Safe Search Kids - Education, Parenting, Internet Safety for All

The use of a parental control app and is our preferred recommendation for parents seeking complete protection for children on their phones and tablets.  It provides monitoring for both IOS Apple and Android devices.  It goes to work immediately to filter and block access to bad websites, as well as monitor social media.

Much more than a phone location tracker, the right parental control app download provides a variety of features to monitor and restrict internet usage and control the use of apps being downloaded. Parents can easily customize settings according to each family member’s age.

Parental Control Download

With parental controls installed on mobile devices (including iPads) parents will be notified of potential harm to their child online  24/7:  Download Here

For parental control solutions for desktop computers and laptops (as well as mobile devices) explore parental control software

The Need for Parental Controls

Today, parents have a lot of keep track of online.  Kids are active on gaming platforms, social media, multiple search engines, YouTube and chat rooms many parents don’t know about.   On the other side of a child’s online access are potentially secret friends, cyberbullies, viruses, malware, ransomware and child predators.

Thankfully, the app does the work for parents so that they don’t have to relentlessly monitor their child’s online activity 24/7.  It works right away to filter and block access to bad websites.  Still, within the parental control dashboard parents have complete control to customize settings according to each family member’s age.

The Power of Parental Control Apps

Gone of the days of a single computer in the family room where kids go online under the watchful eyes of mom and dad after dinner.  Couples and single parents still needed to be extra invigilate but control was still achievable. Then came mobiles phones that put the world wide web in everyone’s pocket.

These days, the internet is readily available to young finger tips on bedroom computers, lap tops, tablets and smart phones. Within the last decade social media has only multiplied the challenges of what kids see and hear online, including exposure to toxic friendships and the risk of cyberbullying.

Schools can set up internet controls and blocking on their servers but for homes it’s not possible to implement a blanket approach to online safety without an app installations.  For home use, it is relatively simple to install parental controls on multiple devices for instant protection against explicit web content.

Parental Control Features:

From it’s creation, phone monitoring apps have evolved to handle all of today’s obstacles to safety. It continues to be updated to respond to new technology and trends that kids gravitate to.  Unless automatic monitoring and restrictions are in place, these hot spots expose young children and teens to new and unwanted content before most parents even know about them.

Kindergarten students are eager to learn! Many people think that kindergartners don’t know much, but the truth is that they have a lot of knowledge already! After all, within the first five years kids are sponges for information. This rapid development continues into kindergarten.

Therefore, it’s vitally important that students are taught six different subjects.

These subjects are:

1.  Reading

Reading is the most important subject you should teach your kindergarten students because it is the foundation of everything. If a student doesn’t have good reading skills, they will have a hard time in their future classes. Reading involves knowing how to read, sounding out words, spelling words, and using good grammar when speaking or writing.

2.  Writing

Writing is another very important subject for your kindergarten students because they need to know how to communicate in writing! Even though learning how to write might seem difficult for some kids at first, it’s really easy after you spend some time practicing! Kids can learn how to write by forming letters correctly (both uppercase and lowercase), starting sentences with capital letters, forming full words instead of just a letter, and writing words they know.

3.  Math

Math is the study of numbers and operations. The most important math skills for kindergartners are counting, identifying shapes, sorting objects by attributes (such as color or shape), comparing numbers to ten, drawing given number patterns, and recognizing quantity relationships. For example: during your child’s first year in school, they should be able to learn how to count from 1-10 to show their understanding of quantity relationships.

4.  Science

Science is one of the most interesting subjects because there are so many cool things to discover! Some science topics that kindergarten students might be interested in learning about are animals, weather, space/planets, how light works, and anatomy for kids. The best way to teach your students about science is by taking them outside to explore nature or visiting a museum where they can learn more about science in a fun way!

5.  Social Studies

Social studies is a combination of history, geography, economics, sociology, and civics/government. It teaches children about different cultures throughout time and around the world. To make social studies more interesting for students, it would be helpful to create games that involve learning new vocabulary words for each unit you teach your class.

Again, art is also a fun subject to teach your students! There are plenty of avenues an artist can take, but some examples include drawing, painting, sculpting with clay or Play-Doh™, making music using instruments, and dancing! Just like science, the best way to teach your students about art is to teach them about colors.  Taking them outside to be creative or visiting an art museum where they can learn more about art in a fun way!

6.  Health and Physical Education

Health and physical education is a very important subject for students because it helps them stay fit and healthy! During kindergarten, students should be taught the names of different parts of their body (such as eyes, nose, mouth, etc.) and keep their bodies healthy by washing their hands before they eat and after they go to the bathroom. Also, kids need to know that it’s okay to say “no” when someone asks them to do something harmful for them, such as smoking cigarettes or doing drugs. By teaching these six subjects in your kindergarten classroom, you can prepare your students for future success in school.

