So, the kids are at home, and they might be for a while. With the recent COVID-19 outbreak and many resulting school closures, parents are looking for support to keep kids learning without being at school.
We’ve assembled a list of awesome, free digital learning resources for kids from kindergarten to middle school age and some tips to help parents make at-home learning fun and easy.
For Reading: Project Gutenberg & Oxford Owl
- Project Gutenberg has 61,604 free ebooks to download, including classics like “Little Women,” “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” and “Anne of Green Gables.”
- Oxford Owl has a collection of free ebooks for children 3-11 years old. You can sort books by age, book type, reading level, and series, so it’s easy to explore!
For Listening: Audible Audiobooks
Amazon’s audiobook company is in-tune with the times, offering free stories to kids stuck at home. The service is simple to use on a computer, smartphone, or tablet.
For Exploring: Google Arts & Culture
Google’s revolutionary resource offers:
- 360-degree videos of stunning architectural projects, paintings within museums, science and technology exhibits like the Hubble Telescope’s control centre, dinasours, and much, much more
- The art camera, which lets you zoom in on iconic artworks in high-definition like “The Starry Night” by Vincent van Gogh
- Street view, which lets you tour famous sites and landmarks like the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt or the Colosseum in Rome
For Creating: Doodling Apps
Have a little artist in the family? Download a couple of free drawing apps like iOS’s Joy Doodle. Try apps out yourself to make sure they’re appropriate for your child’s specific age and talk to them about in-app purchases.
Tips for Parents to Make Learning Fun and Easy for the Family
- Look up reading age levels for books to help match your kids with stories they’ll love
- Talk after learning sessions to figure out what they liked and what they’d like to try next
- Take notes and keep handy links on-hand for future use to save you time
- Don’t be too hard on yourself—you’re doing a great job teaching your kiddos!
Like our resources? Keep tabs on our parenting blog for more real-world tips for busy moms and dads!
