Remote School Hack for Younger Learners

Zo’s first day of Kindergarten

Here comes the Boom—Box

As far I knew, sharing headphones with mics were a must-have item. I plugged my headphones to his and could hear everything that was happening in class.

Later, I realized I would have to sit still with my kinder-kid for the entire five-hour school day. What about the dishes and the lunch and the three-year-old running around? Not to mention the fourth grader with the occasional tech issues.

I sought out a solution. I needed to hear what was happening in his Kindergarten class without being heard. I also needed the noise cancelling benefit of the headphones to keep him focused on class instead of our full house. 

The headphones came off immediately but he could still hear through the boom box.

Hallelujah

So, I examined the sharing headphones. They connected with standard 3.5 mm plugin. I had tons of those lying around from my days in remote Customer Service. Armed with a theory, I dug out an old boom box from the basement, and with fingers crossed connevted the boom box to the sharing headphones.

Cue the mass choir singing, 'Hallelujah.' It actually worked. 

​I'm able to be my multitasking self, knocking out meals, dishes, and keeping the three-year old occupuied. I even typed this blog post while my five- year-old learned to mute and unmute himself on Google Meet. It’s an interesting school year, so I’m sharing anything I can find to make it easier.

Have you found any remote learning hacks?