homeschooling Archives | Cool Mom Tech

Find your own town on this amazing interactive Native Land map

by Liz Gumbinner | Best Apps, Educational Apps, Websites We Love

I originally stumbled on this incredible Native Land Map when it was shared in honor of Indigenous People’s Day and — wow. What a worthwhile educational site to explore today, especially if you sit down and do it with your kids. Particularly if...

Our guide to the best headphones for students, from kids to teens | Back to School Guide

by Liz Gumbinner | Babies, Back to School Tech, Kids

We’ve spent the past several years evaluating the best headphones for students for remote learning, and while kids are back in school, one of the residual effects has been more online learning (and social!) opportunities. Whether kids are doing virtual live...

Dell’s Black Friday in July: Take advantage of Dell’s education discount for students and parents

by Cool Mom Staff | Back to School Tech, Gear + Hardware, Kids

This is a sponsored message from Dell If you’re looking for a new laptop, computer, or tech accessories, this is a great time, thanks to Dell’s Black Friday in July sale. Starting June 30, visit Dell.com/CoolMomTech for big savings off all kinds of...

The 3 best digital planners for parents, according to parents with very strong opinions about planners!

by Kate Etue | Back to School Tech, Best Apps, Life and Home

I’m always on a quest for the best digital planner for the school year, because I have developed a very bad habit: Every year I get tempted by the beautiful, fun, old-fashioned paper planners I discover on Etsy or in our local stationery stores. They’re...

$10 of the best math apps for middle school that make learning fun.$

10 of the best math apps for middle school that make learning fun.

by Christina Refford | Back to School Tech, Best Apps, Educational Apps

As a former homeschooling parent, I am a huge fan of math apps for middle school — and for tweens and teens whatever their grade level. I used to say that I was okay teaching math until around 3rd or 4th grade, and then I needed some help explaining certain...

The vocabulary app my kids think is a game. Shhhhhh!

by Kate Etue | Best Apps, Educational Apps

Do you have a struggling speller? As a homeschool mom, I know first-hand how hard it can be to try to explain spelling rules to a kid who doesn’t quite get it, which is why I had to share the Wordcraft app that my kids have been playing lately. A vocabulary app...

The top 10 most popular Cool Mom Tech posts of 2020

by Cool Mom Staff | Link Roundups, Tips and Tricks

Every year, we share our top 10 most popular posts on Cool Mom Tech. From the best podcasts for kids to customizing your iPhone 14 home screen, here are the posts we wrote this year that resonated the most with our readers in 2020. Also check out: The top 10 Cool Mom...

Spruce up your online learning with cool free Zoom backgrounds from National Geographic

by Caroline Siegrist | Kids

Anyone else tired of broadcasting their messy house over Zoom every day? I definitely was, so I was stoked to discover these cool virtual Zoom backgrounds for online learning from National Geographic. [Insert bad dad joke here about how we’re already living in a...

Our favorite tutorials to help you use G-suite tools for online learning

by Caroline Siegrist | Tips and Tricks

Since my son started remote learning, I’ve been looking for great G-suite tutorials to help me hone my skills, and I know I’m not alone. We’re hearing from a lot of parents whose kids are using G-suite tools for their own online learning programs....

How to boost your WiFi for easier online learning and homeschooling

by Caroline Siegrist | Life and Home

Remote learning has enough obstacles without also having spotty internet. So I’ve been researching the best ways to make home WiFi faster and more consistent throughout the household (yes, even in that closet where I hide to watch Indian Matchmaking on Netflix)....

Hi! We’re Kristen + Liz

Kristen Chase + Liz Gumbinner of Cool Mom Picks

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.)

We're so glad you're here! And we hope we can help you too.