I have heard that there are many homeschool parents that buy their homeschool curriculum and materials in the Spring for the upcoming Fall. But as a large family homeschooling mom, it's easier for me to order and plan during the summer when my teaching load is lighter. One thing we need to always remember to order is Headsets for students.
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. I was given a free product and compensated for my time writing this article. All opinions are my own.
My headsets are actually still in great condition and I don't yet need another pair, but I like to keep a new set as a backup with my homeschool books just in case! Let me tell you about the brand we like to use.
Headsets for students
There are some classes that I have my children use the computer for. Some of them are not live, so they don't need the ability to speak into a microphone. However, a few of them are live classes. There is a lot of the time that my student does not speak because the teacher is speaking.
When their teacher wants them to say something, it can be very embarrassing when my child uses the laptop microphone and you can hear me in the background teaching learning arts to my 5 year old saying, “T says ‘t' and starts the word turtle, can you say ‘t'?” I have found that I can avoid this problem by having my online learner use an Avid Headset from Avid Products, Inc.
When my child doesn't need the microphone, he or she can just leave it and ignore it or push it out of the way for learning. Using the AVID headset with their homeschool digital curriculum provides my student a quiet space to focus, since it cancels outside noise, while I teach their siblings. So we prefer headsets with a microphone over headphones for all the above reasons.
Minimal Amount of Headsets With Small Desk Space
I don't have a lot of room on my desk for each of my four homeschool students to have their own headset. This coming school year, I am teaching grades 8, 6, 2 and K. My 8th and 6th graders have about the same size heads and my 2nd grade and grade K student have about the same size heads.
I decided to go with two Headsets that have the microphone, even though my grade K student will not need the microphone this year. I just want to keep the clutter down on the homeschool desk.
I am not sure if this is how you are supposed to clean them, but for convenience, we keep a pack of baby wipes in the desk drawer and I teach my kids to wipe them off after each use (the ear parts are like a faux leather and wipe nicely) and throw the wipe away in the nearby trash. I am still reminding my youngest child to do this, but the others are in the habit of it.
Avid Headset For Smaller Heads
I chose the Avid Headset AE-36 with mic and 3.5mm connector to use with my 2nd grade and grade K students. My youngest children are not careful with these at all, no matter how many times I tell them. Amazingly, they are high quality AND durable and can take a lot of abuse.
These are my children wearing them and the grades they are going into in the Fall of 2024.
Megan
This little grade K student loves her time on the computer, even if it isn't very much. She doesn't have any live classes and doesn't need the microphone, but it's nice to have only her hear the sound so when I have two children reading on the couch and I am working with one at the dining room table near her, we are not bothered by the fun sounds. Her opinion of the Avid headsets, “I can hear it (her learning game) good.” She seems to drop these on the floor at least once a day at this age and is quite rough with them, but they still work great.
Mitchell
My son, Mitchell, is a 2nd grader and he is already in the groove of wearing his headset for his school time on the computer. He is a little rough with them at this age, so I am so thankful that they are durable. Mitchell's opinion, “I like to wear them so I don't hear you talking when I do school on the computer.” (Thanks Mitchell!) So it sounds like it reduces the outside noise for him.
Avid Headset For Teen Size Heads
I chose the Avid Headset AE-55 with mic and 3.5mm connector to use with my 6th and 8th grade students. My middle children that use these are careful with them, but I notice the microphone is put up and down a lot. Even with much use, it's still doing well. I am very impressed with the durability.
Mason
This growing boy, Mason, uses the Avid Headsets the most. He is very interested in computer technology courses and does all his chores to earn time to play online video games that we approve of. Also, he is in the dining room so we can see what he is playing and hold him accountable. He takes good care of the headsets and reminds his siblings to wipe them or put them away or be careful with them. My 6th grader, Mason's opinion, “I can focus better without the outside sounds distracting me and they (his teacher or gaming friends) can hear me talk just fine.”
Miranda
My 8th grade daughter uses them for Math and online art classes the most at this time. She doesn't get very excited about them and just sees it as a useful piece of equipment. She says, “Yeah, they're fine.” I haven't heard any complaints from her about them and she is careful with them and always puts them away well. She did get acrylic paint on them, but it wiped off easily.
Why Did I Choose Avid?
My big four concerns in choosing a headset were proper head size, safety, noise canceling, and somewhat local.
Proper Head Size
This is important to me because I don't want a large headset falling off my littles, but want it to not be too tight or too loose for my middles. I like that Avid Products, Inc. has various sizes available.
Safety
Since I suffer with tinnitus, I wanted something safe for my kids to use. Now that my ears are more sensitive, I can tell if something is too loud as it worsens my tinnitus. I have tested these on myself with very good results, so I know I can trust these headsets on my children. I noticed in the product insert paper, that the smaller one (AE-36 size) is CPSIA and TPCH compliant and the larger one (AE-55 size is CPSIA, Prop-65 and TPCH compliant. The website also says both their headsets are RoHS and CA Prop-65 compliant.
Noise Canceling
The Avid Products, Inc. website says that both of my models that I chose are noise canceling microphones for optimized voice quality. We have tested these and they work great. I especially like that the online class can't hear me talking in the background.
I found this out for sure because Mason's online math class has a playback option where you can go back and listen to the class later in the week and in the part where he is speaking, I know I was talking and was wondering if they heard me. I checked and you couldn't hear me at all even though I was only four feet away from the computer desk teaching my 1st grader (he will now be going into 2nd grade) spelling.
Somewhat Local
Pretty much everything is made in China and these are too. But they are a US-based company in Providence, Rhode Island and have been around since 1953, over 30 years! They are a 30-person employee-owned company. They also offer a free headset recycling program. The 31 people on their “our team” page look like great people to support with my purchase.
Best Value Headset for Students
I just wanted you to remember to order your headsets for the upcoming homeschool year and let you know what I chose and why, as well as my children's opinions. For the price, nothing beats the safety and durability. They are the best value headsets for my homeschool students. Check out the AVID Headsets for students!
Discount: Use code HOMESCHOOL for 20% off. Expires July 31, 2024.
Where To Find Them
Website: https://shop.avidproducts.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/avidproductsinc/
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/avidproductsinc
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avidproductsinc
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Great Read!