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With the novel coronavirus dominating the news and schools nationwide being cancelled, many parents are finding themselves “homeschooling” for the first time ever… and are turning to educational tech to keep their kids occupied. Maybe you’ve been trying to reduce screen time but are loosening up the screen time rules a bit while your kids … Read more
I have a love-hate relationship with the YouTube Kids app. On the one hand, it can be really nice to put on a video for my son when I just really need a few minutes to get something else done. On the other hand, you’re not supposed to let technology “babysit” your kids, right? I’d … Read more
The underlying tech philosophy that we try to stick to in our house is that our devices are tools, not toys. That means that we keep our kids fairly low media, and screen time is usually educational. I believe that educational value is one of the things that makes screen time beneficial for kids. But … Read more
Are there any benefits of screen time for kids? By now everyone knows there are all kinds of reasons to limit kids’ screen time. Sometimes it feels like a firehose of bad news. And if you feel a little bit overwhelmed by it all right now, I completely understand. But it’s helpful to remember that … Read more
While I’m not opposed to some screen time for my kids, especially within an educational context, I do believe in limiting their screen time. Screen time for kids carries some very real risks. I believe that some screen time can be beneficial. Screens are not completely off limits for either my 1 year old or … Read more
Winter is coming and so is the colder weather! As a child growing up in Maine, I loved playing outdoors in the snow. But I get it–sometimes you don’t want to go outside with the kids, and maybe you can’t send them out alone. Or maybe you just need a fun change of pace to … Read more
Looking to get the kids away from their screens and engaging with the family this Thanksgiving? Check out this list of fun screen-free Thanksgiving activities for kids! I love Thanksgiving–it’s one of those holidays that people don’t seem to think about a lot… Or at least, retailers would prefer to squeeze it out with Halloween … Read more
Fall is one of my favorite times of year. The weather is cooler and the changing colors of the leaves are striking. And I just love being outside in the crisp fall air. Sometimes, though, when we have little ones at home, it can be hard to come up with things for them to do … Read more
Poor sleep. Obesity. Aggression. ADHD. Poor school performance. And negative effects on language and cognitive development. I love technology, but with correlations like these (and all these reasons for limiting screen time), I have become very, very careful about how much screen time my children get. When my son was a toddler I was less … Read more
There’s a whole lot of guilt built in to modern parenting. No matter what we choose to do as parents, someone somewhere is probably going to criticize it. It’s no different for screen time rules. You know there are reasons to limit screen time. You know screen time rules are important, but where do you … Read more
So you’ve weighed the benefits and risks of screen time and are making the effort to create screen time rules that reduce your kid’s screen time. And now you’ve inevitably come to the point where it’s time to tell your child to turn off the screen. Do your kids melt down when it comes time … Read more
Being a new mom is hard. Everything is unfamiliar, and you’ve never taken care of a brand-new baby before, so you have no idea what you’re doing. And then comes the mom guilt. Technology can be helpful, as we have so many tools and so much information right at our fingertips. But it can also … Read more
Are you looking for YouTube alternatives for your kids? While I believe that YouTube can be safe for kids when you have the right settings and precautions in place–and if you’re picky about channels–I can also completely relate to a desire for something specifically designed for kids. Related: How to Create Screen Time Rules That … Read more
After the whole “Momo Challenge” hoax blew over, I asked my readers what kinds of resources they wanted for keeping kids safe online. A few chimed in with requests for how to talk to your kids about internet safety. Related: How YouTube Can Be Safe for Kids How do you talk to kids about what … Read more
You’ve probably seen the posts going around social media about the horrible content that’s cropping up in seemingly innocent videos for kids on YouTube. A child will be watching a cartoon when suddenly the content turns darker–it may be the cartoon characters themselves engaging in violent or sexual behavior, or it may be a scary … Read more