Resources for Home Schooling during COVID-19 “Stay at Home’ Period
At the moment, many of us may not know what kind of online education is going to be available to our kids during this COVID-19 pandemic. Will be home schooling?
We may need to supplement, and if so, we need resources. The purpose of this article is to provide you with some ideas for schooling from home, and for supplementing your child’s education.
Before becoming a counsellor, (twenty two years ago) I was an Elementary School Teacher, thus education is one of my main passions.
Schedules and consistency will be very important to the success of your home schooling program. It’s also important for kids to learn “Work and then play” and for us to build in the fun, play-time as part of the schedule too.
Math:
Khan Academy – I highly recommend this free math website.
This has a very comprehensive US based math curriculum for ages 2-18 yrs. In fact, the math curriculum on this website seems to be more challenging than the regular classroom curriculum. If your child is stuck on a question, there is a video tutorial which explains the concept in further detail. It also has badges which can be earned to show the student his/her progress.
PBSlearningmedia – For preschoolers and Kindergarteners
Sumdog – Ages 5-14 . This math and spelling website is in a game format which works to motivate kids. Students are tested on math facts, word problems and spelling. During the pandemic school closures, all their programs are free.
DreamBox – a lot of schools recommend this website and many schools buy a subscription and then give each student a log-in. Until April 30th, 2020, they have a free 90 day trial.
Dragon Box apps (+5) for younger students ages 8 and up and (+12) for middle and high-school students. These apps simplify math facts and algebra in a fun way.
Jump Math workbooks which are used by many classroom teachers with their students, can be ordered by parents from Toronto, Ontario. This is a good resource to have throughout the year as well, to pre-teach math concepts or reinforce concepts. In my opinion, Jump Math books are excellent for students who benefit from in-depth explanations of concepts. For students who are highly proficient in math, I would not recommend Jump Math, I would use the Khan Academy on-line courses.
http://patrickjmt.com/ – this site, is similar to Khan Academy with highly rated free math videos for algebra and other advanced math
Amazon sells Brain Quest which has comprehensive workbooks for elementary students, which includes all subjects: Math, Reading, Writing etc. Brain Quest products are also available here.
*Sometimes, one can find pdf files of Jump Math workbooks, Brain Quest workbooks etc. on-line
For more top-rated math websites go to: http://student-tutor.com/blog/top-10-math-websites/
Reading:
Free audio books by Audible for as long as school closures last
Virtual Story-time from the WestVancouver Library – live every day at 10am – recording available for 24 hours
https://westvanlibrary.ca/read-listen-view/read/ebooks-e-reading – ebooks, magazines, newspapers from the library
Recommendations of “Must-read” or have “Read-to” books from ages 2-12 yrs.
Tumblebooks are audio and visual books which are available through one’s library website. The books tell you for which grade they are most appropriate. Choose your book and then the text is highlighted as an audio reads the book aloud. This is the link for the West Vancouver Library – each library has their own link.
My daughter’s favourite website for finding good books to read is Goodreads. Here you will find book reviews for any book you can imagine. One can sign up for a free account and then it will give you recommendations based on your “want to reads” as well as your ratings and reviews of books.
Starfall is a reading and phonics website for younger readers. Excellent for teaching phonics and for beginner readers. (preK-gr.3)
Young Explorer National Geographic has some great non-fiction books for younger readers. Also, check out: http://kids.nationalgeographic.com
Writing:
Storybird is an amazing website where one can create picture books with words or chapter books. The website has free art in order that you can add illustrations to your story, as well as a front cover. You can then share your story with friends, family or Storybird followers. Choose from hundreds of lessons, quizzes, and writing prompts for all ages, or take their monthly challenge.
Book creator is an app for creating your own story books on an iPad. Once the book has been created, it can be sent off for publishing (printing).
Fun Quiz:
https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/games/quizzes/
Free Online Activities and Virtual Events during School Closures:
Common Sense Media has the most comprehensive site I’ve found of all the live virtual story times, drawing lessons, music classes etc. Check it out here: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/blog/free-online-events-activities-kids-at-home-coronavirus
Free Museum Tours:
- Virtual tour of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
- Virtual tour of the Louvre museum in Paris, France
- Virtual tour of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York
- Virtual tour of the Boston Children’s Museum (Google Earth)
- Virtual tour of the Great Wall of China
- Virtual tour of Mars from pictures from NASA’s Curiosity rover
There are so many wonderful resources and this just mentions a few.
Good luck with your “Stay at Home” home schooling program,
Take care and be well,
Warmly,
PS. If you’re looking for more activities for your child during this Stay-at-Home period. My next round of Self-Empowerment groups will be starting next Thursday and running online for six weeks. We will be having our group via Zoom, online. This is a good opportunity for children from outside of the Vancouver area to join. Please find the flyer with more information here and contact Hailey at the ABLE Clinic at: Hailey@ableclinic.ca for more information and to register. These life-skills groups are for children ages 7-9yrs. and 10-12 yrs.
Our first online session will focus on: Optimism versus Pessimism and Using Gratitude for Being Resilient When Facing Changes
PPS. Daily Voting is still going until April 24th! Please consider voting for me and my YWCA Cause for Early Learning/Childcare for single/teen moms in Vancouver – the winner receives the Connecting the Community Award and Scotia Bank donates $10000 to the Winning YWCA Cause. Please click here or search on the internet for: YWCA Connecting the Community Award
For further reading on how to motivate your child with their school work:
How to Schedule The Day and Motivate Your Child (originally written during the BC Teacher’s Strike a few years ago)
10 Tips to Help Yourself and Your Kids NOT Procrastinate and Parkinson’s Law
Solicit Good Intentions – A Powerful Practice for Motivating Our Kids and Teens
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Thanks for these fabulous suggestions.
I have signed both my kids up for Khan Academy and I can’t recommend it enough! It is great for all ages (my kids are 5 and 11) and it has even encouraged me to begin studying as well. A very well laid out, comprehensive, and easy to navigate website.
I have also been working with my daughter on reading (she is heading into grade 1). I was already familiar with the Starfall website, so I decided to download the ‘Starfall’ app (which is available for both Android and iPad users) and it’s been great. I believe it was only a few dollars ($3.99 I believe) but definitely worth the money. Plus she tends to stay more attentive with the interactive characters and stories. There aren’t a LOT of stories (not as comprehensive as their website) but great for a new reader.
My kids are in French Immersion, but my husband and myself aren’t educated at all in French (we both took Spanish in highschool!) so in order to provide some french content, I have employed the services of my 11 year old! For 1/2 an hour, we are FRENCH ONLY, as he is reviews the months, days, and numbers up to 100 with our daughter. He seems excited to teach a portion of our ‘homeschooling’ hours, my daughter can review what she learned last year in kindergarten, and I’m learning too! 🙂
My last suggestion is to add some ‘game time’ with games that encourage different skills – Playing ’21’ with cards works on basic addition, scrabble jr. is great for word composition and spelling, Pictionary is a fun way to do ‘art’ etc. I’m trying to be creative so that the couple of hours that I’ve set aside for school aren’t grueling! 🙂
Thanks again