100+ Activities to do at home with what you currently have or for a very small cost. entertainkidsonadime.com
This site offers a wealth of fun, experiential, hands-on, active, engaging https://entertainkidsonadime.com/2020/03/13/100-activities-to-do-at-home-during-school-closures/and learning through play types of activities that won’t break the wallet but will ensure kids are busy while schools are closed.
WAIT-There are many more digital resources to share. Below you will discover a variety of resources in different categories that I have researched. Each will take you directly to the site for you to access and learn more for yourself. Later I plan to start a RESOURCE PAGE that will be updated frequently. Please share what you discover and know so TOGETHER we can pass along what works in the Best Interests of Kids!
Free Online Art Classes
Free On-Line Art Classes by McHarper Manor.
Do some daily doodling! Everyday at 1:00 pm eastern time, join Kennedy Center Education Artist-in-Residence, Mo Willems, in his home studio. Just click here: Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems – #MoLunchDoodles.
VIRTUAL FIELD TRIPS: Over 30 Virtual Field Trips with Links!
Check out these 33 Virtual Field Trips
Examples: San Diego Zoo, Yellowstone National Park, Mars, U.S. Space Rocket Museum in Huntsville, Al, Discovery Education Virtual Field Trips and much more.
Also, try these 12 famous museums offered by travelandleisure,com and 5 National Parks all from the comfort of you couch and safety of your home! http://travelandleisure.com
Social-Emotional Learning Lessons
Most Importantly is a focus on Social Emotional Learning. Currently you can subscribe for FREE to Lessons For SEL youtube channel and receive weekly video lessons on the different social-emotional skills. Visit them at their twitter account too @LessonsForSEL and signup for the youtube through their #SELvideos.
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoOzW
19 Practical, Powerful Ways to Build Social-Emotional Intelligence in Kids & Teens, heysigmund.com. Sign-up for the newsletter and receive weekly messages, articles, activities and strategies for working with children and adults.
SOFTWARE and WEBSITES for LEARNING
Next are a list of software and website programs that are definitely worth your child spending time on. Many are always free and now free for at least 90 days:
Starfall:http://www.starfall.com Educational for Kindergarten and grades 1-2 and 3.
READING to, with(having a print rich house),and TOGETHER, daily is the other IMPORTANT task to ensure children keep learning and growing! Research shows that by reading to a child, he/she will learn to read, develop a rich vocabulary, build comprehension skills and understand the process of reading (phonics, decoding, encoding, cueing systems, grammar, punctuation, etc.). What are the components of reading? Simply stated: Vocabulary, comprehension and phonics. Put the three together and you are reading!
Great websites for kids: http://www.gws.ala.org Sponsored by the Association for Library Service to Children a division of the American Library Association.
Examples: Seussville, American Girls Series, Houghton Mifflin Books, International Digital Children’s Library, Junie B. Jones, Leading to Reading (Reading is Fundamental), etc. (and yes even the online Adventures of Captain Underpants!)
http://www.uniteforliteracy.com Unite for Literacy is a digital library for preschool and primary learners that is free and is to use for teachers and families. Just download the app and enjoy together. The Unite Books app turns the library into a book mobile allowing families to read anytime, anywhere. There are over 40 languages too!
Vooks : A kid-safe, ad-free streaming library of read-aloud animated storybooks. Enjoyed by millions of children, Vooks offers fun reading for kids through animated read alouds! Enjoyed by millions of children every week, trusted by parents, and loved by teachers.
Go to funbrain.com an educational browser game website. Also Fun 4 the Brain provides math games that are FREE educational games. http://www.fun4thebrain.com
Arcademics-Arcade + Academics = Fun Learning. This website is about boosting student engagement & fact fluency with free multi-player educational games, math games, language arts games, and more. http://www.arcademics.com
PBS Kids offers a wealth of fun via the TV then matches it with online activities and tips to help kids play and learn.http://www.pbskids.org
There are many sites for science too! Try the following: Yes, Zwitch Zoo is spelled correctly and is a real website! http://www.switchzoo.com They offer virtual field trips, make and play, animal profiles, watch and listen and much more.
National Geographic Kids is a wonderful site for science, history, language arts and current events. http://www.nationalgeographic.com
150+Educational Shows on Netflix-http://www.homeschoolhideout.com
A comprehensive list of educational companies offering subscriptions for free due to schools being closed can be found on the Kids Activities Blog. http://KidsActivitiesBlog.com
Then of course there are a wealth of teacher sites that offer lesson plans, activities, projects and more. For example: http://www.education.com in all areas of the curriculum for all grade levels. Teachers Pay Teachers. http://teacherspayteachers.com
***This is just a small taste of the wealth of online, digital resources available to parents, educators, children and all who are interested. Know that there are many more. But do remember, the most important thing you can do to ensure a love of learning is to turn off the screens and TALK (Communicate), PLAY (Create), PROBLEM-SOLVE (Think Critically), WORK TOGETHER as a FAMILY on whatever tasks need to be done (Collaborate) and CONNECT (continue to empathize, love, be compassionate, self-regulate and be mindful of self-and others),-Social-Emotional Development happens best through the teachable moment.