Top Educational Websites for Kids During COVID-19 School Shutdowns
The whole world is currently rocked by the global outbreak of COVID-19. Many countries are in shutdown mode, with many schools being closed for weeks, months or the rest of the school year. I’m an elementary school teacher with over 10 years of teaching experience under my belt and I wanted to give you my list of excellent online educational resources and websites that your children can use at home during this time.
Do I suggest using all of them every day? Definitely not! At the bottom of this article, I’ll also post an image of an example schedule I found online on how to structure your child’s day while at home. My suggestion for learning-at-home, that is manageable for parents, is this:
Reading - 15-45 minutes a day (depending on the age of your kids) - Make sure to ask your child questions about books they read to help them develop comprehension.
Writing - 15-30 minutes a day- Get your kids a journal they can use for any writing projects and some paper. Day-to-day, your child can do different wring projects. Maybe they respond to a journal prompt, write about a book they are reading, write a story, create a comic book, write a recipe, make a card for their grandparents, etc. If you search Pinterest, there are hundreds of ideas (including journal prompts for every day of the month).
Math - 15-30 minutes - go online and print out worksheets or write questions for your kids to complete so they are doing some work on paper. I would focus on numeracy. This includes basic number-sense, number patterns, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and fractions. You could also play math games with cards, dice or dominoes (again, look on Pinterest for ideas).
Outside Learning - 1 hour - now is the time to explore the backyard and find opportunities to learn from our beautiful world. If you’re able to practice social distancing, go for a walk every day and learn about nature and the world around us.
Online Educational Sites - 30 min-1 hour - Keep reading to find my list of my favourite sites.
Literacy
ABC Mouse -Ages 2-8
An incredibly comprehensive website, ABC Mouse gives children access to interactive games, music, and online books at customizable levels. This site is very interactive and easy to use for kids. Also, ABC Mouse tracks the progress of users so that parents can see how their child is doing.
Starfall -Ages 2-9
A free literacy site filled with different phonics games and activities. Meant for children who are just learning their letters all the way up to reading picture books. Kids can select their grade level and pick their activity. Excellent to develop literacy skills in the youngest learners.
ABCYa -Ages 2-12
Another free literacy site filled with a variety of different online literacy activities and games. This site also includes a variety of math activities. Just like starfall, kids can pick their grade level and activity. Another great site to develop literacy skills in early learners all the way up through the older elementary grades.
PBS Reading Games -Ages 5-12
PBS has done a great job creating engaging reading games based on some of their hit shows. Kids will love seeing some of their favourite characters. Make sure to scroll down all the way to see all the games.
PBS Spelling Games -Ages 5-12
Make sure to also check out the spelling games on their site. There isn’t quite as many games as the page filled with reading games, but this is still a hit with kids!
Funbrain -Ages 6-14
This site has a variety of online books and novels that students can read to themselves or have read to them. As well, on the site are a bunch of educational games in different subject areas.
FarFaria -Ages 5-12
This site has an endless supply of online books in various genres. There are different options so your child can read the book on their own or have it read to them. Books are sorted by reading level so that kids are reading appropriate texts for their ability.
Storyline Online -All Ages
Ever wanted to hear your favourite story read to you by a famous celebrity? Look no further! Watch as stories come to life while your favourite celebrity reads the words out loud to you. To up the educational value, turn on your closed captioning setting on youtube so that words are shown on the screen while the book is read.
TypingClub -Ages 5-15
If you want kids to learn and practice their computer typing skills, this is your go-to site.
Education.com -Ages 6-12
On this site, you can select the grade level. You can also pick from a variety of different subject areas. There are tons of interactive games that children love and different printouts that parents can print and have their child complete.
Math
Prodigy -Ages 5-14
The video on the website says it best: "Imagine your favourite video game as a kid. Now imagine that game with math curriculum built into it. That's prodigy." Prodigy truly makes learning math fun! When my students are given a choice to select a website to use during math instruction, they almost always pick prodigy. There are avatars, battles, coins, wizards, spells and so much more!
Hooda Math -All Ages
On this site is a ton of free math games that kids can play! They are interactive and address many different mathematical concepts.
Mathletics -All Ages
Students love using Mathletics! The program encourages students to think critically, make learning choices, seek help when needed and reflect on their learning. There are thousands of hours of activities. The content is aligned with what is learned in the classroom at specific grade levels. If you purchase a home subscription, you have control over the content your child sees and you can update it to match your child's ability. You can challenge them or give them support with concepts they are struggling to fully understand. There are interactive tutorials, a live game where they can face students around the world, a hall of fame and free weekly reports for parents.
