Homeschooling Through COVID-19 School Closures

There is a lot of links already here on my blog, along the left column, that will be of great assistance to you.  Currently, I am going through all of them to make sure they are still all functioning and available.  

In the meantime, here are some links that  Joy has gathered to TONS of free fun learning options for all ages from toddlers to AP students to adults. Some are always free and some are only free during this current situation. 

✅The San Diego Zoo has a website just for kids with amazing videos, activities, and games. Enjoy the tour! https://kids.sandiegozoo.org/

✅Tour Yellowstone National Park!
https://www.nps.gov/…/lea…/photosmultimedia/virtualtours.htm

✅Explore the surface of Mars on the Curiosity Rover.
https://accessmars.withgoogle.com/

✅This Canadian site FarmFood 360 offers 11 Virtual Tours of farms from minks, pigs, and cows, to apples and eggs. https://www.farmfood360.ca/

✅Indoor Activities for busy toddlers
https://busytoddler.com/2020/03/indoor-activities/…

✅Play games and learn all about animals
https://switchzoo.com/

✅Play with fave show characters and learn too https://pbskids.org/

✅Travel to Paris, France to see amazing works of art at The Louvre with this virtual field trip.
https://www.louvre.fr/en/visites-en-ligne

✅This Virtual Tour of the Great Wall of China is beautiful and makes history come to life.
https://www.thechinaguide.com/destinati…/great-wall-of-china

✅Math and Reading games https://www.funbrain.com/

✅Phonics skills https://www.starfall.com/h/

✅This iconic museum located in the heart of London allows virtual visitors to tour the Great Court and discover the ancient Rosetta Stone and Egyptian mummies. https://britishmuseum.withgoogle.com/

✅ Read, play games, and hang out with Dr. Seuss https://www.seussville.com/

✅300,000+ FREE printable worksheets from toddlers to teens https://www.123homeschool4me.com/home-school-free-printabl…/

✅Geography and animals
https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/

✅Math practice from counting to algebra and geometry http://www.mathscore.com/

✅Fave kids books read by famous people https://www.storylineonline.net/

✅Crafts, activities, mazes, dot to dot, etc, https://www.allkidsnetwork.com/

✅High school chemistry topics https://www.acs.org/…/hi…/chemmatters/articles-by-topic.html

✅Math and reading games https://www.abcya.com/

✅Math and language games https://www.arcademics.com/

✅Hands on Elem science videos https://www.backpacksciences.com/science-simplified

✅Voice based learning... learn through Alexa https://bamboolearning.com/resources

✅Fun games, recipes, crafts, activities https://www.highlightskids.com/

✅ClickSchooling brings you daily recommendations by email for entertaining websites that help your kids learn. https://clickschooling.com/

✅Math as a fun part of your daily family routine http://bedtimemath.org/

✅Games to get "into the book" https://reading.ecb.org/

✅Online history classes for all ages preteen through adults https://school.bighistoryproject.com/bhplive

✅Biology https://www.biologysimulations.com/

✅ Elem Math through 6th grade https://boddlelearning.com/

✅Educational games K-12 https://www.breakoutedu.com/funathome

✅Digital archive of history https://www.bunkhistory.org/

✅Test Prep for SAT, ACT, etc. https://www.bwseducationconsulting.com/handouts.php

✅Geometry https://www.canfigureit.com/

✅Resources for Spanish practice https://www.difusion.com/campus/

✅Chinese learning activities https://chalkacademy.com/

✅Music is for everyone https://musiclab.chromeexperiments.com/Experiments

✅Science, Math, Social Studies https://www.ck12.org/student/

✅Grammar practice for middle grades https://www.classroomcereal.com/

✅Daily free science or cooking experiment to do at home.http://www.clubscikidzmd.com/blog/

✅Chemistry https://www.playmadagames.com/

✅Reading passages for grades 3-12, with reading comprehension and discussion questions. https://www.commonlit.org/

✅Vocabulary, grammar, listening activities and games in Spanish, French, Italian, German, Portuguese, Korean, and Latin. https://conjuguemos.com/

