The five back-to-school apps you can’t live without

Warm weather may stick around for a while, but summer as we know it is over. It’s back to school time for Milwaukee schools, and that can mean excitement and new beginnings.

It can also mean chaos and stress for many families. Luckily, there’s no problem a good app can’t solve.

Here are my top five apps for families at back to school time:

1. Artkive – With a new school year upon you, you are bound to be buried in dozens and dozens of art projects. I was forever plagued by what to do with these sweet creations. How could I throw them out when they serve as testimony to my child’s early artistic genius? Would my child think I don’t love them if I throw out the magnificent stick figures he doodled? 

I would keep them all if I could, but then I would be a hoarder.

With Artkive, I snap a picture of each masterpiece and keep them organized on my phone by the school year in which they were made. After you’ve artkived a years’ worth of art projects, you can create a keepsake book of all the colorful doodles and sketches. This way, you won’t have boxes and boxes of art projects, but you will have a record of your kid’s creations.

2. Cozi – A familiar scenario in my household used to be accepting a friend’s invitation, then later calling to cancel because we already had something going on that I didn’t know about. But the Cozi Family Planner App has solved all that. It’s the best app my family has found for keeping everyone on the same page with appointments and events. Everyone can access the calendar, add or delete their own events, and everything is color-coded by person. The best part is the Family Central homepage that lists the days’ events at a glance. No more double-booking yourselves!

3. MyHomework – If your kid always seems to be on their phone, you may not have to fight it anymore. They just might be checking their homework! With the MyHomework app, your child can keep track of all of their assignments for school right at their fingertips. The assignments are color-coded and organized by due date so they know which assignments they should work on first. Could this be a procrastination buster? Probably not, but it could help.

4. IFood Assistant by Kraft – If you’re anything like me, you find it rather difficult to keep coming up with delicious and nutritious dinners. Spaghetti, chicken casserole and mac n’ cheese are great, but sometimes you have to spice things up. IFood is a gigantic recipe bank that is well-organized, heavy on the pictures and very user-friendly. There is even a feature that allows you to enter the ingredients you have on hand, and then search for recipes that you can make with those ingredients. Bon appétit!

5. Quizlet – If your child struggles with language arts, spelling or foreign language in school, Quizlet will be your new hero. Quizlet allows you to easily create flashcards, practice spelling, learn through games and work at your own pace. It will even generate multiple choice and fill-in-the-blank questions to test your knowledge. This app is an excellent study tool for students of all ages.

Do you have an app that makes your life easier? Tell us about it in the comments below!