Also, health and safety go hand-in-hand because, without health, we cannot have safety! In kindergarten, students should learn all about staying healthy and happy. This means learning how to wash their hands, brush their teeth, be active throughout the day, eat nutritious food, sleep well, not get sick easily by taking care of themselves. Health is our most important asset, so it’s important to take care of ourselves!

Conclusion

In conclusion, teaching kindergarten students is an important job! These six subjects will help your students learn, prepare for future grades and build good study habits. Remember, learning resources aren’t just found in books or online – whether it’s a field trip to the library or a science experiment during science time – exciting hands-on experiences will keep students engaged and eager to learn! Thanks for reading, and be sure to share this article with other school teachers you know!

Coding for kids is never an easy undertaking. Aside from getting our kid’s full attention, we have to overcome communication barriers and teach complex lines of codes in the simplest way possible. We need to think outside the box so that we can get our kids excited about coding.

That being said, we have listed a few tips on how you can teach your kids how to code without all the tech jargons, including the latest AI based coding.

Make them interested

One of the most common mistakes that educators and parents often make is that they immediately jump to teaching the basics and fundamentals. While these information are crucial when it comes to learning how to code, it does not give our kids enough room to process and absorb all the information that they are receiving.

Remember that learning is an academic, social, and emotional undertaking. Studies have shown that kids are more inclined to learn more about the subject if they are interested. With that in mind, you need to make them interested in coding first. This way, they would not only learn how to code, but they would also learn to love the subject and even the learning process.

Teach the Basics Differently

You can do away with the tech jargon if you are just teaching them the basics and fundamentals of coding. If your kids are just starting in their learning journey, then you can simply find alternative ways to teach them the basics and make them excited to learn more about coding.

Many coding for kids programs and courses have already cracked the secret to teaching kids how to code. Nowadays, teaching is no longer confined to the traditional approach like reading from a textbook or printing outputs like “Hello, World!”

There are now several coding apps, games, video explainers, computer programs, software, toys, and other educational materials that you can use to teach your kids.

Block-based coding

Once your kids finish learning all the basics and fundamentals of coding, it is time to start developing their critical and computational thinking. You can do this by simply utilizing programs like Scratch or Blockly.

These blocked-based programs are the most effective and convenient way to teach your kids how coding works. Rather than having them memorize lines of codes or understand complex syntax, you can just use programs like Scratch or Blockly.

To give you an overview of block-based programming, Scratch or Blockly lets you drag-and-drop lines of commands without having to type or memorize the codes. Your kids can create their own games or apps in these programs even though they do not know any single line of code.

Therefore, your kid can easily learn syntax and conditionals without you detailing or explaining tech jargon like assignment operators, loops, functions, if statements, and so on.

Physical and relatable concepts

No matter how long you put off or avoid using tech jargon, there will still come a time when you have to explain these complex matters to your kids.

And when that time comes, you can still be an effective teacher.

This reference from the University of South California’s website is the perfect illustration of teaching complex concepts with relatable examples. Rather than simply read off of a textbook and discuss branching, variable review, or python syntax basics, they instead use relatable examples like text messaging, lunch menus, and food groups.

Even though they tackled coding concepts and other complex subjects, they still managed to convey the information in a much simpler and easy-to-understand form. By doing this, your kid would be able to start learning a more specific and complex coding language in no time.

Fun Projects

Learning how to code is a continuous undertaking and has many benefits outside life of coding. Keep in mind that learning does not stop at the end of every lecture or session. Kids should be able to use and apply the information they learned.

One study even found that students prefer active learning over the traditional learning approach when it comes to programming. That said, kids learn better when the approach is more engaging and interesting. And what better way to do this than through fun projects.

These fun projects can be anything. You can assign them projects like making simple cartoon animations, Roblox games, Minecraft mods, and so on. The key thing to remember when assigning projects is to consider their existing interests as well. If your kids love playing Minecraft, then their next project can be about Minecraft mod or shaders.

Think of a project that would not only help them learn but would also pander to their interests.

Build on Success

Part of the learning journey is failure. It’s one of the biggest obstacles to learn coding for kids.  It is also one of the reasons why kids often lose interest or quit halfway in their learning journey.

So to overcome this hurdle, you should celebrate their achievement and find ways to extend that achievement even further. For example, if your kid finally learned how to use programming tools like Scratch, then you can share their finished project online for their friends to see. Doing this would boost their confidence and push them to learn more complicated projects in the future.

Just Have Fun with Them

Even though coding is a complicated subject to teach, you can make learning the coding process even more bearable for your kids. Inspire your kids to learn more through play.

Given that the learning process can be long and tedious, you should find ways to make the learning journey a lot more fun and exciting.

This way, your kids would be able to understand all the tech and coding jargons in no time.