✅35,000 pages of online content on the cultures and countries of the world. https://www.countryreports.org/

✅K-5th Science lessons https://mysteryscience.com/

✅Tons of free classes from leading universities and companies https://www.coursera.org/

✅Free printable K-8 Reading and Math activity packs (available in English and Spanish) https://www.curriculumassociates.com/supporting-students-aw…

✅Digital learning content for preschool through high school https://www.curriki.org/

✅A wide range of math content from middle school through AP Calculus. https://deltamath.com/overview

✅Day-by-day projects to keep kids reading, thinking, and growing. https://classroommagazines.scholastic.com/…/learnathome.html

✅3 Free Weeks of Maker Stations to keep your children creating at home! Each challenge includes simple instructions using materials around the house, QR code video resources, and a student recording sheet. bit.ly/freemakerstations

✅Classes for older teens or adults https://www.thegreatcoursesplus.com/lp/t1/freemo…

✅Online homeschool platform & curriculum for Pre-K to 12th grade. All main subjects are covered, plus extra curriculum courses. http://discoveryk12.com/dk12/

✅Printable board games, activities and more for phonics and reading all using evidence-based methods. Can be customized to any student's needs including creating flashcards for other subjects. https://dogonalogbooks.com/printables/

✅K-8 online math program that looks at how a student is solving problems to adjust accordingly and build a unique learning path for them. https://www.dreambox.com/at-home

✅Engaging reading game for grades 2-8 that combines strategy, engagement, and imaginative reading passages to create a fun, curriculum-aligned literacy game. https://www.squigglepark.com/dreamscape/

✅Higher level math series... online video series with detailed solutions to more than a thousand publicly-released College Board SAT Math, Subject Test Math Level 1, and Subject Test Math Level 2 problems.https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbQoCpvYRYRkRRvsObOPHaA…

✅Foreign languages https://www.duolingo.com/

✅Interactive video earth science based curriculum supplement. https://www.everyday-earth.com/

✅A safe research site for elementary-level readers. They are offering -- free 24/7 access
USERNAME: read (case sensitive)
PASSWORD: read (case sensitive)
https://www.facts4me.com/

✅Resources for AP students including live reviews, live trivia, and study guides! https://app.fiveable.me/

✅Educational brain breaks to help students review essential literacy and math skills, while getting in some exercise. Find over 900 videos to help your child keep learning at home and burn off some extra energy. Our site is best used for ages 4-8. https://fluencyandfitness.com/register/school-closures/

✅Movement and mindfulness videos created by child development experts. https://www.gonoodle.com/

✅7,000 free videos in 13 subject areas https://hippocampus.org/

✅Carmen Sandiego videos, stories, and lessons for all subject areas https://www.carmensandiego.com/resources/

✅Math Videos with lessons, real life uses of math, famous actors https://www.hmhco.com/math-at-work

✅Entertaining & educational videos for all levels and subjects
https://www.izzit.org/index.php

✅Online education program for toddler through high school... https://www.khanacademy.org/

✅Free Printables for PreK-2nd Grade https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/…/Lite…/Price-Range/Free

✅Free printables library with activities for children 0-6 https://www.littlesparkcompany.com/printables-library

✅Free at-home kids yoga lesson plans https://littletwistersyoga.com/online-store/

✅Magic Spell is a carefully crafted spelling adventure. https://brainbox.games/

✅Resources for AP students https://marcolearning.com/

✅Enter your math problem or search term, press the button, and they show you the step-by-step work and answer instantly. 2nd grade through college. https://www.mathcelebrity.com/online-math-tutor.php

✅Elem Math games, logic puzzles and educational resources https://www.mathplayground.com/

✅Poetry and music https://www.thewell.world/mindful-mu…/mindful-poetry-moments

✅3D printing projects and Coding projects, involving math and other K-12 subjects https://www.instructables.com/…/EdgertonCent…/instructables/

✅Introductory and intermediate music theory lessons, exercises, ear trainers, and calculators. https://www.musictheory.net/