Dad’s Worksheets - All Ages
The word “worksheet” is a bit of a controversial term in the education field. Some people turn their noses down at all worksheets. Personally, I don’t agree. I believe there is a very important place for them. Should you be teaching entirely from worksheets? A big fat, no! Can they be used as an effective tool to help students practice mathematical knowledge and understanding? Yes! Honestly, there’s no reason to re-create the wheel and certain worksheets are perfect additions to a holistic numeracy education. Right now, they may be especially important for parents who are trying to facilitate education at home. When I was searching for worksheets, I recently discovered this website and I love it! This site is an ENORMOUS COLLECTION of FREE worksheets for students of all ages. Give it a click and explore thousands of worksheets!
Baamboozle - All Ages
Is an educational gaming platform used by more than 600,000 teachers every month in 160+ countries. You can choose from a huge library of pre-made games or make your own games for free. It's genuinely suitable for all ages and makes it easy to add some fun to your lessons, be they in person or online.
Science
PBS Engineering Games -Ages 5-12
Another great addition to the PBS site is the page dedicated to engineering games. Here, kids can create blueprints, build robots and other engaging activities.
Mystery Doug -Ages 5-12
You will need to sign up for a free account. Once signed in, you can save your login info so your child never needs to login again. This site unlocks hundreds of videos answering so many scientific inquiries! Included are hands-on extension activities your child can do.
San Diego Zoo Kids - All Ages
This site is fantastic! Kids can watch animals lives at the zoo. Such a great place to visit for any animal lover!
NASA Science for Kids -Ages 7-12
Wondering about space? The earth? The sun? Planets? The universe? Head to NASA Science for kids site to find your answers. On here, you’ll find science content, readings, games, activities and craft ideas.
Hour of Code -All Ages
In my humble opinion, this website may be one of the most important websites you show your child. I believe that every single child in every single country should learn computer science and should learn how to code because it’s a skill that’s used in every single industry. If you want to prepare your child for a job market that’s extremely dominated by technology, do them a favour and help them learn how to code. Steve Jobs said it best, "to code is to think." On this site, your child has the opportunity to learn coding in a child-friendly way. They have access to many different courses to teach them basic coding. There is also access to fun coding activities in many different popular themes. Some of the themes include angry birds, frozen, flappy birds, star wars, Minecraft and NBA sports.
Bill Nye the Science Guy - All Episodes -All Ages
A science list wouldn’t be complete without everyone’s favourite scientist, Bill Nye the Science Guy. Click the link above to get access to every episode!
Social Studies
National Geographic Kids -Ages 6+
Want your kids to learn all about geography, history, animals and the world around us? Get them to spend some time exploring articles and playing games on this interactive site that is updated constantly.
Time for Kids -Ages 5-12
Time for Kids is a fantastic resource! It is updated regularly with articles. The site also has different levels that are appropriate for different age levels. You can select kindergarten-grade 1, grade 2, grade 3-4 or grade 5-6.
Countries of the World -All Ages
Want your kids to be able to locate every country on the world map? This game is exactly what you need. It has constant feedback if they get it correct or if they error. There are also three different levels of difficulty.
History for Kids -Ages 8+
Have a child who loves learning about history, other cultures or ancient civilizations? This might be the perfect site for them to help them answer all of their questions and make some new discoveries.
Music
Instrumental Storage Room -Ages 8+
Kids will have a chance to explore all different instruments on this interactive site. They can read the history of the instrument, learn about how it works and how to play the instrument. Most important, they can hear how each instrument sounds.
Chrome Music Lab -All Ages
This is one of googles best programs to encourage expression and creativity through music and sound online. Trust me when I say this, your kids will get hooked.
Art
Deep Space Sparkle -All Ages
As an educator, I have been using deep space sparkle for years to get ideas for art projects. The creator of the site is super creative and a fantastic art teacher. She has created a really good site that you can join to get some awesome ideas for projects. She breaks it down by grade level, subject and technique.
Tate Kids -All Ages
On this site, you can find a variety of online games, activities and quizzes all about art! Kids can paint online, answer a quiz to decide what colour they are, or learn about surrealism. There is a ton on here to explore.
Pixilart -All Ages
I thought this site was really cool. Once on the site, you can create beautiful pieces of art with pixels. You can even submit them to be featured on the site.
As promised earlier in this post, below is the image that I found online that could be a schedule to help you structure your day with your kids while they are home from school. Happy learning everyone!
