Okay, it’s here. The Pandemic that has been predicted for awhile now has finally come and people are discovering a new normal or social distancing and compulsive hand washing. We are all trying to make the best with what we’ve been handed.
This week parents in Minnesota woke up to the realization that we have suddenly become impromptu home-schoolers. As much as our kids were hoping that this would be an extended vacation parents know we can’t just drop the learning ball.
So where do you turn when you are stuck home with 1 or more children? What do you do? I know I wasn’t prepared for
this. I am in no way qualified to teach my #1 junking buddy. I love her but we fight like cats in a sack when I have to teacher her ANYTHING.
She really believes that I’ve gotten this far in life only by the grace of God and not my intelligence but I digress.
So where do you turn? How can I make sure that her learning continues until the schools either re-open or go to online only classes?
Luckily there are resources available. I am not making a commission on any of the following programs so please don’t think that’s why I’m recommending them.
- Khan Academy – is a FREE online resource for kids to learn at every level. I remember seeing a news story about them once a long time ago so I immediately downloaded the app and signed up. They cover subjects like math, science, economics and they even help with test prep. Just browsing their offerings has made me confident that I can help my child in spite of the gaps in my knowledge base.
- Teachers Pay Teachers – this is a great resource for worksheets and activities. The resources are not free (some are but most are available at a nominal fee) but they are good quality educational products created by teachers with teaching guides included. I was able to download a 5th grade study guide for reading a language that is amazing for under $20. There are enough activities in this binder to keep her learning for months if need be.
- TedED– I love a good TedTalk and it turns out so do kids. A variety of topics with customizable lesson plans and a “Dig Deeper” section that suggests further learning resources if you spark your kids interest with one of the talks. Victoria was immediately captivated by blood transfusion and down the biology rabbit hole we went!
- Steve Spangler Science – Thousands of experiments for kids of every age! I love the food science section which has “experiments” you can do with things found in your typical kitchen.
- Project Gutenberg – If your house is short of books to read (not something I suffer from here) you can get FREE classic children’s books from Project Gutenberg including the Wizard of Oz, Black Beauty, and the Five Little Peppers!
Now if you’ve been home schooling for a long time then you’ve already encountered all of these resources but for those of us that are finding ourselves in uncharted territory they’re a good place to start.
Do you have other resources that you can recommend? Please comment below and help us keep out kids learning!