CHILDCARE management software specialist Connect Childcare has launched a new feature to help parents home-school their children and track their learning experiences during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Nurseries and childminders have closed their doors, meaning more relatives are playing the role of ‘teacher’.

The Nelson firm's ParentHub app is capable of tracking your children's educational development as well as content for meals, recipes and home activities, plus useful links and apps.

Connect has collaborated with early years nutrition expert Louise Mercieca and BBC Bitesize to generate and share the information.

The new app is part of Connect’s existing app ParentZone, which focuses on recording the development of children up to five and has been downloaded by 180,000 registered users.

Connect Childcare’s CEO Chris Reid said: “It’s always been important for children to continue their development outside of the nursery or childminder setting, but it’s never been more pivotal than it is now.

“The main objective of ParentHub is to improve outcomes for children – enabling parents to keep practitioners in the loop with their child’s learning, by sending observations made at home," he added.

“For example, parents can upload photos of them completing activities, and nursery staff can then interact and respond.

“It’s also about making sure parents, nursery staff and childminders feel supported and not alone in these difficult times.

“For parents who have children starting primary school in September, they’ll be applying for places soon, and there are lots of helpful tips and advice integrated into the app content – we want to make it feel as undaunting as possible.”

Further advancements to ParentHub will continue over the coming weeks, covering a wide range of topics including speech and language, mental health and wellbeing, plus safeguarding and internet safety.

Chris added: “While the app is beneficial for parents during this strange time, it’s also advantageous for nursery staff and childminders."

Find out more about ParentZone, how to sign up and offers for new users, via https://www.connectchildcare.com/software/parentzone/.