5 of the best affordable headphones for kids and teens, which are perfect for online learning
With so many of our kids headed back to school this fall from the comfort of our living rooms (oof), we wanted to take a look at some of the best headphones for students who are remote learning this fall. There are a lot of factors we’ve thought about here—from...
9 must-have gadgets that make homeschooling a little easier
As a brand-new homeschool mom two years ago, I have to say I geeked out a little over my first “me” purchase: a laminator. Nerd alert, right? But seriously, it’s one small gadget that I’ve used over and over and has been a huge help in my...
7 online resources to supplement your kids’ homeschool learning
Parents are scrambling right now, trying to figure out how to give their kids the best school year possible, which is why we’ve been working on a series of “back to schooling” posts to help make it a little easier for you. For many parents, this year...
How to take better holiday photos: 6 fantastic online photo tutorials to make your holidays merrier and brighter. (But not too bright – just the right white balance.)
Every parent wants to know how to take better pictures, especially around Christmas. A few years ago I received the completely awesome gift of a DSLR camera, but I admit I haven’t entirely learned how to use it properly. I’ve taken thousands of pictures...
15 fun Amazon Echo skills for the holidays, from fun and festive to really helpful
Just in time for the holidays, we’ve found 15 fun Amazon Echo skills that can help you stay organized, add a little more fun to your family time, and even put some magic into the holidays for your kids. If you and Alexa are in a rut, just remember: she can do a...
Outschool: Real-time, teacher-led courses for kids…from home.
As a homeschool mom, there’s something I’ve realized about myself over the past couple years: I’m not great at everything. There are some subjects I definitely teach better than others (hello, writing!), and some that I have no business attempting to...
3 affordable Apple Watch alternatives for kids
My sixth-grader has been asking me to splurge on an Apple Watch for her lately, but I don’t see that in her future at the moment. The thing is: she doesn’t have a phone yet. So I see little value in spending that kind of money on a watch, when she...
Does Gmail have parental controls? Well, here’s the deal.
In our Out Tech Your Kids group on Facebook, we’ve had several questions about parental controls for Gmail, with so many kids needing and using email accounts. We did some research to see what parents can and can’t do when it comes to monitoring their...
10 things you need to know before using a school-issued laptop
For lots of middle school kids, back to school means back to tech. Specifically: school-issued laptops. Of course, when we’re thinking about our kids and tech that they don’t own themselves, but they’re responsible for day-in and day-out, that comes...Hi! We’re Kristen + Liz
We started Cool Mom Tech in 2010 to help make our increasingly digital lives easier, more organized, more meaningful, and more fun, however old your kids may be.
We love that it's grown to become the go-to source for millions of parents who want commonsense info about tech delivered with a smile.
We even have the privilege of sharing our tips + tricks with The TODAY Show, CNN, HLN, GMA, Nightline, newspapers and magazines around the country, and our favorite -- regular parents who stop us at PTA meetings and ask us how old kids need to be to get a smartphone, and whether they really need to panic about Snapchat.
(Answer: It's complicated.)
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