Quality Screen Time Options?

[ang79]

Any chance your school will let you keep the devices over the summer? What if you 'forget' to return them till Sept? (We dont have to return ours till then)

kindle fires are pretty cheap - might be worth the expense for some sanity? A portable dvd player?

We just found out that our district is letting 4th-11th graders keep their chromebooks over the summer. Usually they collect them and update them over the summer. I'm wondering if they are letting them keep them just in case school does not start in person and then they don't have to worry about handing them out again to everyone.

[bisous]

Any chance your school will let you keep the devices over the summer? What if you 'forget' to return them till Sept? (We dont have to return ours till then)

kindle fires are pretty cheap - might be worth the expense for some sanity? A portable dvd player?

I don't think I could get away with that, even if i wanted to. This is the admin that stole my pics off of FB TWICE, lol. Actually she dropped off the iPads at my house so I'm sure she'd be back to pick them up.

DS1 does get to keep his device over the summer. I guess in that way I'll have two devices for my two oldest, the school chromebook and my Mac mini. Maybe a Fire would be good to augment, just for instructional apps? I hate to drop any more money. Tablets are awfully nice for littler kids. I gotta think about how I'd use it.

[bisous]

I tried Epic a few years ago when they offered a free 3 month trial over the summer. I don't think I had any problems canceling it when the trial was over. My kids didn't use it a ton because at that point we only had one tablet. It was handy to use when traveling so that they didn't have to take along tons of books and I do remember a good range of levels and types of books.

Here is a huge list of a bunch of online learning programs that were being offered for free when the school closures first started. Some of them are always free I think, if you want to look at it: https://kidsactivitiesblog.com/13560...XJAqNP9Ldzp9cQ

Also, if your kids are still in school, ask their teachers to send them an invite to access free ABC Mouse (and two other reading programs for older kids) which the teacher can get through this link: https://www.ageoflearning.com/schools. I signed up my daughter for the Reading IQ to use the two weeks they were first off school but did not have online lessons from their teachers set up yet. She had to read some short passages and answer questions and that helped determine her reading level then there was a whole library of books she could choose from to read online. She didn't use it much, instead she raided her older sister's bookshelf, lol. But from what I saw it seemed like a good program to find on level books. Adventure Academy is an online game with reading, and ABC Mouse is used in many of our elem. schools as tech time during reading centers. I actually sent this link to my daughter's ELA teacher in case she wanted to share it with families. She said it was really easy as the teacher to sign up and get a code that was then sent in an invite to students' parents if they wanted to use the program. The programs will continue to be free through Labor Day.

Other online programs that my kids have used are Khan Academy, Cool Math Games, and Xtra Math (they did not like this one). As for the non-tech learning, would she work independently with workbooks? When my kids were younger I often got math fact practice books from the Dollar Tree (Disney Princess and Tinkerbell, which they loved at the time). My kids love to read, so as long as we have plenty of books around, they are pretty happy! How about having her practice writing by writing a story of making a book and illustrating it on her own? Have her practice cursive writing with a writing book? I know most schools no longer teach cursive, but my kids have learned a little, which at least helps for when they have to sign their signatures! Or read a card from an older relative that is written in cursive

Good for you for planning ahead to have them doing daily learning! We officially start summer vacation tomorrow. Other than instrument practice and reading, I don't have any other plans yet. My 13 yr. old is using Duo Lingo to try to learn French. My 11 yr. old is pretty open to learning activities, so we may try some science stuff, and also try some math game websites, just to keep a bit of the routine that we've had the past 2 months, and to ensure some quiet time for DH while he is working from home in the living room!

Thanks! This post is full of great info. She does love to do all those things you mentioned. She makes tons of books and does like activity books too. I worry because a lot of that left once she had access to the apps when remote learning started! She is even reading regular books less than usual. Yikes. That's kind of a red flag. I have to say, the ability to have her "contained" for a bit has been very precious, though I recognize that that is at the expense of other more creative play. It is going to be a LONG summer so it is nice to have that as an option.. so torn.

Glad to know Epic wasn't a problem for you. I trust BBB reviews much more than those from random sources.

I'm intrigued by ABC mouse. I think she might like that. Maybe I'll try it while we still have the iPad and see if she'd be into it.

[gymnbomb]

We just found out that our district is letting 4th-11th graders keep their chromebooks over the summer. Usually they collect them and update them over the summer. I'm wondering if they are letting them keep them just in case school does not start in person and then they don't have to worry about handing them out again to everyone.

