Every year I’m amazed at how my audience grows. I’m also amazed when certain podcasts seem to resonate with listeners. Sometimes the topics I cover here aren’t directly tech-related but it’s nice to know that you, the listener, appreciate every episode. So, let’s take a look at the Top 5 Podcasts of 2015.

I’m basing my number off of statistics that I get from Blubrry, my media host. If you’re a fellow podcaster, you can get free statistics for your podcast there as well.

The Wired Homeschool is underwritten by Scholaric: The homeschool planner that SAVES you time. Plan, track, and organize your homeschool more easily than you ever imagined. Start your free trial today.

Thanks to all the individual patrons who have supported the podcast. Special thanks go out to Matt Kamla & Winston Crutchfield.

5. Teens, Tweens, Social Media, and Mobile Devices by the Numbers

70% of teens aged 13 to 17 now use smartphones (Pew Research). 80% of parents say they have no idea how to monitor their kids’ activities online. 95% of teens have at least one social network account (Pew Research). In light of these facts how can we model responsible use of social media to our kids?

4. Meerkat for Homeschoolers

Meerkat was the darling of social media in early 2015. At SXSW many popular bloggers and celebrities used Meerkat to propel it into the public eye but is it something that homeschoolers can use or should be concerned about?

3. Top 5 Google Products Homeschoolers Can Start Using Today

Google didn’t unveil a new self-cleaning, Internet-connected coffee mug at Google I/O this year. However, Google offers many free products to the public. Homechoolers can take advantage of these free products to help reduce the cost of using tech.

2. What Parents Need to Know About Facebook

When your kids start using social media it’s probably the first site they want to use because “all their friends are using it”. Your kids probably watch you use Facebook and ask if you’re going to post pictures of them online or some funny thing they said. Facebook has become a part of most American’s lives and it’s not going away any time soon. It’s part of American and worldwide culture and as parents and homeschoolers we need to understand how to use it and how to protect our family’s privacy.

1. Teaching Art Online with Rob Jensen from Art for Kids Hub

Rob Jensen from Art for Kids Hub is a father of three and husband to one. His YouTube channel and website have hundreds of videos that teach kids (and parents too) how to draw, paint, and more. Rob records videos with his three kids (Chuckers, Hads, and Austin) every week and shows kids how to bring out their inner artist.

Which episode was your favorite of 2015?

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Star Wars: The Force Awakens debuted in theaters this week and I was fortunate enough to see it on the first night it was showing.

Star Wars fans all over the world have been waiting for the release of The Force Awakens but did it live up to all of the hype? Listen to this special episode of The Wired Homeschool to find out!

The Wired Homeschool is underwritten by Scholaric: The homeschool planner that SAVES you time. Plan, track, and organize your homeschool more easily than you ever imagined. Start your free trial today.

Thanks to all the individual patrons who have supported the podcast. Special thanks go out to Matt Kamla & Winston Crutchfield.

IMDB Parent’s Guide for Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Plugged In’s Review of Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Is the New Star Wars Movie Appropriate for Your Kid? (Common Sense Media)

Have you seen the movie yet? What do you think about Star Wars: The Force Awakens?

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The Wired Homeschool is a proud member of the Tech Podcast Network. For more family-friendly tech podcasts visit techpodcasts.com

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Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsement

Not many kids like math but if you can make learning math fun and entertaining they can usually power through and learn their math facts.

We’ve used a lot of apps and websites in our homeschooling and in this episode of The Wired Homeschool I’ll cover the 4 Websites That Make Learning Fun.

The Wired Homeschool is underwritten by Scholaric: The homeschool planner that SAVES you time. Plan, track, and organize your homeschool more easily than you ever imagined. Start your free trial today.

Thanks to all the individual patrons who have supported the podcast. Special thanks go out to Matt Kamla & Winston Crutchfield.

Looking for some great websites to help your kids with math? Here are the four that we use in our homeschool:

CTC Math

Khan Academy

Sheppard Software

Sumdog

Listen to the episode to hear why we use these sites and how they can help you keep track of your child’s progress.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsement

You’ve probably heard a lot about Duolingo either from friends or seen it reviewed on various blogs. In this episode, I interview two of my kids to get their take on it after having used it for three months. I also provide some insight from a parent’s point of view.

The Wired Homeschool is underwritten by Scholaric: The homeschool planner that SAVES you time. Plan, track, and organize your homeschool more easily than you ever imagined. Start your free trial today.

