As the COVID-19 pandemic keeps on evolving, many countries have shut down schools and child-care programs. It is a different, modern lifestyle change, as guardians or parents attempt to make sense of how to protect the children from encountering a gigantic slide in reverse in learning in the coming weeks. Fortunately, numerous education platforms are offering free access to web-based learning.
In case you are a parent or guardian, one of the hardest things about the lockdown, at the moment, is probably the fact that the schools have shut. While you attempt to adjust to a new telecommuting or working from home schedule, you are likewise now homeschooling your kids, which is no simple accomplishment.
We have put together a list of resources and online educational platforms for students of all ages in both core and elective subjects, the greater part of them are currently free or temporarily free. There are also a couple of fun alternatives, for example, home piano lessons, art lessons and even yoga. Who knows? Your child might find another new passion to follow during this unscheduled time off.
1. TED-Ed
The TED-Ed platform allows you to build any lesson around any TED talks, TED-Ed resource, or YouTube video. You can also find and use most of the existing lessons on a variety of topics. TED-Ed will be a great resource for any teacher, homeschooler, parent, or student.
2. Project Gutenberg
You will find Project Gutenberg to be one of the best online learning sources to help you with homeschooling children. It will serve you with more than 45,000 free eBooks including a large collection of classic children’s literature. Project Gutenberg is a great solution for growing your home library during this lockdown on a budget.
3. Duolingo
Duolingo is a great option for those who want their kids to learn a new language but need a more affordable option than hiring a tutor or putting your kids into language tuition classes. This free language application is available for IOS, Android and the web users offering a very fun and engaging learning experience which your kids will surely enjoy. Duolingo provides engaging courses for a variety of languages including Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian and any other you might want to learn.
4. XtraMath
Let us not discriminate between letters and numbers. XtraMath, an online platform run by a nonprofit organization dedicated to mathematics, features free math videos, lessons, and engaging activities as well as progress reports for teachers, parents and students. The online site is a valuable tool for both homework help and more in-depth lessons in mathematics.
5. Wide Open School
The nonprofit media organization Common Sense launched the site Wide Open School to help parents to ease homeschooling their kids during this lockdown. It programs a full school day for the child by grade level, to ensure they are getting a mix of educational material that aligns with what their day would have been when attending school. The site even suggests evening activities that can be done as a family, like bedtime reading or movies to stream, among other things.
In addition, Wide Open School offers a guide to getting started with learning at home, virtual field trips, a collection with resources for art and music and one with guidance for emotional well-being — the latter especially critical at a time when anxiety levels are high among parents and kids alike.
6. Boardmaker
Boardmaker is a collection of standardized picture symbols used for communication with students who are strong visual learners. This includes those with autism spectrum disorders, Down syndrome, speech and language disorders, as well as behavioural disorders.
What we have listed is just the tip of the iceberg. There are a variety of online resources available for parents and guardians to help ease homeschooling your children and keep them on track. Most of these resources are free and easily accessible without a subscription, simple to use and are being continuously updated. If you want another helping hand, do check the list put together by Learning Lift-Off for more such online learning resources.
ABL Recruitment team
