Jessica Alba says she has 'spy cameras' in her kids' rooms to monitor them during online school

• Jessica Alba uses "spy cameras" in her kids' bedrooms to monitor them while they take classes remotely from home, she said on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show."
• "I can call them out. I'm like the voice from the ceiling coming in," Alba said.
• The actress and founder of The Honest Company, 39, has three kids with husband Cash Warren — Honor, 12; Haven, 9; and Hayes, 3.

Jessica Alba said that she uses hidden cameras to keep an eye on her three kids while they're in online school from home.

In an episode of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" that aired Friday, the 39-year-old actress and founder of The Honest Company spoke about the tactic she uses to monitor her three kids - Honor, 12; Haven, 9; and Hayes, 3 - with her husband Cash Warren.

"I have spy cameras in their room, and so, I can see: Are they messing around? Are they focusing? I can call them out. I'm like the voice from the ceiling coming in," Alba told Stephen Laurel "tWitch" Boss, the stand-in host for the show. "Also, if they fight, I can rewind and really see who hit who first, and so it's very good for that."

She added that she doesn't know if the cameras make her kids any more inclined to focus on their schoolwork from home. "But I can definitely call them out if they're not paying attention," she said.

Other celebrity moms and dads have opened up about the ups and downs of parenting amid the pandemic

As the coronavirus pandemic caused schools around the US to switch from in-person learning to online instruction, parents have juggled providing for their families, being stand-in teachers, and keeping kids occupied while spending the majority of the time at home.

Like Alba spoke about resorting to nanny cameras to help her watch her kids, other celebrity moms and dads have been vocal about parenting and doubling as teachers all from home - something many of them likely had the luxury not to do full-time prior to the pandemic.

For example, Jennifer Lopez said she stressed when she couldn't figure out her 12-year-old twins' math homework, and "Hamilton" creator Lin-Manuel Miranda said that he was "not getting any work done" while helping his two children with their schoolwork. Drew Barrymore said that once she started homeschooling her kids in early 2020, she "cried every day, all day long."

• Read more:
• Parents who live in RVs share 8 of their best tips and tricks for families that are new to homeschooling
• Some kids are gaining independence because of the pandemic - a possible silver lining, experts say
• 10 times celebrities realized how hard parenting is while stuck in quarantine with their kids