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Talking to Families About Screen Time in Early Learning: What to Say When Parents Ask
Thursday, October 22, 2026 @ 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm EDT
Talking to Families About Screen Time in Early Learning: What to Say When Parents Ask
Presented by Eisha Buch, Head of Teaching and Learning, Common Sense Media; Dr. Katie DiGregorio, Director of Learning: ENL, Data, and Student Success, West Hempstead Union Free School District (NY); and Dr. Lisa Minicozzi, Principal, Chestnut Street School, West Hempstead Union Free School District (NY)
Moderated by Caroline Hu Flexer, Co-Founder and Vice President, Khan Academy Kids
Sponsored by Khan Academy Kids
Learn more about earning a CE certificate and our accessibility features.
Teachers of young children get asked about screen time constantly. It comes up at pickup, in the hallway, and in the middle of a conference about something else. The advice keeps shifting, and most of it measures screen time by the clock rather than by what's on the screen. What's a teacher with 90 seconds and a worried parent in front of her supposed to say?
This edWebinar gives PreK through second-grade educators and the administrators who support them a clear direction for conversations with families about their child's technology use. Our presenters have had these conversations themselves, and they will be specific about what worked, what didn't, and what they would say differently now.
Viewers can learn to:
- Recognize the worry underneath the question about minutes, and why a time limit answers the wrong one
- Apply a three-question framework a parent can remember the next day: Content, Context, and Crowd-Out
- Adapt the conversation to three settings: a ten-minute slot at Back-to-School Night, a full family engagement night, and a two-minute hallway exchange
- Respond when a family pushes back, and know what not to promise
Key topics include:
- The friction between families who want fewer screens and instruction that runs on devices
- Where families get their screen time information, and which pieces of popular advice don't hold up
- How guilt shapes the conversation, and why a non-judgmental opening changes the outcome
- The American Academy of Pediatrics 5 Cs as a deeper framework for longer family sessions
The presenters focus on the quality of what's on the screen and how to talk about it with families, not whether devices belong in early-grade classrooms at all. Attendees will receive a free family-facing toolkit, Managing Screen Time, Together, plus a resource list and language you can use the same week.
This recorded edWebinar will be of interest to PreK through second-grade educators, librarians, school leaders, district leaders, and education technology leaders.
About the Presenters
Eisha Buch is the Head of Teaching and Learning at Common Sense Media, where she leads the organization’s K–12 Digital Literacy & Well-Being Curriculum, a free, comprehensive curriculum now reaching millions of students, educators, and families across more than 85,000 schools worldwide. A former New York City teacher with over 15 years in education, Eisha has built a framework for helping young people stay fully human in a tech-saturated world: not by avoiding technology, but by thinking critically about its influence on their relationships, well-being, and sense of self. She is committed to making digital literacy as foundational as learning to read and write.
Katie DiGregorio, Ed.D., is the Director of Learning: ENL, Data, and Student Success in West Hempstead Union Free School District and an Adjunct Professor in the College of Education and Health Sciences at Adelphi University and of Professional Graduate Studies at Molloy University. Dr. DiGregorio is passionate about using instructional technology to promote student-centered and personalized learning for multilingual learners. Dr. DiGregorio was the 2019 Fred Podolski Award Winner for Most Innovative Use of Technology in the classroom, and the staff at West Hempstead uses instructional technology daily to encourage authentic work opportunities that showcase inclusive, challenging learning spaces for all multilingual learners.
Lisa L. Minicozzi, Ed.D., is the Principal of the Chestnut Street Early Learning Center in the West Hempstead Union Free School District and an Adjunct Professor in the College of Education and Health Sciences at Adelphi University. With experience as a K–12 educator and K–5 principal, Dr. Minicozzi is a dedicated educational leader committed to creating learning environments where every child is known, valued, supported, and empowered to thrive. As a principal, Dr. Minicozzi is passionate about educating the whole child, recognizing that academic achievement is deeply connected to students’ social-emotional development, sense of belonging, relationships, and well-being. Her leadership focuses on building strong school communities, supporting educators and families as partners, and ensuring that all children have meaningful opportunities to learn, grow, and discover their strengths. Through both her school leadership and work as an adjunct professor, she is committed to fostering reflective, collaborative educators and creating schools where both children and adults can thrive.
About the Moderator
Caroline Hu Flexer is the Vice President of Khan Academy Kids. She leads the team developing Khan Academy Kids, an educational program that is designed to inspire a lifetime of learning and discovery for children ages 2-8. It includes interactive, standards-aligned lessons across early literacy, language, math, and social-emotional skills. Khan Academy Kids is used by millions of children in homes and classrooms around the world. Prior to Khan Academy, Caroline was the CEO and Co-founder of Duck Duck Moose, which joined Khan Academy in 2016. Duck Duck Moose is a creator of 21 award-winning educational apps for children that have been downloaded over 100 million times.
Join the PreK-3 Digital Learning community to network with educators, participate in online discussions, receive invitations to upcoming edWebinars, and view recordings of previous programs to earn CE certificates.
Learn more about earning a CE certificate and our accessibility features.
Khan Academy Kids is a free early learning program that empowers teachers and families to nurture confident, curious learners. Developed by Khan Academy in partnership with early childhood learning experts from Stanford University, the app helps children ages 2–8 build foundational literacy, math, and executive functioning skills through play-based learning. Interactive lessons, books, and activities adapt to each child’s level, while teachers can track progress and assign standards-aligned lessons in the classroom. Used by schools and districts nationwide, Khan Academy Kids supports equitable access to research-backed early education—no subscriptions, ads, or barriers. Available on mobile, tablet, and Chromebook devices, the app brings joyful, effective learning to every child, everywhere.