Thanks to all the individual patrons who have supported the podcast. Special thanks go out to Matt Kamla & Winston Crutchfield.

Quick Takeaways

I decided to interview two of my kids who use Duolingo the most and ask them what they like and dislike about the app and website. They had some very interesting things to say.

As a homeschool parent, you can sign up as a “school” and add your kids as students to track their progress. The only downside is that each student must have a unique email address. I created some dummy email accounts for my kids. Not everyone may be willing to do that or have the technical know-how. I’m hoping that in the future Duolingo will allow multiple students under the same email address.

I used the app myself and it’s fun trying to earn achievements but if you have notifications turned on it can be a little annoying due to the frequency of the notifications.

Overall, I find the site and app easy to use and fun for learning a foreign language. Will you ever get fluent in Esperanto with Duolingo? Probably not. It’s still a great supplement when learning a new language.

App Description

Learn Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Irish, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, and English. Totally fun. Totally free.

Duolingo is changing the way people learn languages.

With Duolingo, you learn a language completely for free. You have fun while you learn, leveling up and competing with friends.

Duolingo is available on the Apple App Store, Google Play, and Microsoft Store.

Listen to last year’s App Advent podcasts:

Top 5 Free Education Apps: App Advent – WHS 132

Top 5 Free Kids Apps: App Advent – WHS 133

7 Alternatives to Apple’s Podcasts App – App Advent – WHS 134

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With the holiday shopping season upon us, many parents think about purchasing tablets for their children. You can pay a lot or very little for a tablet and I’ve rounded up some at various price points for you to consider.

While price isn’t the only thing you should consider when purchasing a tablet, it generally is the strongest determining factor. You can listen to episode 108 for my tips on choosing the right tablet.

The Wired Homeschool is underwritten by Scholaric: The homeschool planner that SAVES you time. Plan, track, and organize your homeschool more easily than you ever imagined. Start your free trial today.

Thanks to all the individual patrons who have supported the podcast. Special thanks go out to Matt Kamla & Winston Crutchfield.

Best Tablets Under $100

Kindle Fire 7″ – $49.99, Fire OS 5, 8GB storage

Kindle Fire HD 6″ – $99.99, Fire OS 5, 8GB storage

Kindle Fire Kid’s Edition – $99.99, 8GB storage, 2 yr warranty, case

HP 7 G2 – $99.99, 8GB, Android 4.4.2 (KitKat)

Best Tablets Under $200

Kindle Fire HD 8 – $149.99, Fire OS 5, colors, thinner than HD 7

Lenovo Yoga Tab 3 8″ – $199.99, Android 5.1 (Lolipop), 16GB storage

Lenovo Yoga Tab 2 8″ – $199.99, Windows 8.1, 16GB storage

Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook 7″ – $149.99, Android 4.4.2 (KitKat), 8GB storage

Best Tablets Under $300

iPad Mini 2 – $269, iOS 9, 16GB storage

Samsung Galaxy Tab E Nook – $249.99, Android 4.4.2 (KitKat), 16GB storage

Kindle Fire HD10 – $229.99, FireOS 5, 16GB storage

Dell Venue 10 Pro 5000 – $279.99, Windows 8.1, 32GB storage

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When tragedy strikes in our country or around the world, social media is flooded. Some of the posts are compassionate and heartfelt while others can be callus or indifferent.

How are we as parents to respond to our kids when they ask about what they’ve seen on social media? In this special episode of The Wired Homeschool I examine how a parent should respond to their child after tragedy is exposed on social media.

The Wired Homeschool is underwritten by Scholaric: The homeschool planner that SAVES you time. Plan, track, and organize your homeschool more easily than you ever imagined. Start your free trial today.

Thanks to all the individual patrons who have supported the podcast. Special thanks go out to Matt Kamla & Winston Crutchfield.

Thanks to Michael T. Hansen from the Great Commission Transmission Network and Finding Christ in Cinema for providing a great outline of how we should guide our kids through difficult events.

Benefits of Social Media

Real Time news/video

Hashtags

Facebook’s “Safety Check”

Drawbacks of Social Media

Groupthink (Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four)

Loss of critical thought

Propensity to pit groups of humans against one another

Parent’s Response

Ask our children questions

Dialogue

Encourage original thought

Additional commentary is from Derek Gilbert of View From the Bunker and PID Radio.

