes, everyone knows the names of the planets and their order from the sun.  Great.  And what keeps them in place, spinning nicely through the skies?  

"Gravity," they said.  

We discussed gravity for a while as a major force in the universe, then got more specific and discussed gravity on OUR planet, and that without gravity we'd all float away from our planet... teaching them that it's the force that's keeping us down.  

Great, they seem to get it.  

Then, during the discussion they realised the strange truth... that no matter where you are on our spherical planet you are always facing up!  Thanks to gravity, of course. 

"What does that mean, kids?"  

"... it means that ... everyone is pointing a different way out into space..." one of them said.  Their eyes lit up in amazement. There was a minute of silence as everyone let this sink in.  

"So..." my littlest one said, "That means all the buildings and everything are all pointing different directions... that OUR buildings are upside down to the buildings on the OTHER SIDE of the planet..."  

I smiled... It seems like that might have sunk in...

Lesson Learned?

I left them with Mum and their early morning fruit-plate and headed in to work.

Good lesson... I wonder if they 'got it'...

A few minutes later the drawing above arrived in my Inbox from my 7 year old during his "creative time" on the iPad, his next 'homeschooling lesson'.   

And LOOK WHAT HE DREW!  Awesome... A great expression of gravity! I am delighted that the lesson about the planet and gravity 'went in'! 

I am delighted at his creative visualisation of it just a few minutes later during his 'free time' on the iPad!   It's great to notice that his choice of what to DO during his turn was CREATE  (not game).   

And, what a neat picture, eh?

Drawn using Adobe Ideas iPad App