From Rachel Benion:
DIGITAL RESOURCES
First of all, there's gonna be some screen time.
Here are the educational apps or websites that I've found the most beneficial and easy to use. These are either FREE or temporarily free because of the corona virus.
Elementary: BrianPOP: One of Roland's favorites. He LOVES the educational videos but there's lots of other stuff too. https://educators.brainpop.com/…/free-brainpop-access-for…/…
i-Ready: Math and reading. Can be used TOTALLY independently once your kids get the basics down. Nice thing about the math is it teaches lessons to your kids and isn't just skill practice like some of the other free and high quality math apps out there https://www.curriculumassociates.com/products/i-ready
Khan academy THIS IS FANTASTIC. Takes a little more navigation and getting used to but well worth it (for the parent). Best if your child can read. If your child isn't reading yet, check out Kahn academy kids in the preschool section: https://www.khanacademy.org/…/remote-learning-with-khan-aca…
Prodigy: https://www.prodigygame.com/ Math fluency practice for first grade and up. Really fun and engaging and works on your child's level. Doesn't really teach NEW skills but soooo fun. Great parent portal.
ADDED 3/13 1PM Free live art classes every day at 1PM. We haven't done these before but Roland is super excited to start on Monday. https://www.mcharpermanor.com/blog
Preschool/Toddler: Khan Academy Kids: GET THIS!! It's amazing and very user friendly. Rhys has learned SO SO much from this app. https://learn.khanacademy.org/khan-academy-kids/
PBS Kids Games and Play and Learn Science by PBS are both FREE educational apps that you can download in the app store. Rhys LOVES both of these and they are high quality apps featuring favorite characters.
______________________________ LESSONS Now for some hands lesson plans you can easily do with your kids at home. Let's look at the silver lining here. You are going to remember this time with your kids forever!
Mystery science has compiled some free and easy science lessons you can complete using household objects specifically for the outbreak. https://mysteryscience.com/school-closure-planning
Preschool/Kindergarten: TOP CHOICE - Leah McDermott's Nature inspired curriculum - http://www.yournaturallearner.com/
I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE this curriculum, and since the units are available individually, it's very affordable (you don't have to buy the whole year). Pick a topic that interests your child. Each unit will get you through a month or so and you will have most of the supplies you need in your house or back yard.
She ALSO has 1st and 2nd grade curricula, but you cannot buy individual units at this time. STILL totally worth the investment as you can use these activities on weekends, evenings, and over the summer and I guarantee your children will LOVE it.
Listen, you know me. I WRITE lessons. Your Natural Learner is the BEST out there.
UPDATE!! The author of the your natural learner curriculum is now offering special pricing and individual units for pre-K, k, first and second grade to help families affected by closures.
Toddler/preschool and/or special needs: I also am using quite a bit from Busy Toddler’s Playing Preschool curriculum. This is more structured and SUPER easy to implement. Each unit has a nice weekly outline. Great for kids 5 and under. Easily adapted down for toddlers or up for older kids. Simply hands on activities that build on each other for the more purposeful learning Rhys needs. https://busytoddler.com/…/playing-preschool-complete-progr…/ I would say you can do more than half of the activities with items from around your home and can creatively adapt most of the other activities.
________________________________________ THERAPEUTIC Speech and Language: If you kiddo will be missing speech therapy, here are some great things you can do and use at home to prevent regression:
Speech Blubs is a fantastic app that offers digital articulation and expressive/receptive language lessons. It is NOT free. It's actually kind of pricey. But it's very effective and Rhys finds it very engaging.
Boardmaker is offering some free activities right now too for children who benefit from visual language clues https://goboardmaker.com/pages/activities-to-go
__________________________________________ Finally, here is a fairly comprehensive list of companies that are offering free apps, lesson, websites, and more to support children out of school during the outbreak. I have not personally tried all of these companies but am familiar with most. I did not create this list:
https://docs.google.com/…/1NUKLZN7hGSu1Hzm70kfzBK…/htmlview…