✅Scads of free resources, games, learning resources, and lesson plans for teaching personal finance https://www.ngpf.org/

✅Improve your typing skills while competing in fast-paced races with up to 5 typers from around the world. https://www.nitrotype.com/

✅Illustrated recipes designed to help kids age 2-12 cook with their grown-ups. Recipes encourage culinary skills, literacy, math, and science. https://www.nomsterchef.com/nomster-recipe-library

✅Online curriculum that builds better writers. https://www.noredink.com/

✅80+ do at home science activities https://elementalscience.com/…/n…/80-free-science-activities

✅Daily lessons and educational activities that kids can do on their own https://www.superchargedschool.com/

✅Adaptive curriculum in Math and ELA for Grades K-8
https://www.scootpad.com/

✅Novel Effect makes storytime a little more fun for kids (and grown-ups too!) As you read out loud from print books (or ebooks!) music, sound effects, and character voices play at just the right moment, adjusting and responding to your voice. https://noveleffect.com/

✅Quick & easy at home projects curated for kids 2 and up
https://www.kiwico.com/kids-at-home

✅Teaches students how to write a paragraph through interactive online tutorial http://www.paragraphpunch.com/

✅PreK-12 digital media service with more than 30,000 learning materials https://www.pbslearningmedia.org/

✅Curricular content hub specifically designed for K-3 students.
https://pebblego.com/free-pebblego-capstone-interactive-acc…

✅Science and math labs and simulations https://phet.colorado.edu/

✅An online physics problem and video bank designed for conceptual, standard, honors or AP1 physics. https://www.positivephysics.org/home

✅Prodigies is a colorful music curriculum for kids 1-12 that will teach your kids how to play their first instrument, how to sing in tune & how to understand the language of music! 21 for free https://prodigiesmusic.com/

✅Free videos from around the world from grade 3-12
https://www.projectexplorer.org/

✅QuaverMusic is offering free access to general music activities to all impacted schools, including free student access at-home https://www.quavermusic.com/info/at-home-resources/

✅For students to practice and master whatever they are learning. https://quizlet.com/

✅ReadWorks is an online resource of reading passages and lesson plans for students of all levels K-12. https://www.readworks.org/

✅Critical Thinking resources for K-6 students https://marketplace.mythinkscape.com/store/redtkids

✅Music Based Spanish Learning https://rockalingua.com/

✅Science simulations, scientist profiles, and other digital resources for middle school science and high school biology
https://sepuplhs.org/

✅The Shurley English program for grades K-8 provides a clear, logical, and concrete approach to language arts. https://www.shurley.com/

✅Sight reading and sight singing practice exercises. https://www.sightreadingfactory.com/

✅Music practice transformed https://www.smartmusic.com/

✅Spellingcity is free right now with code VSCFree90
https://www.spellingcity.com/

✅Kid-friendly workouts — choose from Strength for Kids, Agility for Kids, Flexibility and Balance for Kids, Warm-Up for Kids, Cooldown for Kids, Stand Up and Move for Kids, OR create your own custom kid workout. https://app.sworkit.com/collections/kids-workouts

✅A collection of hundreds of free K-12 STEM resources, from standalone models and simulations to short activities and week long sequences of curriculum materials. https://learn.concord.org/

✅Course sets (Levels 1–5) that combine and thoroughly cover phonics, reading, writing, spelling, literature, grammar, punctuation, art, and geography—all in one easy-to-use, beautiful course. https://www.goodandbeautiful.com/

✅At home OT, PT, and ST resources designed to build skills in children through movement and play. https://www.theottoolbox.com/

✅Science projects that can be completed with or without Internet access https://sciencespot.net/Pages/classhome.html

✅Keyboarding practice https://www.typingclub.com/ or https://www.typing.com/

✅Next Generation Science video game focused on middle school where students directly engage in science phenomena as they solve problems. https://www.tytoonline.com/

✅Short videos and readings that answer various burning questions for students. There are vocabulary challenges and comprehension questions. http://wonderopolis.org/

