As the coronavirus weaves its insidious way through the world and schools are closing, parents are seeking ways to keep the kids’ schooling going at home and, of course, to keep the kids entertained. This is sure to be a trying time for all. We’ve talked about some of the big feelings around this pandemic.
As I have mentioned a few times in passing, we’ve been “afterschooling” our kids this school year. In short, this means we have felt as though their current school has not been meeting their educational needs and we’ve been supplementing at home. Think of it as a blend between homeschooling and traditional schooling.
Because of our afterschooling journey, we’ve collected a few resources (and have done a lot of research) on ways kids can learn in the home environment.
As the coronavirus keeps us all away from school right now, some of these may be useful for your family. (Quick note that there are many companies offering for free services they generally charge for as a way to help parents during this time. Read more about that here.)
Truthfully, I don’t think it’s useful at this point to simply and solely share platitudes about how this is a great time to snuggle in and enjoy our kids. Yes, of course, it is and can be, but it also is a big change and challenge for a lot of parents. And that’s okay to admit and to feel. We can certainly use this new public health challenge as an opportunity to enjoy the time together and use the forced slowing down of our schedules to re-focus on home and hearth. But we can also come together to share resources and a feeling of solidarity to try to make this easier. It is times like these when the Internet is a powerful tool.
So in an attempt to help and a desire to connect and support our parenting community around the world, I hope these resources and links are useful.
Note: If there are resources that should be added, please shoot me a note and I will try to keep this list updated.
Note: There are some affiliate links below, and you can read our disclaimer here.
Here are some ways you can help your kids’ educational journey from home:
Model curriculum here – we love Saxon Math, Shurley grammar and VocabuLit as well as the Orbiting with Logic series.
I will also immediately point parents to The Pioneer Woman’s website of free online resources.
Outschool (free/$) offers online courses on so many topics, with flex scheduling, live one-time sessions or ongoing classes.
Scholastic Learning (free).
Udemy ($) offers online courses for kids on a variety of subjects. For example, our 5th grader is currently doing a course on board game theory and design (currently at a severely discounted rate of $20 for 11 hours of content).
Art Museums (free) offering online tours.
MetKids (free) is a wonderful interactive website.
25 Podcasts for kids (free).
The homeschool mom website has a lot of resources and information articles.
If you are looking for worksheets to download and print, great for younger kids, check out 123homeschool4me.com.
Some science websites we love include NASA’s kids club (free) and National Geographic Kids (free).
On Netflix, we’ve enjoyed an engineering documentary as well as a series about the planets and space. Of course, Planet Earth was also incredibly popular in our house and we’d watch that again!
Our boys have been devouring the Who Was show lately. It’s a little silly but also fun.
Many libraries have free online lending apps. Check out our best chapter book series for kids, books on art for kids, and best books the kids read in 2018 and 2019 for some recommendations.
If you have a book loving kid, I will also point you to our son’s project.
The epic book app is popular but, honestly, is only at its best if you are willing to pay to unlock the premium content and books. (They do offer a free introductory period.)
Let the kids explore and research a topic that they are interested in and then compile what they learn into an outline, then turn that into a report. (For example, our 8-year-old is working on koalas and has learned a fascinating amount, some of it fairly gross, about the animals.)
Consider classic craft kits like paint by number, loom weaving, and model kits to encourage art and creativity.
For ideas on other indoor activities to keep the kids entertained, check out Buzzfeed’s list and this list here for some ideas. Also, be sure to check out our post on ways to keep kids’ brains engaged for additional learning activities.
Parents: there are some great posts on The Family Trip you may find helpful, too. There are ways to work out at home, great books for parents, and tips for starting a journal. Remember to tend to your own mental health.
We do hard things all the time. We balance jobs, finances, kids, relationships and more on a daily basis. We’ve got this, and we’re in it together.