Support for Suddenly Homeschooling Families

Wondering how you will make it through the next several weeks or months all stuck in your house together? Online public school at home is only going to take you so far. Here are a list of all the companies, products, and things families in cornavirus social distancing can get for FREE!

One week life was normal.

The next week it wasn’t.

Has your family recently fallen into the “suddenly homeschooled” group? You didn’t choose this. It just happened. Your governor announced – Schools closed! You don’t feel prepared to school at home, but you have been asked to teach your children at home for the next couple weeks…..or let’s be realistic MONTHS! On top of all that, you might even have a job you still need to do working at home!

You may be asking yourself – How do I do this?  Where do I even begin?! Hang in there, mama! We are here to help! You are not alone in this.  You may not be able to chat with other moms or adults in person…. but we are so blessed to have cell phones to text friends, facetime family, facebook to keep up with our communities, pinterest to get fun ideas to do at home, and internet to get free resources like our site =)

Virtual Field Trips

Just becuase you can’t leave your house doesn’t mean you can’t explore the world around you? Besides the obvious solution of reading a book… you can go on a virtual field trip to lots of amazing places around the world. Check out these FREE field trips from home:

• The San Diego Zoo has a website just for kids with amazing videos, activities, and games. Enjoy the tour!
• Mud Volcano, Mammoth Hot Springs, and tour Yellowstone National Park!
• Explore the surface of Mars on the Curiosity Rover. They are updating from WEBVR to WEBXR now, but 360 Mode offers a digital view!
• Head to the aquarium with Georgia Aquarium or Monterey Bay Aquarium live cams
• Watch the adorable Panda Cam at Zoo Atlanta
• See even more animasl with 6 Animal Cams at Houston Zoo
  
• Join a father and sun at the U.S. Space and Rocket Museum in Huntsville, AL and see the Saturn 5 Rocket on YouTube
• Discovery Education Virtual Field Trips teaches about the following topics: Polar Bears and the Tundra, Social Emotional Skills,  STEM, and manufacturing
• Travel to Paris, France to see amazing works of art at The Louvre with this virtual field trip.
• This Virtual Tour of the Great Wall of China is beautiful and makes history come to life.
• Walk through the Boston Children’s Museum thanks to Google Maps! This virtual tour allows kids to explore 3 floors of fun.
• Head to the iconic British Museum in London on this virtual tour.
• Explore two exhibits at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC
• You can virtually walk through the Musée d’Orsay, Paris this popular gallery that houses dozens of famous works from French artists who worked and lived between 1848 and 1914.
• Google’s virtual tour takes you through six floors of Contemporary art from Korea and all over the globe.
• Anyone who is a fan of this tragic, ingenious painter can see his works up close  by virtually visiting the VanGogh Museum in Amsterdam – the largest collection of artworks by Vincent van Gogh, including over 200 paintings, 500 drawings, and over 750 personal letters.
• Seattle Symphony live streaming converts for free
• The Metropolitan Opera will stream operas for free!
• Digital Concert hall free for everyone!

Keep your groups connected, Zoom free for K-12 during school closures

Online Resources

There are lots of online resources to help kids learn. You don’t even have to leave your home and many are FREE!

• Starfall is a great place to brush up on reading, math, etc. skills for younger children.
• Homeschool blogs. There are moms out there who will share both experience AND great resources with you via their blogs. Remember – community and support! Of course, I highly recommend ours with lots of educational activites and free resources: www.preschoolplayandlearn.com, www.kindergartenworksheetsandgames.com, and www.123homeschool4me.com (with prek-12th grade). Plus check out 13 homeschooling blogs you should be reading!
• READ, READ, READ! I know many libraries have closed temporarily….but you can read books in your own personal library, buy books on amazon, or can subscribe and get books on Amazon Kindle (or ereader) or Audible! We have book suggestions by grade and you an learn lots of history reading historical fiction.
• You may be surprised at what your kids learn or skills they review by just playing a great game. Review geography, work on problem solving, learn the 50 states, practice math, etc.
• Write a story. Kids can practice so many skills writing their own book – you can even get it printed with this is all over and have not only a fun souvenir, but a wonderful learning experience too!
• Pinterest. Need I say more? Search for your child’s grade level or subject and prepare to be amazed by the great ideas others have come up with.
• Amazon. This is the way to shop in isolation. You don’t have to leave your house! Get games, markers, crayons, books, paper, craft supplies, and even pantry items!
• Dollar stores. Not only do some have an education section with short workbooks for younger elementary/kinder, they also tend to stock harder puzzle books (crosswords, Sudoko, etc.), advanced coloring books, small games, and puzzles for only….you guessed it….$1. If you know you are only homeschooling for a week or two, these might help keep your child on his/her toes.
• Take one or two classes online (live or self-paced) Try www.veritaspress.com which offers self-paced courses. These are backed by a 90-day return policy. The courses often present material via amusing characters and sometimes animation.

     

 

We have TONS of free worksheets, printable activities, and games for kids of all ages to practice math, grammar, history, science, and more. Jump right to the grade(s) you need by click on the thumbnail above:

   

Looking for more fun ideas with your family? Try our 40+ April Activies for Kids or these fun April Crafts for Kids. Spend time reading together as a family with our April Stories for Kids, Childrens Books to Read, or our Bookcase Reading Logs to have a friendly family reading contest.

Plus don’t miss our other great articles on surviving the pandemic:

• 15 Ways to Avoid Social Isolation as you Shelter at Home
• Conversation Starters – Stay Connected with Grandparents During Social Isolation
• 101 FUN Things to do in Isolation
• Sorry, you are NOT Homeschooling – debunking the homeschooling is too hard myth
• 10 Things Parents MUST do in Social Isolation
• School Closure Guide for Parents – lots of practical tips for parents!

 

• Brain Breaks for kids – studies show that taking a 3-5 minutes brain break increases productivity for the next 45 minutes! Plus, kids need to get the wiggles out and not sit in front of a screen all day as they school at home!
• Keep encouraging kids to wash their hands to fight germs with these 40+ FREE Printable Wash Your Hands Posters
• 1 million FREE Worksheets, Games, and Activities for Prek-8th grade
• Learn about other countries in the news: Spain Coloring Pages, Italy Coloring Pages, China Coloring Pages
• Is your Family Driving you Nuts in Social Isolation? Try this!

If you come across any other MUST SEE online resources. I’d love to include them. Share them in a comment below =)