✅Math practice https://xtramath.org/#/home/index

✅K-5 curriculum that builds deep understanding and a love of learning math for all students https://www.zearn.org/

✅A quick start resource to help families pull together a plan for surviving the next 1-2 months at home with their kids, but it can also be a time of slowing down and enjoying kids as they learn.
Preschool through 8th grade https://abetterwaytohomeschool.com/learning-at-home-everyth…

✅450 Ivy League courses that you can take https://www.freecodecamp.org/…/ivy-league-free-online-cou…/…

✅Spelling 1-4 grade
https://www.spellingtraining.com/

✅2,500+ online courses from top institutions https://www.edx.org/

✅22 languages to learn https://www.memrise.com/

✅Learn to code https://www.codecademy.com/

✅Miscellaneous games for all subjects k-8 https://www.funbrain.com/

✅Phonics and learning to read https://readingeggs.com/

✅PreK - 5 games for all subjects https://www.turtlediary.com/

✅Online digital coloring pages https://www.thecolor.com/

✅Every course you could possibly want to homeschool preschool - 8 https://allinonehomeschool.com/

✅Every course you could possibly want to homeschool for high school https://allinonehighschool.com/

✅Phonics worksheets for kids https://www.funfonix.com/

✅Free stories online ages 3-12 https://www.freechildrenstories.com/

✅National Geographic Young Explorers is a magazine designed specifically for kindergarten and first grade students. Children can listen to the magazine being read to them as they follow along with the highlighted text. https://ngexplorer.cengage.com/ngyoungexplorer/index.html

✅Learn all about earthquakes https://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/kids/

✅Learn all about the periodic table https://www.chemicool.com/

✅Farmer's almanac for kids... Date, weather, moon phase, etc. https://www.almanac.com/kids

✅Guide to gardening for kids https://web.extension.illinois.edu/firstgarden/

✅Website allows students to play basic games to reinforce math skills and compete against the computer or others https://www.mangahigh.com/en-us/

✅Space science for kiddos https://www.nasa.gov/kidsclub/index.html

✅Math Games, Logic Puzzles and Brain Builders https://www.mathplayground.com/

✅Games, quizzes and fact sheets take kids on a journey through time. https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/forkids/

✅NGAkids interactives offer an entertaining and informative introduction to art and art history. https://www.nga.gov/education/kids.html

✅News and more for kids https://www.youngzine.org/

✅Randomly generates 356,300,262,144 story starters
https://thestorystarter.com/

✅Immerse yourself in cryptography https://www.cryptoclub.org/

✅Math games galore https://gridclub.com/

✅Tons of science experiments that you can do at home
https://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/

✅An interactive way to learn history
https://www.mission-us.org/

✅Just explore, have fun, and learn some science along the way. https://thehappyscientist.com/

✅Interactive games based on the book series
https://www.magictreehouse.com/

✅Work on the 8 parts of speech https://www.grammaropolis.com/

✅Learn all about cells https://www.cellsalive.com/

✅All sorts of learning here if you dig in https://www.google.com/earth/

✅Scratch draws students of all types into coding and lays a foundation for future learning. https://scratch.mit.edu/

✅A wonderful, endlessly detailed way to get kids engaged in the world of art. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/online-features/metkids/

✅Tests kids’ geography skills. Using images from Google’s Street View, it plops players down in the middle of the street and asks them to figure out where they are. https://www.geoguessr.com/

✅Allows students to type in any city, state, or country to view an archive of historical photographs and other documents. It’s a unique way to help them learn about history.
http://www.whatwasthere.com//

✅Short videos about numbers that help kids explore complex math topics and make math more fun. https://www.numberphile.com/

✅A human visualization platform that allows students to explore the human body in really cool ways. https://human.biodigital.com/login?returnUrl=/dashboard

✅Helps kids learn to appreciate the arts by providing them with the opportunity to play games, conduct investigations, and explore different forms of art. https://artsology.com/