Our district sent out information for picking up your child’s belongings that had been left at school and returning library books. We were told to keep the chrome books over the summer unless we are not returning to the district next fall. I was also wondering if it was to save the hassle of distributing them if we don’t go back.


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[echoesofspring]

Mystery doug? You do have to keep an eye on the tablet since it's delivered as videos on a website but my kids love him!

my 7yr old loves epic, although she does want to spend a lot of time watching the videos. We had good luck with her with ABCMouse as well.

What about audio books? It's not screen time, but they keep both of my kids very well occupied, they will listen and color or build for hours.

[bisous]

Mystery doug? You do have to keep an eye on the tablet since it's delivered as videos on a website but my kids love him!

my 7yr old loves epic, although she does want to spend a lot of time watching the videos. We had good luck with her with ABCMouse as well.

What about audio books? It's not screen time, but they keep both of my kids very well occupied, they will listen and color or build for hours.

I was thinking about audio books! DD (like my DS1) is a really intent listener. It is hard to explain. She picks up everything she hears on the radio in the car, for example and listens to all the lyrics of songs (this is very different than me!). I might see if that could work for her. How would that set up work? Could she use headphones and an old phone? I have three tiny iPod shuffles someone gave away and might have an old iPhone.

[ang79]

I was thinking about audio books! DD (like my DS1) is a really intent listener. It is hard to explain. She picks up everything she hears on the radio in the car, for example and listens to all the lyrics of songs (this is very different than me!). I might see if that could work for her. How would that set up work? Could she use headphones and an old phone? I have three tiny iPod shuffles someone gave away and might have an old iPhone.

We can rent audio books on CD from our library. Or you can listen to them digitally on from the Overdrive App (if your library uses that), or the Audible App. You can get a free trial of Audible through their website, or Amazon. Also, Audible was offering a bunch of free books to listen through their website because of school closures. It looks like they are still working. My daughter listened to a few chapter books on her chromebook. Here is the link to the free books: https://stories.audible.com/discovery

[bisous]

I just sent this message to the admins:
Hello!

I know you're super busy right now. I do have a question for you and it might be one that you might hear from other families, so I figured I might as well ask it. I am trying to figure out a summer learning program for my kids as we continue to try and social distance and I try to help some of my kids catch up. Some of the programs I'm looking at are digital--like Khan academy for math, or in years past we've had access to IXL over the summer. These are just some of the ideas I'm feeling out as we plan. As I look at these options, I'm wondering if there is any possibility of keeping the iPads?

I understand there might be reasons why this isn't possible. There are other options out there that I can do that don't require technology but I figured it couldn't hurt to ask!

Thank you,

We'll see what they say! I'm ok with "no" but I'd hate to not have them for lack of asking!

[echoesofspring]

We can rent audio books on CD from our library. Or you can listen to them digitally on from the Overdrive App (if your library uses that), or the Audible App. You can get a free trial of Audible through their website, or Amazon. Also, Audible was offering a bunch of free books to listen through their website because of school closures. It looks like they are still working. My daughter listened to a few chapter books on her chromebook. Here is the link to the free books: https://stories.audible.com/discovery

All this! If we're playing them on a device I don't want the kids to have access to I usually just lock it and the audio will still continue. I splurged on kid kindles ($100) at Easter mostly b/c DS was starting to carry my tablet outside to listen and I knew that was bound to end poorly. The kindles include a year's subscription to Amz freetime (another source of material) but don't have speakers, the kids use bluetooth speakers or headphones. Overdrive or Libby for library audiobooks, although I haven't figured out how to xfer those to the kids kindles, unlike regular books, so those have to play on a device of mine, it has to do with the format/built in content restrictions, etc. You can use a browser on the kindle but I've got that turned off, so I can just give it to them and not worry about what they are accessing, but that means we can't play the free audible ones ang79 linked to on their devices.

Honestly we got in the audio books this last summer b/c I had too many audible credits and kept forgetting to cancel the sub each month so I started spending them on kids books when we had a long commute to summer camp. They were a big hit and no bickering from the back seat! The old Beverly clearly Henry Huggins/Ramona, etc. books have been on repeat here during the quarantine. Def worth the $15 I paid for them. If you go the purchasing books direction, just watch the prices and for 2-1 sales and watch for collections, i.e. books 1-7 for 1 credit vs. 1 credit per book. I wished we lived in a bigger city so we had more options at the library, you probably have a lot!

[carolinamama]

DS2 loves audiobooks and would listen for hours if nothing else was happening. He listens on his Echo Dot so there is no screen device needed if that helps.