To help contain the COVID-19 virus, many schools are moving children to online learning at home. In addition, many parents are being asked to work from home. These forms of social distancing are needed to help slow the spread of the virus.
Remember to keep your child engaged through a daily learning schedule. Create a supportive at-home learning environment which will make the transition to learning at home a seamless one.
The good news is that there are many engaging and fun ways to learn at home. We invite you to explore these collections of tips and resources to help with your adventure of learning at home.
- 123 Homeschool 4 Me offers free worksheets and coloring pages for young students
- 3P Learning is offering 4 weeks free for teachers who would like to teach their students from home (ages K-16)
- 2Simple offers a free learning program called Purple Mash to help teach students English and math skills
- PsychCentral.com suggests 7 Telehealth Activities ABA Providers Can Use with Children with ASD [Autism Spectrum Disorder]
- Accessibyte is offering free access to all of their learning apps during the pandemic including Typio and Quick Cards
- AdaptiveWorksheets.com provides printable worksheets. Some samples are free, and there is a charge for membership.
- All Kids Network is offering free worksheets and crafts for students
- OSPI maintains a list of Approved Online Schools and School Programs.
- Arcademics offers free multiplayer educational games for math and language arts
- Ascend Math is offering a free trial for teachers until the end of April so they can teach math skills from home
- Audible Stories are available for free during the school shutdown
- Autism Focused Intervention Resources and Modules (AFIRM) provides toolkits for caregivers supporting individuals with autism during this pandemic.
- Big History Project offers a free platform for teachers to teach social studied from home
- BrainPOP provides animated interactive lessons, quizzes, and games for core subjects and a variety of electives
- Can Do Kids provides an Ability Survey and online activity options
- Circletime Fun offers kids classes from home that you can either watch on-demand or participate in live. Each class is led by an expert instructor and geared toward children ages 0-6. Registration is required to access the classes but is free with this code: homefun1.
- Classroom Cereal offers free grammar worksheets for students
- Code.org offers online computer science curricula for K-12 students
- Cognitive ToyBox is offering free daily activities geared towards young children (ages 8 and younger).
- An agency called Common Sense Education offers virtual field trips
- Discover the best in learning apps, games, and websites for your kids from Common Sense Media
- Cool Math 4 Kids offers free games, quizzes, and lessons in math for younger students
- The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) is offering temporary free access to special education resources, including journal articles and advice from experts.
- Curriculum Associates provides English and Spanish versions of printable learning packets for Grades K-8.
- Desmos offers free activities for teachers to use with students online and teach from home
- Working on math with your child? Didax’s Virtual Manipulatives offers a whole host of virtual manipulatives (number lines, pattern blocks, geoboards, etc.) to enhance at-home learning.
- DiscoveryK12 offers free student accounts to learn 7 standard courses online
- Duolingo helps students keep up with foreign language skills. Duolingo offers 30+ languages so students can start learning a variety of languages that interest them. Or, students can use Duolingo to practice the foreign languages they are already learning in the classroom.
- Free resources for at-home learning and play at Educational Insights
- School staff in Washington receive support from the Special Education Technology Center (SETC). The agency shares insight into Universal Design for Learning and how to promote equity, for example. To learn more about best-practice strategies for online learning, parents can visit SETC’s website and read about Equitable Online Learning Through the Lens of Student Needs.
- EVERFI provides game-based digital lessons free to schools: parents may need to contact district staff to arrange access.
- Explorable offers free educational science projects including how to make sundials and how bread decays
- FamilyConnect.org provides resources for parents of children with visual impairments
- For older students and graduates, free code camp provides a list of online Ivy League Courses available for free.
- Fun Family Crafts offers free educational crafting ideas from toddler to teen including crystal egg geodes and coffee ground fossils
- GreatSchools.org offers grade-based toolkits
- Free Learning at Home essentials – hundreds of activities and workbooks to keep them learning. Learningresources.com.
- The Magic School Bus offers free online learning, experiments and an educational cartoon available on Netflix
- Minecraft: Education Edition offers free educational tools and videos when you have a Microsoft account.
- Mysteryscience.com has pulled our most popular science lessons and are offering them for anyone to use for free. No account or login is needed.
- NASA is offering its entire library free online for students
- For high school students, the National Constitution Center offers online conversations related to US Constitutional law
- An agency called Nepris is providing online chats to help prepare students for the future of work.
- New American History offers history lesson plans for students K-12
- NSW-Education is offering free online learning resources and study tips for students and parents learning at home including links to educational games
- OH WOW Science Center offers free educational videos and projects on their Facebook
- PBS Kids provides a free newsletter and resources for at-home learning.
- The Parent’s Guide to Google Classroom is a slide show to teach parents how to set up and navigate Google Classroom
- ReadWorks offers free reading comprehension activities for students K-12
- Scholastic offers free online learning, educational games and reading resources for kids and parents
- Scholastic Kids Press offers free news from kids, for kids
- Science Fun offers educational science projects fro kids including blacklight beverages and the water cycle in a jar
- Sesame Street offers free online learning games and videos for young students
- Remote Learning Resources for Families at web.seesaw.me
- The Special Student Services blog provides guidance for supporting students with significant cognitive disabilities. Curricula for various academic topics are reviewed, and links to online materials are provided. Some are free/some aren’t.
- Storyline Online is a FREE literacy resource where the world’s best storytellers read to children
- Through Edmentum’s Study Island for Home, parents can access trusted K-12 programs tailored to state standards. Families can receive one year free by using the code: EdmentumSupport2020. Note that registration will require a credit card and you will see what looks like an auto-renewal, but Edmentum will not auto-renew or charge your credit card.
- The New York Public Library is offering free e-tutoring services and over 300,000 e-books for download on the SimplyE app
- Teacher.org has put together a list of lesson plans for math, science, English, social studies and even P.E.
- TEDEd provides informational videos for at-home learning; options are organized for students, educators or parents
- An agency called Special Education Degrees offers a page that lists curricula from the Top 12 Websites for Students with Learning Disabilities.
- The Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County is offering free educational resources and e-books
- From 3-5 p.m. on March 27 Scholastic is offering a free Virtual Book Fest on their website with guest speakers and a dance party!
- Washington Hands and Voices provides educational resources and more for families whose children are deaf or hard of hearing. COVID-19 related resources include a Giant List of Ideas for Being Home with Kids.
- We Are Teachers provides a list of authors who are reading books aloud online for elementary students.
- Weather for Kids is offered by the WKBN weather team offering lessons and projects every day for kids in the Valley
- The Williams Syndrome Association provides curriculum for preschool through high school. Included are social stories to help children understand their current circumstances related to the pandemic and school closures.