✅Lets kids play instruments online. Instruments include the guitar, piano, pan flute, drums, and bongos. https://www.virtualmusicalinstruments.com/

✅Crafts, activities, bulletin board designs, and finger plays for early education teachers and parents to use with kids.
http://www.preschoolexpress.com/

✅A large selection of fun songs to help teach preschool and kindergarten students https://www.songsforteaching.com/preschoolkindergarten.htm

✅Resource section includes free flashcards, coloring pages, worksheets, and other resources for children, teachers, and parents. https://supersimple.com/

✅Life skills curriculum for students in grades K-12. Their resources include strategies for teaching social and emotional skills. https://www.overcomingobstacles.org/

✅Coding for ages 4-10 https://www.kodable.com/

✅No need to travel to one of the Smithsonian’s zoos or museums — this website brings your child everything from live video of the National Zoo to the Smithsonian Learning Lab right to their screen https://www.si.edu/kids

✅Cool Kid Facts gives your child access to educational videos, pictures, quizzes, downloadable worksheets, and infographics. They can use these to learn about geography, history, science, animals, and even the human body.
https://www.coolkidfacts.com/

✅This interactive website, hosted by the U.S. Government Publishing Office, allows your child to see the ins and outs of the U.S. government by taking a series of learning adventures with none other than Benjamin Franklin. https://bensguide.gpo.gov/

✅This NASA initiative covers a wide range of topics including weather, climate, atmosphere, water, energy, plants, and animals. https://climatekids.nasa.gov/

✅Ask Dr. Universe is a science-education project from Washington State University. Kids can send Dr. Universe any question they may have about history, geography, plants, animals, technology, engineering, math, culture, and more.
https://askdruniverse.wsu.edu/

✅Your child can play games, learn fun facts, and find out how to turn coin collecting into a hobby. https://www.usmint.gov/learn/kids

✅From rainbows to tornadoes and winter storms to tsunamis, meteorologist Crystal Wicker breaks down the fascinating world of weather. http://www.weatherwizkids.com/

✅Kids Think Design explores careers in fashion design, graphic design, interior design, book design, product design, film and theatre, architecture, animation, and environmental design. http://www.kidsthinkdesign.org/

✅This educational website hosted by the Smithsonian Museum takes a deep dive into ocean life. https://ocean.si.edu/

✅Brainscape offers over a million flashcard decks for every subject, entrance exam, and certification imaginable. https://www.brainscape.com/

✅The Theta Music Trainer offers a series of online courses and games for ear training and music theory.
https://trainer.thetamusic.com/en

✅Banzai exposes students to real-world financial dilemmas to teach them the importance of smart money management. https://www.teachbanzai.com/

✅Innerbody explores the 11 bodily systems in depth. With interactive models and detailed explanations, this website will help them learn more about the internal mechanics of the amazing human body.https://www.innerbody.com/htm/body.html

✅Alcumus is specifically designed to provide high-performing students with a challenging curriculum appropriate to their abilities https://artofproblemsolving.com/alcumus

✅Find and fix learning gaps https://www.mobymax.com/

✅Algebra games for kids https://www.dragonboxapp.com/

✅Fractions practice http://www.mathchimp.com/freddysfractions.php

✅Education for kids all topics https://www.ducksters.com

✅Math and logic problems for ages 5 and up to adult
https://www.aplusclick.org/

✅Science podcasts to listen to with your kids https://medium.com/…/19-great-science-podcasts-you-can-list…

✅Alaskan Wildlife cams http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=viewing.webcams

✅Coding with Star Wars https://code.org/starwars

✅Tons and tons and tons of games some learning some just fun https://www.crazygames.com/

✅Crafts, projects, science, recipes for young children https://www.funology.com/

✅Amphibian unit studies https://premeditatedleftovers.com/…/amphibians-unit-study-…/

✅Engineering challenges with things you have at home
https://thehomeschoolscientist.com/paper-structures-engine…/

✅Online photograph jigsaw puzzles You can set the pieces from 6-1000+ https://www.jigsawexplorer.com/

✅Toddler and preschool age ideas https://preschoolinspirations.com/

Lions, Tigers, and Bears!!

