With the school year quickly coming to a close, I’m looking forward to the lazy days of summer with my children at home. I look forward to the impromptu trips, splashing in the pool, and eating buckets of popcorn while watching piles of movies. But I know that I need to keep my children learning throughout the summer so that when school starts again in August, they’re ready for the school year to come.
This summer I’m using a variety of different apps, websites and curriculum to keep my children engaged in learning during the lazy days of summer. It’s important that the services/products I use are fun and interactive so that my children want to participate. We’ve already begun using Highbrow, a website that offers carefully curated videos for children focusing on learning and developing skills.
Highbrow Educational Videos
Because of technology, kids can have whatever they want at their fingertips within moments of typing a search term into the search box of their browser. For parents, that can be absolutely terrifying (or is that just me?). I want to be able to provide my children with a safe place to explore while they are surfing online during screen time.
My middle child loves watching videos online. But if you’ve ever watched online videos, you know how quickly you can go from watching cute cats frolicking in a field to something else completely inappropriate for children, or anyone for that matter.
Highbrow educational videos offer him a safe place to watch videos that allow him to explore without me constantly looking over his shoulder. I want to be able to give him some space and freedom during screen time and I feel like I can do that when he’s watching educational videos on Highbrow.
When you first create your Highbrow account, you can setup a profile for each child in the dashboard. By setting up a separate profile, this will allow you to see which videos each child has watched.
And since more than likely their interests will be different, when browsing videos you can assign a specific video to an individual child using the options on the right of the screen. If your child is the one doing the browsing, they can ‘Watch as child’ and then choose their profile.
You can search for videos either by your child’s age group or a category that they’re interested in.
There are hundreds of videos to choose from on Highbrow and range in topics from math to “how-to” draw videos. Right now, the “how-to” draw videos are my middle child’s favorite. And it just so happens that his favorite thing to draw is a dinosaur.
Videos featured on Highbrow are created by teachers, award-winning producers, and grown-ups (like yourself) who want to provide children with videos focused on learning and developing skills. All videos are pre-screened for quality and family-friendliness before being uploaded to Highbrow. And since it’s an ad-free service, you don’t have to worry about the kids seeing (or hearing) something that they shouldn’t.
Since this is a web-based service, hi-speed internet will be required. The service carries a $8 per month fee, but you can get a free trial to try it before you buy it. There are no commitments and you can cancel the service at any time.
What do you plan on doing this summer to keep your children engaged in learning?
Robin Masshole mommy says
I definitely like to keep the kids learning during the summer. I will be checking some of these videos out 🙂
Catherine S says
This sounds like a great way to keep the kids on track over summer break. I used a similar program when my son was still in school.
Michele says
This sounds like an app that will keep those kids learning whether they know it or not all summer long. And I don’t blame you one bit for worrying about videos-some of them I turn right off as well!!
Stacie @ Divine Lifestyle says
This sounds great. It’s so important to keep those little minds working over the summer.
Jamie says
That’s a great site!! It’s always wonderful to keep the kids educated on their “days off” !! 🙂
Shop with Me Mama (Kim) says
I love that this offers a safe place for kids to watch videos allows them to explore without constantly looking over their shoulder. I always worry about the internet so this seems nice!
jasmine says
Love this! Its so important to keep the kids minds active through the summer.
Liz Mays says
That would be such a fun way to learn about a variety of subjects. I love how everything is organized!
Marcie W. says
We could definitely benefit from something like this. My kids have been all about Kids Youtube lately, so I think videos are the way to go for them.
Debbie Denny says
I have not heard of this. My daughter in law might like it.
Pam says
This seems like such a great app. It is important for kids to learn as much as possible.
Liz Mays says
And they make it really easy to find what’s right for each individual child. I’m pretty impressed.
Penelope says
I’d definitely try the trial, because this look great. I love that they break it up by age because my sons can both enjoy it, but at their appropriate (different) levels.
Candy o says
Oh nice this sounds like a great educational program for summer. We’ve got another program going
Pauline C. says
This is great tool!!! Kids will be having a smarter use of their time.
Jeannette says
This looks like a great program! My kiddo loves watching videos just like your middle one and I think it’s great that there is a way to teach them through this!
Jeanine says
What a cool idea! We will be taking a long break this summer but won’t be stopping the learning and some homeschooling I’ll check this out!
Pam says
I love this. Kids can have fun and learn and parents can feel secure in knowing what their child is watching. What a great way to keep you child learning during the summer months.
Amy @ Marvelous Mommy says
I’m all for using educational videos for learning. The science experiments look fun!
kristi@ishouldbemoppingthefloor says
Very cool! I will be checking this out for the boys for sure! Thanks for sharing!
Stacey- Travel Blogger says
This looks really neat! It’s great that they have videos that allow kids to learn more!
Jenni E. {Sweet Pennies from Heaven} says
My little guy loves learning on any kind of device, he just does well with it. We’re always looking for new educational things like this.
Theresa says
I like that this encourages learning over the summer. We are doing a few reading challenges to stay on track, but we may have to check out these videos too!
Beth@FrugalFroggie says
I just purchased a book for my 7 year old son to work on. He needs help with his handwritting.
Avry says
Keeping their little minds sharp over the summer is great! Looks like a great line up of videos.
Highbrow says
Thank you for all the kind comments! It inspires us to strive for a better product and experience!
Amy Desrosiers says
I am actively buying books for my kids at yard sales so they have a lengthy assortment for reading. I hope for them to travel a lot too!
Sabrina @ Dinner, then Dessert says
We try to avoid screen time, but when they get it, we try to make sure it’s educational.
Shannon Gurnee says
This sounds like a great way to keep the kids occupied productively during the summer. Thanks for sharing girlie!
Karen says
This is a great answer when they say “Mom, I’m bored. What can I do now?” They will be entertained and learn something at the same time.
Ashley says
What a great idea. Honestly, I’m with you, I hate having to stand over her shoulder to mak sure what she is watching is educational/safe.
Chrystal @ YUM eating says
When kiddo tells me shes bored, I tell her we can start cleaning out her room and tossing all the toys she thinks is now boring. That changes her tune. Games, books, coloring , even pretend play can be learning experiences if you handle it correctly. We just aren’t parents who hand electronic devices. For her they do more harm than good.
ARod says
What a great way to keep them learning in the summer. Thanks so much for sharing.
Lisa from Life with Lisa says
My son is doing an online program to ensure no summer learning loss and it includes Rosetta Stone – I’m so excited! He is too! This is another great program to add to our list, thanks!
Ellen ThatChicMom says
I really like the idea of this for my kids, YouTube is too wild west for me to let them explore solo. Thanks for the tip.
Kiwi says
Great app to keep the kids ahead of the summer learning curve! Very well put together!
kristin says
How fun this looks great for kids. I know my girls would enjoy playing this. Plus it’s educational too!
Amanda says
This looks great! I love that it is so educational and fun at the same time!