iPad Series

I will be writing a series extolling the great and varied virtues and uses of the iPad in my life. I will use the organizational structure that Holly Pierlot used in her book “Mother’s Rule of Life”: Prayer, Person, Partner, Parenting, Provider. Only, I will combine Personal and Partner into one category and since I’ve already written a post about the iPad being used in homeschooling that will be broken out from the Parenting Category as a very large subcategory. The homeschooling post needs a serious overhaul anyway because I’ve learned so much more since then. I will update it at the end of this series. Instead of following this list in order of importance I will follow it in the order of the iPads usefulness in a given category so we will proceed thus:
1. Provider/Home Management
Part 1 - Calendar, Toodledo, Home Routines, Evernote, SimpleMind
Part 2 - Grocery IQ, Paprika, Mint.com

2. Parenting/Homeschooling

3. Prayer

4. Personal/Partner

The reason I’m choosing to spend time on this is simply that I think the iPad is so much more then a “gadget”. We are not gadget people…we have never owned a iPod, a smartphone, a video game system, a DS, or even a flat screen TV. My kids do watch limited PBS shows for my own convenience…not because I think it’s good for them educationally. My iPad has two games on it…Crosswords and Tetris…both for me on vacation. Since we educate in a Charlotte Mason inspired way our kids read or are outside playing – any “educational games” are played once or twice a week and as a reward (and I should add have been REMARKABLY effective as drills – in spite of my dubiousness). I’d say we are fairly unplugged. And still, the iPad has become an essential part of the way I organize my life.
When I hear people talk about iPads as gaming consoles or fancy e-readers it bugs me because that is a luxury that I would be embarrassed to be indulging in. So…I would like to show those of you who are in a similar position to me - financially secure but not with a lot of disposable income; mom's who are juggling a lot of different areas of life; those responsible for the education of children – both fulltime and moms who teach after school hours; and those who are suspicious of the electronic cocoon that seems to envelope the modern world - I would like to show you how the iPad can be used to streamline your life and enrich it.

I am a convert and I have that “convert zeal”. Most of you probably already appreciated gadgets and their role in your life but I have always been resentful of their intrusion so this is my amends. I hope that it is useful to you in either deciding whether or not to digitize your life or simply putting to better use the tools that you already have. And if anyone has other tips and helpful information about apps or how to use them please comment and share! There’s a whole world out there to navigate and most of it is done by word of mouth. OK, on the the series…