My husband (who is a High School teacher) and I have always made it a priority to instill a life long love of learning into our children. Starting at young ages we would have routines everyday at home that would incorporate different educational actives for them to do. Over the years I have found some amazing resources and some not so great ones that we still incorporate after school.
With this strange time we are currently in, where most of us were thrown into becoming homeschool parents overnight, I thought I would share my list of go-to's for in-home education. These are my all-time favorite resources that I have found SUPER handy over the years and especially in the last few weeks.
Online Educational Programs
ABC Mouse. Ages 2-8. and now 8-13! We started using this program when Chianna was in Pre-k, and absolutely LOVED it, it makes learning fun and turns all of the activities into a game. Since the quarantine has started they have also created a program for children 8-13 called Adventure Academy and right now they are offering the 1st month FREE!
Typing Club. Ages 5 and up. I just learned about this this year, but I think that typing is a critical tool that all kiddos should learn. It's a free program that you can use Facebook or your email to track your progress. The only thing I dislike is that you cannot track more than one person per account.
Khan Academy. Ages 2 and up. They have an online platform and an app for ALL ages and cover math, science, grammar and history.
IXL. PreK-12th grade. This is an awesome resource for math in all grades and Spanish. Our kiddos love it!
Fun Brain. PreK-8th grade. This is a great website with Math and Reading games.
Splash Learn. Kindergarten-5th grade. This is another website I recently found. They have a bunch of different curriculum to choose from, and they also have apps you can download as well. Best part is it's all free!
Prodigy. 1st-8th grade. This is a GREAT app our kiddos love to use to increase their math skills!
Homeschool Pop. Elementary school. We found this channel a few months ago and LOVE it! If you are looking for educational videos on any subject check out this channel.
Epic!. 12 and under. FREE 30 day trial! This is a great resource for books, activities and read aloud books!
Offline Education
Magnetic Letters. Ages 3 and up. We have had these in our house for 13 years and have used them with all of our kiddos. When I would cook dinner it was a great way to help the kids learn at the same time. I would spell simple words for them, say the word then have them repeat it back to me.
BrainQuest Workbooks. PreK- 6th grade. Every summer since our kids started preschool we ordered these books for them. It is part of their daily to-do list to keep their skills up in the months between grades.
Summer Bridge Activities. PreK-8th grade. We learned about these workbooks through the librarian at our kids school.
Education. com. PreK-5th grade. This website has loads of free resources, including worksheets and lesson plans. As long as you have a printer at home you can find different sheets to help the kiddos.
123 Homeschool 4 Me. PreK-8th grade. This site is AWESOME, it has sheets per grade or subject.
Virtual Physical Fitness
GoNoodle - super fun games, dances and songs! It is a great Brain Break for our 6 yo who needs to break up his school work.
Cosmic Kids Yoga - we have been following this YouTube channel for years. She has super creative content and videos for every mood to fit your kiddo.
Crazy Santa Dance - this is a big hit for the whole family. If you need something to get the crazies out this will do it!
Couch to 5K - this really isn't virtual, but since this whole quarantine happened all of our kids are missing their spring sports (Track & Field, Softball training, Baseball) so we thought it would be a great way to get them to "train" 3 days a week. We have found it VERY useful for the whole family!
Art + Music
Art for Kids Hub - this is great for all ages. The Dad has kids of all ages and has different videos for different ages.
Lunch Doodles with Mo Williams - if you are looking to incorporate 'art class' into your homeschool this website has a lot to choose from.
Chrome Music Lab - this is a great website that helps with rhythm, song-building and more.
Kidz Bop - this is another family favorite! Whenever the kids turn these on we all take a Brain Break and dance and sing
Virtual Field Trips
Explore Mars - this is a super fun website that allows kiddos to see the surface of Mars.
Walt Disney World Rides - this is a great way to help kids experience things they might have been doing over spring break or if you were planning a trip this summer.
Mount Rushmore - this would be a great 'field trip' to incorporate if you want to include a Social Studies aspect to your curriculum.
San Diego Zoo - with all of the nice weather we are having in CO, it would be the perfect time to go to the zoo, so instead you can bring the zoo to you!
Georgia Aquarium - this is another favorite of our family. We usually always visit the aquarium each spring break, but this year we just hunkered down and watched some cool footage!
My hope is that even though we are in a scary unknown situation, we would all slow down and enjoy what this time has given us, a chance to be home and be together.
As always, if you have any additional resources I'd love it you left the link in the comments below!
