The back-to-school season often brings a fresh set of routines, expectations and feelings around the new school year and screen time. Between being prepared for the classroom and managing your child’s tablet time, it can be hard to tell the difference between when it’s productive and when it simply fills the day.
The best screen time is intentional, helping children discover new interests and fall in love with reading without the distractions or hazards that often come with the open internet. It also offers an opportunity for kids to jump back into the topics they love ahead of the school year, refreshing key interests and building healthy study habits! When children are interested in what they’re reading, learning doesn’t feel like a task, but an activity that helps bridge the summer learning slide.
Here are a few ways to make screen time work for your family this school year.
Choose High-Quality Content That Sparks Learning
Not all screen time is created equal. And sometimes, the quality of screen time matters more than the length of use.
Educational experts increasingly encourage parents to focus on the quality of digital experiences rather than simply counting minutes. Purposeful screen time gives children opportunities to solve problems, build skills and explore topics that genuinely interest them instead of passively consuming content.
When screen use is intentional, children learn to be active participants and feel empowered in their decision making and adjustment strategies, skills that can translate to their time in the classroom and as engaged students.
Teaching Kids Screen Time Management Skills
Teaching kids to manage screen time starts with helping them understand that technology is a tool, but not the only tool. Instead of focusing only on time limits, encourage children to think about why they’re using a device and whether it’s the best choice for what they want to accomplish.
Ahead of back-to-school, showing children how to think intentionally about the program they’re using helps develop critical thinking, research and problem solving skills that translate back into the classroom. It allows children to to connect what they’re learning on their device to real-world experiences, encouraging creativity and curiosity.
They’re learning without realizing it!
Curiosity Grows When Discovery Is Intentional
Think back to the last time your child became obsessed with something unexpected. Dinosaurs, planes or drawing, curiosity drives growth and exploration in children. They learn best when they follow their curiosity.
Purposeful technology can help spark that exploration by giving kids opportunities and accessibility to investigate topics that capture their imagination and encourage deeper learning, curating selections that are appropriate and centered on their interests.
Epic’s curated library helps make those discoveries happen naturally. A child who starts with a book about planets might end up exploring astronauts, engineering or weather. One story leads to another, opening doors to subjects they may never have found on their own.
Learning Without Feeling Like Homework
One of the best parts about reading is that kids rarely think about all the skills they’re building while they’re doing it.
A child’s lack of interest in what they’re learning can lead to shorter attention spans, difficulty focusing on homework and, ultimately, difficulty in making sure your child is absorbing what they’re learning. When they’re interested, they’re engaged.
They’re strengthening vocabulary, building background knowledge, practicing comprehension and developing reading stamina, all by keeping books accessible. Epic allows children to take their favorite books on the go, making learning time accessible and fun!
Educational technology is most effective when children are actively engaged and not simply watching. Interactive books and thoughtfully designed digital reading experiences encourage kids to participate, think critically and stay curious.
You’re Still in Control
Every family has different screen time goals, and your child’s reading time should reflect that.
Epic makes it easy for parents to tailor the experience to their child’s unique needs. Every reader on Epic gets a custom library based on their age, skill level and interests. As your child grows, these settings can grow with them. Parents can also adjust content more narrowly, with the ability to hide specific books or turn off the Read-To-Me feature, audiobooks and/or videos.
No matter what, you never have to worry about your kid exploring the platform independently. Each book has been hand-selected for safety and age-appropriateness, and Epic is a 100% ad-free, controlled environment where kids can safely discover books on their own—not open access to the internet.
Start the School Year with Purpose
This back-to-school season, help your child build healthy screen habits with content that’s safe, engaging and designed to inspire a lifelong love of learning. Help them warm-up their critical thinking, memory and focus skills with reading activities and books that have them thinking intentionally.
With thousands of carefully curated books, graphic novels, audiobooks and educational titles, Epic makes it easy to turn screen time into learning time for any age.
Frequently Asked Questions
▶ How much screen time should kids have during the school year?
There’s no single screen time routine that works for every family. Age, schoolwork, sleep physical activity and how kids use their devices all matter. Instead of watching the clock alone, consider whether screen time is interfering with important parts of the day—and whether the content they’re using is helping them learn, create or connect with their interests.
▶ How can I reset my child’s screen time habits for back-to-school?
You don’t have to overhaul everything on the first day of school. Start by bringing back a few predictable routines, such as device-free mealtimes, putting screens away before bed or setting aside time for homework and reading. Getting kids involved in setting those expectations can make new screen time rules feel less like restrictions and more like a family routine.
▶ Does reading on a tablet count as screen time?
Technically, yes—but what kids are doing on that screen matters. Reading an ebook, listening to an audiobook or exploring an educational topic is a different experience from passively scrolling or watching videos. Digital reading can give kids an accessible way to practice reading skills, discover new interests and keep books within reach—even when you’re away from home.