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The Wired Homeschool is a proud member of the Tech Podcast Network. For more family-friendly tech podcasts visit techpodcasts.com

Music for the podcast by Kevin Macleod.

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsement

While I was on hiatus Microsoft announced the availability of the Surface Pro 4 tablet and Surface Book. Although the devices have been available for a few weeks now, I though I’d go over some reasons why I would buy the Surface Pro 4 instead of the iPad Pro.

The Wired Homeschool is underwritten by Scholaric: The homeschool planner that SAVES you time. Plan, track, and organize your homeschool more easily than you ever imagined. Start your free trial today.

Thanks to all the individual patrons who have supported the podcast. Special thanks go out to Matt Kamla & Winston Crutchfield.

News

Google Play Music Now Supports Podcasting

Microsoft Reneges on Unlimited OneDrive Storage Promise

3 Reasons to Buy a Microsoft Surface Pro 4

1. Price. Although the entry point for the Surface Pro 4 may seem steep, when you compare it to the Apple iPad Pro, it’s a steal. It’s $100 more than the entry-level iPad Pro and cheaper than the premium model.

2. Flexibility. Unlike the iPad Pro, the Surface Pro 4 has a USB port. This makes it easy for you to attache external storage and other accessories without the need to buy and adapter that’s going to increase the cost of your device.

3. It’s a computer, not a tablet. Unlike the iPad Pro the Surface Pro 4 has a fully functional operating system. That means when you hook it up to a monitor, keyboard, and mouse it behaves like a desktop computer.

I don’t have any plans to buy a Surface Pro 4 in the future. However, if someone were to offer to buy me either the iPad Pro or the Surface Pro 4 I’d ask for the Surface without batting an eye.

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Music for the podcast by Kevin Macleod.

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Tr...

Here’s a quick update letting you know what’s going on with the podcast and my plans for some future episodes.

Upcoming Episodes

1. 3 Reasons to Buy a Microsoft Surface Pro 4

2. Top Sub-$100 Tablets

3. Surviving the Holidays with Social Media

What suggestions do you have? Contact me on Facebook or Twitter and let me know!

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The Wired Homeschool is a proud member of the Tech Podcast Network. For more family-friendly tech podcasts visit techpodcasts.com

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsement

Guest host Winston Crutchfield from Critical Press Media shares a conversation he had with his sister-in-law about Classical Conversations.

Winston Crutchfield is a media junkie and fanboy attempting to train the next generation in the ways of the Force. He podcasts, writes, and generally waffles between drooling, goggle-eyed gadgetphile and reclusive, Luddite technophobe. Winston lives in south-central Indiana with his wife and two children, where they are currently owned by a black-and-white cat of undetermined breed, but obvious royal blood. He has been accused of reading too much, speaking like an encyclopedia, and disregarding reality in favor of the facts.

The Wired Homeschool is underwritten by Scholaric: The homeschool planner that SAVES you time. Plan, track, and organize your homeschool more easily than you ever imagined. Start your free trial today.

Thanks to all the individual patrons who have supported the podcast. Special thanks go out to Matt Kamla & Winston Crutchfield.

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The Wired Homeschool is a proud member of the Tech Podcast Network. For more family-friendly tech podcasts visit techpodcasts.com

Music for the podcast by Kevin Macleod.

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsement

This week Andy Fletcher provides insightful commentary on the CNN report #Being13. Now, more than ever, it is vital that we engage with our teens before they end up on the wrong side of social media.

Andy “Fletch” Fletcher is 1/2 of the dynamic duo over at Homeschooling in Real Life. He and his wife Kendra podcast every week from the trenches of homeschooling and pull back the thin veil revealing that not all homeschoolers have it all together. Fletch has been featured on The Homeschool Heartbeat broadcast and has won the coveted Best Homeschool Dad Blog award for theMangoTimes, but he moonlights as a dentist to pay the bills. He is an eternal optimist, who loves walking Betty the SurfDog, playing the drums, and drinking really good coffee.

The Wired Homeschool is underwritten by Scholaric: The homeschool planner that SAVES you time. Plan, track, and organize your homeschool more easily than you ever imagined. Start your free trial today.

Thanks to all the individual patrons who have supported the podcast. Special thanks go out to Matt Kamla.

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The Wired Homeschool is a proud member of the Tech Podcast Network. For more family-friendly tech podcasts visit techpodcasts.com

Music for the podcast by Kevin Macleod.

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsement