JEFFERSON COUNTY, Pa. (EYT) – With schools closed and most likely staying that way beyond this week, parents are left to wonder how they can continue their children’s education.
“I have taken advantage of as many of the free trials and subscriptions for electronic learning as I can,” Jena Matthews told EYT Media last week.
There are a number of different online resources available to parents, although a lot of them seem geared for younger age students.
“My daughter wasn’t given materials to take home from school, so I’ve been using the internet for ideas on things to do with her,” Ange Griffin said.
According to Hollie Peters, she is utilizing free websites and whatever books her kids brought home from school with them as well as adding some of her own skill sets.
“I am also ‘home ec’ skills and ‘kitchen science’,” Peters said.
Amy Kaltenbach was one of a number of people who mentioned ABC Mouse to EYT Media.
“My youngest child is doing lessons on ABC Mouse,” Kaltenbach said.
ABC Mouse is for children toddler age (two-plus) through second grade (seven-plus) and includes subject reading/language, math, the world around us (the solar system, plants, and animals, weather, climate, etc), arts and colors.
The site is offering a free month of service (it usually costs $9.95 per month). The site is also running a year-long subscription at 49 percent off ($59.95 per year).
Brandy Giles said she has registered both her younger children on www.arcademics.com, a site that says it will “boost student engagement & fact fluency with our free multiplayer educational games, math games, language arts games, and more.”
“They really like it,” Giles said. “They’re also using Freckle and Epic! Both of which they’re registered through school. And they’re using abcya.com, which is free. My oldest is in high school and uses Khan Academy.”
Another option is Scholastic, which has created a learn-at-home website (www.scholastic.com/learnathome) in response to schools shutting down.
“This free resource provides your children with 20 days (updated weekly until 20 days is provided) of exciting articles and stories, videos, and fun learning challenges,” a letter on the site said. “Children can complete them anytime, in any order. They can work on their own or together with you and your family.”
There are four grade-level options available including Pre-K and Kindergarten, first and second grades, third and fourth grades, and sixth grade through ninth grade.
Another resource that appears available is PBS Learning brought through WQED. It offers “free, standards-aligned videos, interactives, lesson plans, and more” for teachers but appears to be open to anyone and was suggested by the website www.boredteachers.com for parents looking for resources.
National Geographic for Kids offers a wide array of science resources and also offers educational games for children to participate in.
For middle school and high school students, there are also some resources available online including suggestions for reading materials for both middle school (www.weareteachers.com) and high school (www.tes.com) students.
Duolingo.com offers free language lessons so that people of any age can learn a foreign language.
There are also plenty of YouTube channels that teach a variety of subjects including GEOgraphy Focus and Mike Likes Science, which covers both science and math using rap videos. A Google search of YouTube learning channels will turn up plenty of additional resources.
Elya Henry Foust suggested to EYT Media that people that have an iPad or Fire tablet use the OSMO game.
“The OSMO game for your iPad or Fire tablet is the best educational ‘toy’ we have ever purchased,” Henry said. “It grows with your child, so it’s always age-appropriate. (We have) lots of practice with our preschool skills at our house. I would highly recommend it for anyone with kids about 4-10. It’s a game, so they are really engaged and having fun while learning all kinds of things. There is a free app/game for it to download right now, but you do need the base and camera piece.”
Parents can also go old school to the day prior to the internet and create their own flashcards and worksheets, which of course can also be found online, in a variety of subjects to help their children learn.
“We’ve made do with an hour or so of school work,” Haleigh Dotten told EYT Media. “Whether I print worksheets out or they do online stuff ABC Mouse etc.”
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