It’s been only four days since the schools closed and we are scrambling to suddenly figure out how to homeschool our kids. I’ve always been curious and have considered virtual education for my kids over the years, but being forced into it didn’t give me enough time to really do the research I needed to do. I’m not ready. I’m not even sure I’ll be ready in a month. I need direction. I need educational resources for my kids.
I’d love to just sit my kids at the kitchen table and tell them to do whatever it is they do in school. But we all know that a 7, 10 and 14 year old are probably going to grab their phones and start watching videos on youtube or tiktok or whatever it is they spend most of their unsupervised time doing these days.
I’ve been getting a number of emails from teachers, from the school, from local organizations and educational sites that we signed up for over the years. It was all so overwhelming for me. I reached out to a couple of my friends who are teachers and they are all just taking it easy right now and gathering what they need to start teaching in a couple of weeks (since we would have been on Spring Break anyway).
If you didn’t appreciate teachers up until this point, you are going to start to. It’s impossible to realize how much they do in a day and with way more than just your one child that won’t sit still long enough to learn anything. GIVE THOSE TEACHERS A RAISE! A BIG ONE! And thank them more. I know I will.
Over the last couple of days, I’ve spent some time online trying to find the best educational resources for my kids and wanted to share in case you are in a similar position. If you know of any free educational sites I haven’t listed (especially for high schoolers), please share in the comments below so that I can add it! At this point, that village we are always looking for is right here, on the internet. Virtual high fives.
Educational Resources for Kids
Elementary School
ARCADEMICS: arcademics.com/
BREAKOUT EDU: breakoutedu.com/funathome
CK-12: ck12.org/student/
GREAT SCHOOLS (worksheets): greatschools.org/gk/worksheets/
HELPING WITH MATH: helpingwithmath.com
HOME SCHOOL MATH: homeschoolmath.net/worksheets/
HOME SPELLING WORDS: homespellingwords.com/spelling-worksheets
JUMPSTART: jumpstart.com/parents/worksheets
KHAN ACADEMY: khanacademy.org/
LUNCH DOODLES WITH MO WILLEMS: kennedy-center.org/education/mo-willems/
MATH GAMES: mathgames.com
MATH GAME TIME: mathgametime.com
MINECRAFT EDUCATION EDITION: education.minecraft.net
MYSTERY SCIENCE: mysteryscience.com/
OUTSCHOOL: outschool.com
PBS KIDS: pbskids.org
PRODIGY (math): prodigygame.com
READ WRITE THINK: readwritethink.org
SCHOLASTIC: scholastic.com
SCRATCH (coding): scratch.mit.edu
TYPING CLUB: typingclub.com
VARSITY TUTORS: varsitytutors.com
Middle School
BREAKOUT EDU: breakoutedu.com/funathome
CK-12: ck12.org/student/
HELPING WITH MATH: helpingwithmath.com
HOME SCHOOL MATH: homeschoolmath.net/worksheets/
HOME SPELLING WORDS: homespellingwords.com/spelling-worksheets
KHAN ACADEMY: khanacademy.org/
MATH GAMES: mathgames.com
MATH GAME TIME: mathgametime.com
OUTSCHOOL: outschool.com
PRODIGY (math): prodigygame.com
READ WRITE THINK: readwritethink.org
SCHOLASTIC: scholastic.com
SCRATCH (coding): scratch.mit.edu
TYPING CLUB: typingclub.com
VARSITY TUTORS: varsitytutors.com
High School
BREAKOUT EDU: breakoutedu.com/funathome
CK-12: ck12.org/student/
KHAN ACADEMY: khanacademy.org/
OUTSCHOOL: outschool.com
SCRATCH (coding): scratch.mit.edu
TYPING CLUB: typingclub.com
VARSITY TUTORS: varsitytutors.com
Don’t forget to share any free educational resources for kids that I’ve missed. I will continue adding to this list as I find new ones, so bookmark in your favorites! If you’re looking for fun craft ideas to keep the kids busy, check out our favorites.
I was wondering about this this morning, I’ve never heard of most of these resources. Thank you so much.
This is just what I needed. My kids need some learning and I will be looking at these links to start teaching them
Thank you so much for this fabulous list! I am going to forward this to my brother in law as he has several little ones home right now. Got to keep the busy 🙂
This is an awesome list! I’m loving the Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems. It’s such a fun treat for kids!
Author
My youngest is doodling with Mo Willems as we speak!
THE MASTER LIST!! Thank you for this!! 🙂 My son is currently still in daycare which I am very happy with because they stimulate his brain way more than I can at home!
This is such a useful resource. thank you for putting it all together. Thankfully my family here in Aus havent been affected by this (yet) however, my cousin in England has so I shall have to send her your post.
Author
Really? I thought Australia was also recommending self isolation?
Wow. Thank you for the list of free educational resources for kids. Looking forward to using some of them.