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The coronavirus pandemic has led at least 33 US states to close schools, some for as long as a month, in a major disruption to the public education system. The closures have impacted nearly 36 million public school students nationwide so far, according to data from Education Week. In lieu of attending class in person, many parents are seeking out online resources, apps and games to keep their kids’ minds engaged even at home.
Here are 10 free or discounted online learning resources for pre-K-12 students to complete from home to keep up the learning (and to save you from yet another viewing of Frozen 2 on Disney Plus).
All-around curriculum
Scholastic
Scholastic’s free Learn at Home program includes 20 days’ worth of curricula to help students continue learning even when school is closed. The daily lessons for pre-K through grade 6+ include four separate learning experience, built around a story or video. Kids can do them on their own, with their families, or with their teachers. The lessons last up to three hours, and can be completed on any device.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy is a free online learning platform offers practice exercises, instructional videos, and a personalized learning dashboard for students to learn subjects including math, science, computer programming, history, art history and economics from home. It also has specialized content from NASA, The Museum of Modern Art, The California Academy of Sciences, and MIT. In light of the recent school closures, Khan Academy released daily schedules for students in pre-K through grade 12 to follow from home.
Outschool
Outschool is offering free live online classes for students ages 3-18 affected by public school shutdowns, conducted over video chat. The 10,000-plus classes cover topics in English, math, social studies, science, coding, health and wellness, music, art, and world languages. You can search courses by length (ranging from one class to a full semester), format (live online or flexible schedule), subject, age range, and day or timeframe.
New York City Department of Education
The New York City Department of Education released a free 10-day curriculum for multiple subjects for every grade level preK-12. While it is aimed at the New York City public school district — the largest in the nation — the materials are general enough to apply to a range of students nationwide.
Early learning activities, videos and games
PBS Kids newsletter, video and gaming apps
PBS Kids launched a new free weekday newsletter with activities and educational games for students ages 2-8 to do from home. The PBS Kids video app is also available on mobile, tablet, and connected TV devices, and offers on-demand educational videos and a live stream of the PBS Kids 24/7, with no subscription required. Plus, the PBS Kids Games app includes nearly 200 educational games which can be downloaded to play offline.
Learning to read and reading comprehension
ABCmouse.com, Adventure Academy and Reading IQ
The company Age of Learning is providing closed schools free home access for students to ABCmouse.com, Adventure Academy and ReadingIQ. ABCmouse.com is a comprehensive curriculum for pre-K through grade 2, and Adventure Academy is an educational massive multiplayer online game for elementary and middle school students, with thousands of learning activities covering reading, math and science. ReadingIQ is a digital library and literacy platform for children ages 12 and under, with thousands of books to choose from.
Storyline Online
A children’s literacy website from the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, Storyline Online streams videos featuring award-winning actors reading children’s books with illustrations. Each book includes a supplemental curriculum developed by an elementary school educator, which aims to improve comprehension and verbal and written skills, particularly for English-language learners. Celebrity readers include Viola Davis, Chris Pine, Kevin Costner, Annette Bening, James Earl Jones, Betty White and dozens more.
Math
Prodigy Math
Prodigy Math is a free online math platform used by more than 50 million students, teachers and administrators, which reinforces math skills through video game-style play. For $5/month for a yearly subscription, parents can get their students extra in-game features, benefits, and rewards, as well as access placement tests, learning goals, and progress reports.
Science
Mystery Science
Amid the school closures, Mystery Science has pulled its most popular science lessons for grade K-5 for students and parents to access free. Lessons range from short mini-lessons that are completely digital, to full lessons that include a hands-on activity. All are designed to use simple supplies that families likely already have at home.
Language learning
Duolingo
Duolingo is a free language learning app that helps kids (and adults) learn a language through short, game-like exercises, and motivates you to continue learning with a “streak” feature that tracks the number of days you’ve reached your point goal. You can also subscribe to Premium for $10/month for an ad-free experience and downloadable lessons.
Read more: The best language learning apps of 2020
Art
YouTube
Outside of formal art classes on platforms like Outschool (mentioned above), students and parents can find a number of free art lessons and tutorials on YouTube. Author and illustrator Jarrett J. Krosoczka is hosting daily drawing classes, and animator Mo Willems is hosting daily cartooning classes. The Art Sherpa has a number of painting tutorials on YouTube as well.
DIY projects
DIY.org
For crafty kids, DIY.org offers thousands of courses and projects with how-to videos for ages 4-13+. Project and course topics include drawing, photography, science, music, Lego-building and Minecraft-video making. Kids can make their own videos on the platform to share with others, which are closely monitored by the site (and parents get a notification any time their child posts something, too). DIY.org is currently offering 90% off of its library of hands-on projects, how-to videos and safe learning community for kids, with the code TOGETHER.
Virtual field trips
Travel to art museums around the world through Google Arts & Culture. You can also virtually visit the San Diego Zoo, Yellowstone National Park and the Great Wall of China.
For more, check out How to stay sane and productive when working from home, and 7 free video chat apps to use while you’re social distancing.
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