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Life is so much different from when we learned in school. Now, most of the learning happens online or at least with an electronic device. It’s no different in our home.
We are a family that’s new to homeschooling, but I’ve been so surprised by how many computers, tablets, phones, and other electronics we use daily to get our learn on.
I use my phone to check our homeschool schedule for the day or week, my son uses his computer to do his online language arts curriculum, and my daughter uses one of our many tablets to learn on an app that’s meant for preschoolers and kindergarteners.
With all of these devices, how do we practice internet safety while homeschooling? I’ll share our tips below.
Surf The Net Together
This may sound funny, but my kids love to tattle. It’s more like they are looking out for each other so they don’t do things they aren’t supposed to, but it happens so much that I tend to equate it to that classic sibling activity.
If my son is lurking on a site that we haven’t allowed him to, his little sister is quick to call him out. The same is true when our girl tries to sneak onto an app that is designated for play time. My son is on it.
We tend to work together when electronics are involved, side by side. As a homeschool parent, this has been helpful and puts me at ease about them using electronics to learn.
Give the Ground Rules
Most parents, whether they homeschool or not, have ground rules for electronic usage. But, most parents probably don’t do a weekly reminder of said rules. We actually have our older kiddos recite the rules at the beginning of each week. Our rules?
- Mom or Dad has to give permission for me to use my tablet or computer
- My tablet and computer are for learning.
- Fridays are fun days; that’s when we can go on the fun apps
- If we disobey the rules, we can’t use our electronics for the week.
Simple, right? But, if they don’t say them, out loud, they seem to conveniently forget.
Be Smart About Monitoring
There are so many ways that we as parents can monitor our children’s time on electronics, but as homeschool parents, we need to take things up a notch. We need resources and devices to help us to give our kids a little more independence, without worrying about them being influenced by the dark side of the internet. Enter Luma.
What is Luma?
Luma is an intelligent WiFi system that offers speed, safety, and security:
Speed: Our Surround WiFi technology creates a wireless network with multiple access points to speed up your internet and put an end to dead zones.
Safety: With Luma, you can control and customize which devices and users can access your network and monitor usage through a user-friendly app. You can see what each user is up to in real time.
Security: Luma brings network-wide security to home WiFi. It automatically identifies security issues and helps you fix them.
Is Luma just a wireless extender? No, and in fact, Luma has very little in common with today’s extenders. Instead, it brings to the home WiFi technology that was previously available only to large companies. But what really sets Luma apart is its powerful safety and security features.
Why is this helpful for homeschoolers? Because we are constantly home, using our WiFi, and letting our kids utilize tablets for learning. Whether they are reading books from the library using the Overdrive app, or watching informative but fun video via YouTube Kids, they are using lots of electronics.
My favorite part of Luma? That I can check what my kids are watching on their devices via an app on my phone. I can WATCH. There’s no need to sneak up behind them, or yell out “whatcha watching?!” when I get a bad feeling in my stomach.
If I’m changing the baby in the back room, I can watch my kids screens via the Luma app. I also love that I can shut down the internet with one click.
If they need to take an immediate break (aka they need to pay attention to what mom is saying), I can shut down the WiFi quickly, and get those eyes up and looking at me. Talk about cool!
Internet safety while homeschooling isn’t something that we should put on the back burner. Follow the 3 steps above, and you’ll create a learning environment that makes you feel secure as a parent, while still encouraging your kids to learn in many different ways, including online.
Your link does not go to Luma, but to a wipe out debt from home page?
I just caught that glitch! It’s fixed now 🙂