Classroom: Using Tech For Kids' Home Education

As parents grapple with school closures and working from home, they’re also facing a bigger challenge: homeschooling their children for the first time in their lives. Indeed, it might not be possible to recreate the classroom in your lounge, but with the right mindset, equipment and software, teaching your kids from the sofa doesn’t have to leave you scratching your head.

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With half of the world now on a government-imposed lockdown and all-but-essential outdoor trips banned, kids are adapting to a new life at home; an extended Spring Break, if you will. Though it would be impossible to predict exactly when life will return to some kind of normal in the United States, one thing is for clear: schools will be remaining shut for a considerable period, and though some establishments are offering online classes to keep their students engaged and ready for a return to learning, others have shut up shop, leaving everybody to fend for themselves.

For parents, that’s a pretty daunting prospect, especially if you are adapting to a new life working remotely, and trying to stay productive in a home with so many responsibilities and distractions. Thankfully, businesses and entrepreneurs are stepping up to the plate, and there are a growing number of daily activities and initiatives designed to make life a little more manageable in these crazy times. Those brands include Apple, who recently launched a new educational resource for children who are at home and off school due to COVID-19, offering 30 fun activities designed to entertain and educate young minds. Though the resource is designed primarily with the iPad in mind, it’s possible to complete some of the activities with a pen and paper, and others, like creating a time-lapse video, can be done on an iPhone or iPad touch where necessary if parents don’t have a tablet to hand. Other activities include writing a love letter to the planet, picturing your name, sending a loved one virtual flowers, recording a news interview with a parent, and emojifying a mood.