The coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has led to many unprecedented precautions being taken by people all over the country. During this trying time, schools are temporarily closed, and several businesses are encouraging their employees to practice social distancing. If you’re a parent, this likely means that you’re working from home while the little ones are home from school.
How on Earth are you supposed to remain productive with work and be sure your kids’ weeks off of school are moving them forward with their schoolwork? Well, the good news is you’re not alone! Avoid a pre-summertime slump with some helpful resources and a plan!
You may have seen several posts on Facebook, recommended sites from teachers, and all sorts of e-mails about the resources that are now available for your kids.
Let’s take a look at the educational resources for kids available to you while you’re working from home:
Khan Academy
Khan Academy is a great place to start for sample daily schedules, learning resources, and outside links to accompanying materials. It’s very education-forward and doesn’t come with as many bells and whistles as some other sites. With textbook-style handouts, this might be the easiest transition for students looking for more of a classroom home study.
Zearn
Chances are good that your child will have a login for Zearn. If not, email their teacher and see if they can provide you with a login. When they sign in, they will have different math quizzes and games to complete to progress in their lessons.
Under the parent resources section, there are webinars that you can view that help explain the different modules. This one is so fun, your kids will not even realize they’re learning!
Great Minds
Great Minds is the hub for Eureka math and science. Under “Access Free Resources,” you can view workbooks, teacher instructions, games, and parent tip sheets broken up by each topic. There are also some helpful videos on there in case you need a bit more explanation. You might have to teach yourself before you can explain to your student!
BrainPOP
BrainPOP breaks down subjects like science, social studies, English, and math, while incorporating engineering and tech topics into videos, quizzes, games, and worksheets. While BrainPOP is usually a subscription-based site, you can sign up for a free membership right now due to school closures. This site has so much content that your child can stay on it for hours completing relevant courses for all subjects they’re studying in school.
Cosmic Kids Yoga
If your kids need a little wind-down, check out Cosmic Kids Yoga’s YouTube channel. The instructor, Jaime, goes through different poses in fun and creative sets that help keep bodies active, and builds on self-awareness.
Go Noodle
This might be one you want to join in with, because personally, even I enjoyed some of the songs! I have my own moves though!
Go Noodle’s channel on YouTube gets the kids up and moving with some “hip” dance moves to fun, kid-appropriate tunes. It gets some P.E. in there, so that’s a check!
Flashback with Oregon Trail
Classic Reload has the ‘90s favorite we played in school! My oldest daughter plays Oregon Trail in her social studies class sometimes, so when she mentioned her teacher had a link on Google Classroom, I just had to take a trip down memory lane myself.
Netflix
Set your kiddos up with their own page on your Netflix account, assuming you have one. I would recommend adding the Magic School Bus series and BBC Earth to start. Netflix also has a few original movies about the planet, birds, and the Mars exploration.
Disney+
My kids have been loving this! While it’s not free, it’s worth the money in our current state of isolation. Sure, Disney has a bunch of movies and shows available, but it also has a National Geographic section that is a learning goldmine!
My daughters have been watching a documentary and then writing a brief report about each film. So far, we’ve watched Expedition Amelia, Drain the Titanic, and Hostile Planet: The Polar. Get a free, seven-day trial, and memberships are $6.99/month after that.
Steve Caparotta, WAFB Meteorologist
Baton Rouge meteorologist Steve Caparotta recently held a Facebook live video on “Intro to Weather/Meteorology”. Check out his Facebook page for upcoming live videos on other weather topics. You can also find a Weather Word Search and Word Scramble on WAFB’s site.
Other Helpful Links
- Virtual Field Trips
- Scholastic Learn at Home
- Storyline Online
- Squiggle Park
- Prodigy
- National Geographic Kids
- Travel and Leisure’s Virtual Museum Tours
- History for Kids
- Typing Club
- Mystery Doug
Other Ideas to Pass the Quarantine
- Have your kids create pictures or greeting cards and mail to your local nursing home.
- Put together a KiwiCo craft or science kit.
- Create music videos using your phone or sing karaoke.
- Put together a puzzle or five! Order online if you don’t have one handy.
A lot of this revolves around screentime, so be sure to break it up with some old fashioned outdoors play (maybe while you’re on a conference call for work), have the littles help with lunch or dinner, and take this time to purge the house!
Stay Updated with Your Local School System
Which of these educational resources have you tried? Let us know in the comments below!
Only child and mother of two girls. Holiday freak that loves to plan a party, especially with a theme! I take entirely too many pictures, mostly of my kids. I am always up for a Hallmark Christmas movie marathon and a quick trip somewhere.