It is coming to the end of the summer for my family and school year will be upon us in a couple of weeks.  Hubby took the day off of work so that we could have a family day! We decided to use our free zoo pass and go see the lions, tigers and bears at the Zoo today!

With having the wide range of ages for my kids it is hard to find something that all will enjoy and for the most part it seemed like the Zoo did the trick.  If anything it got my teenage boys out of their rooms and out of the house for a few hours of exercise walking through the Zoo.

Looking for family fun, especially for big families....look into getting a zoo membership or public museum membership.  I have found that getting a membership is lower cost for us rather than a one time admittance.  You can then go as many times as you want within the year and even go to other museums or zoos for no or little cost out of pocket.

Parenting Series--ABCs Christian Parenting--Part 7

I know that it has been quite awhile since this series began but here is the next installment of  my parenting series.

Do you give into the whining and complaining that your child does to get their way/wants?  Do you give in to the "my friend has it so I need it too" mentality that children seem to use with parents to get their wants? Does your child know that your "no" means "no"?  If so, this next thought can be a difficult one for parents.

GIVE your child everything he/she needs instead of everything he/she wants, even if you have to say no.

Before you can say "no"  to your child you need to distinguish between what are needs and what are wants for your child.  So we as parents need to know what your child's needs are so that we can help them understand that certain things in life are just wants.  Needs of your child would be things that we rely on every day to live comfortable lives.  So things like food, water, shelter would fall under the need category.   Wants of your child are things that are not essential to their life.  Is having a television, computer, or some other technology type device essential to their life?  NO!  Do they think it is essential to their life?  YES!

We need to be teaching our children what is realistic to living rather than teaching them what they think they are entitled to in order to live on a daily basis.

Take the time to do an exercise with your children.  Prepare for the exercise in advance by gathering pictures of things that could be needs or wants.  Then have them place each of the pictures in either the need or the want category.  Once they have completed putting the pictures in either category, take the time to discuss with them the reasoning behind why they placed the pictures in each category.  It should help your child to understand the "why" behind why we as parents provide the things that we do for our children on a daily basis.  It should also give them a bit of insight on why their wants might not be fulfilled in a timely fashion.

Back to Blogging....Back to School!

It's Back to Blogging Time

It has been a little over two years since I wrote any new material on this blog.  I am picking back up the blogging pen once again, however, my life is a bit different now.

I am no longer homeschooling but I am planning on keeping the homeschooling resources here and will be working in the coming weeks to make sure that all the links are working and will be finding new links to add as well.

I am no longer a stay at home mom, I went back into the workforce last school year after being home for 19 years and returned to the classroom as a kindergarten paraprofessional. I love my new job working at a school that is inner city and has lots of "at risk" kids that attend the school.  I am planning on posts regarding my experiences at my job along with balancing the job and family life.

I love to share recipes and bargains, so meal plans and local specials will still make appearances on here as well.  I also will be putting more posts of how my family of seven is living on a budget with having two incomes now.

I love to share about my kids and things that they are doing and experiencing as well.  I will be adding some family posts to the blogging schedule as well.

It's Back to School Time

My five kids are growing and it is hard to believe that in 3 short weeks the school year will be in full throttle!  I am so happy that I made the decision to close my homeschooling books and send my kids to school.  All of them are thriving and enjoying their experiences.

My 19 yo is a sophomore at Purdue University studying Mechanical Engineering. My almost 17 yo is a senior at the local high school and is starting the college application process.  My almost 15 yo is a sophomore at the local high school and he loves his Robotics group.  My 8 yo who is actually the "baby" of the family will be going into third grade this year.  My 11 yo is going into sixth grade this year and growing up into a lovely young lady.

I am starting my second year as a kindergarten paraprofessional.  It certainly has been exciting getting back into a classroom. I love interacting with the kindergartners and getting into their world. It definitely has been a balancing act of working outside of the home and working at home.