The internet offers a wealth of education and opportunity for kids, but many parents worry about the dangerous side of the online world—namely, the opportunity for their kids to stumble across inappropriate content or unsafe websites.

Or a child may unknowingly reveal private information to a stranger. This is where a few all in one parental monitoring apps come in handy. Some of these apps are free, while others employ more parental controls in an app as well as on desktop.

These apps were designed with parents’ concerns in mind to help you keep your kids safe online.

1. FamilyTime

This is the app blocker that blocks all those other distracting apps that steal your family time.  It’s parental control at your finger tips that filters the internet, manages content and usage on iPhones, Andriods and tablets. You can set the time limits you want for bedtime usage and during homework time.  Additional features include monitoring your child’s cell phone texts, their contacts, phone logs, all while knowing their location.  In addition to internet browsing restrictions for home use, this app has developed robust controls for schools to ensure kids are protected on all devices in their classrooms.

Download FamilyTime parental controls for Android and iOS at home

School administrators, download parental controls for schools

2. Covenant Eyes

This app offers basic monitoring of your kids’ smartphone activity with the added feature of having accountabilities partners to help you stay away from pornographic websites. You can also view your family’s account using the Covenant Eyes parent dashboard and set levels of freedom according to age and times of day.  It idea is that if kids know you are going to get an alert if they visit a bad website, it will give them the freedom to explore online and learn how to make good decisions.  Covenant Eyes has been providing parental controls since before apps where even a thing and today you can download it according to your family needs.

Create your Covenant Eyes account for iOS devices or Android

3. Qustodio

Qustodio provides parental controls on all devices, not just phones and tablets. It is the all-in-one parental control app and software with a focus on digital well being, including screen addiction prevention via the setting of time limits and ensuring a better sleep schedule.  In addition to filtering access to online content and monitoring activity on any device, this program allows parents to track calls and SMS for Android devices.   On both iPhones, Androids and tablets, you can locate family members at any time as long as they have their iPhone or Android device. There is also an SOS feature, which enables your kids to instantly notify you of trouble.  

Download for Windows, Mac, Chromebook, Android, iPhone/iPad, Kindle

4. Parentaler

Parentaler is the single download that can handle parental monitoring and filtering of the web for both Apple and Android mobile devices.  You can block websites and specific apps, set usage time limits for each child, and customize age-appropriate settings according to each child’s level of maturity. Of course, all porn is blocked outright, regardless of age.  The geo-fence setting ensures you are notified if one of your kids is not where they should be.  And at any time, you can check their location to see where they are when on route from point A to point B.  Parentaler filters and monitor the web, as well as online social media connections, to give parents peace of mind around the clock.

Download for Android and iPhone

5. KidzSearch Internet Filtering

Sometimes something as simple or harmless as a misspelling can result in a search result gone afoul. Instead of letting your kid use Google.com for searches, KidzSearch automatically filters Google to remove inappropriate content and unsafe websites. It also blocks misspellings of words that could lead a child to a bad website. With this app, your kids can use the internet as they typically would, and the parental filter helps keep them safe. This is the same filtering being used on our website Safe Search Kids, only through an app for mobile devices. Whether on our site or through the app, use of this internet filtering service is free.

Download the KidzSearch App for iOS devices or Android devices

KidzSearch also available on Kindle Fire / Amazon

6. FamiGuard Android Monitoring

This app was designed with a focus on keeping kids safe on Android phones.  It has everything you need to monitor your kids’ Android smartphone activity, viewing phone files, recording and filtering phone calls, to monitoring over 30 apps including WhatsApp, Snapchat, Instagram, SMS, and more. It’s easy to use and there’s no need to root the target device.  Block bad websites, set time limits and no remotely monitor the current and past location of any family member without detection.  

Download the Parental Control App for Andoird

7. Kaspersky Safe Kids

This app has everything you need to monitor your kids’ smartphone activity, from blocking access to adult content and suspicious search results, to monitoring app usage and setting device screen time limits and GSP location tracking.  Enjoy peace of mind thanks to award-winning parental controls that provide protection for kids both online and offline. The Kaspersky Safe Kids also offers tips from psychologists on how to teach kids about the dangers present online and how to take proper precautions.

Download the Kaspersky Safe Kids app for iOS and Android devices

With a few parental control monitoring apps on your phone, you can always oversee your kids’ online activity. And remember, for these apps to work, you and your kids should have reliable internet access on your phones.

Setting up a hotspot will keep your child connected so you can use these apps and monitor their whereabouts and online searches any time you need.

Consider running a speed test as you’ll want to make sure you get at least 10 Mbps from your internet connection (more if you use a lot of devices in your home).

Once your apps are installed, you can feel more at ease with your kids’ online activity.

Victoria Schmid enjoys writing about technology for the “everyday” person. She is a specialist in online business marketing and consumer technology. She has a background in broadcast journalism.