Education Resources for Stay at Home times

We are living in an unprecedented time and though working from home is fairly natural for our remote team, it is still a challenge keeping our families busy and engaged without school, activities and their friends visiting. We’ve heard many parents are struggling with keeping their kids busy but more importantly there is a lot of worry around keeping up on schooling activities from home. Some schools are doing online curriculum now in order to keep the learning curve steep but many are ill prepared to adapt to this change. So here’s a list of resources, apps and websites that can be used for various age groups, at home, online. Got more? Please share in the comments and we’ll add them to our list.

From our Parent users 🙏❤️ (this list is growing)

From Lindy Taylor: https://www.classicsforkids.com They have AWESOME short (about 5 minute) podcasts that teach you about various composers and music styles, activity pages you can print out, and games you can play that teach you all about musicianship basics.  AND it’s fun AND FREE!  Totally good!  If you haven’t looked into it yet, YOU SHOULD. (I’m a professional musician/piano teacher, and I use classics for kids all the time!)

From Elle Murr: https://mysteryscience.com is another favourite website for fun and interactive science videos, with follow up activities, they are offering a free trial until July. Twinkl.com has customisable worksheets on all subjects (also currently free). And for other Aussie families I highly recommend Cool Australia which provides comprehensive lesson plans with an environmental focus.

By Grades – Curriculum helpers

• Preschool to Grade 2: Get that true feeling of an online classroom and guided instruction at Khan Academy Kids: Check this Google Doc for the schedule.
• Grade 3,4 & 5: Get that true feeling of an online classroom and guided instruction at Khan Academy Kids: Check this Google Doc for the schedule.
• Grade 6,7,8 & 9: Get that true feeling of an online classroom and guided instruction at Khan Academy Kids: Check this Google Doc for the schedule.
• Grade 10, 11 & 12: Get that true feeling of an online classroom and guided instruction at Khan Academy Kids: Check this Google Doc for the schedule.
• Got young kids in grades 1 to 8? Want to teach them math? Do they like games? Combine it all and sign up your child for Prodigy Math: https://play.prodigygame.com
• Free eTextbooks from BC’s Open School. Designed to support learning for K–12 students and adult learners. Materials for Primary, Intermediate and Secondary levels. https://openschool.bc.ca/k12
• Free suite of self-guided courses for students in grades K-12 on critical topics including financial education & health supported by Shaw Cable. Math & Science supported by the NHL! Visit the EVERFI K-12 Family Portal
• Every parent is looking for a good math resource and the Province of Ontario delivers with Mathies. Games, learning tools and activities that teach math: https://www.mathies.ca
• A superb online math resource from the University of Waterloo CEMC for students in Grades 3 to 12. Watch & learn, then review & practice, then exercise your knowledge. https://cemc.uwaterloo.ca/resources/courseware/courseware.html

About COVID19 Education

• Was COVID19 engineered? How long does COVID last on surfaces? What do your kids need to know about Corona Viruses? Health topics like this as well Technology, Environment & Science topics found at: https://www.sciencedaily.com

Tweens and Teenagers

• One of the best general knowledge sites for tweens and teenagers. Several topics that will captivate them – they may not know that they are actually learning! Complete with Quizzes, videos and photos. https://www.tweentribune.com
• From trusted National Geographic, have your kids check out the games, videos and articles on many topics https://kids.nationalgeographic.com
• One of our favourites is NoRedInk; a superb reading & writing teaching tool with assessments. They have opened up several Premium features to help with remote instruction during school closures. Made by Teachers with great values! https://www.noredink.com
• Keep the kids polishing their French with interactive Duolingo. Kids can take the placement test and start at their level – so cool! Download their App or learn online.
• Temporarily free, from @CBC, Curio is an educational streaming platform targeting educational institutions from primary through to post-secondary levels across Canada .https://curio.ca/en
• Senior students can learn to code at Free Code Camp; so many courses, some at University levels. Check out: https://www.freecodecamp.org
• For seniors and university students: Search for quality open textbooks offered in a variety of digital formats; the first step in adopting open educational resources. Search by subject and download them to your computer. https://open.bccampus.ca
• Temporarily made free by @galecengage, Kids Info Bits has educational content on a variety of subjects for primary and intermediate school age kids. https://go.gale.com/ps/start.do?p=ITKE&u=nort32991
• ABCs to ACTs is a resource created by a Mom with 3 rambunctious little learners. It has lots of free excellent printables. Check out https://fromabcstoacts.com
• Award winning series and collections from PBS; check out PBS Learning Media for wide range of interactive content on every imaginable subject for every age. https://www.pbslearningmedia.org
• Learning at least the basics of logic and coding is now essential. It’s just like another language in many ways so start your kids off early. Check out Tynker.

Other areas of interest

• Amazon’s Audible service is free for as long as schools are closed. Kids can instantly stream an incredible collection of stories. Give them your own assignment; listen & write a summary. Check out: https://stories.audible.com/start-listen
• Scholastic Learn at Home provides 20 days’ worth of active learning journeys designed to reinforce and sustain educational opportunities for those students who are unable to attend school. https://classroommagazines.scholastic.com/support/learnathome.html
• Libraries, Archives and Museums! Ask your child to pick a topic, any topic, of the thousands available at the Digital Public Library of America. https://dp.la
• The Smithsonian Institution is the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex; it is sharing many resources with the world.online at: https://www.si.edu/exhibitions/online.
• There’s stuff that you should know and one of them is the Stuff You Should Know, a kid friendly podcast on a variety of interesting topics. https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/stuffyoushouldknow?selected=HSW2767870423
• Read Principal Carrie Froese’s Blog on tips to setup a “normal school day” schedule at home: https://carriefroese.wordpress.com/2020/03/28/school-in-the-wake-of-covid-19
• Knowledge Network, British Columbia’s public educational broadcaster has superb independent content, commercial free. Have kids check out the amazing Nature & Environment section: https://www.knowledge.ca/browse/nature-and-environment 
• Discover history, art, science, nature and more through virtual exhibits from Canada’s museums and heritage organizations. http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/virtual-exhibits/type/virtual-exhibits
• Everyone should bookmark Google’s Arts & Culture site – learn something new every day. Experts have assembled interesting topics from the around the world that you can immerse yourself in. https://artsandculture.google.com
• The National Park Service has a virtual tour of one of the nation’s great parks, Yellowstone! Simple assignment: Take the tour and write a summary. https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/photosmultimedia/virtualtours.htm
• The Royal Museum of BC has an online learning section full of interesting content. Give your child an assignment on The Great Bear Rainforest. https://learning.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca
• Get a daily lesson plan emailed to you from TED; Assign it to your child. How easy is that?! Visit: https://ed.ted.com/lessons
• Get your kids’ hands making crafts & learning about science at the same time by picking their project of interest from the vast resources at Science World. https://www.scienceworld.ca/resources
• Our friends at Kidzworld Home Help for Kids section https://www.kidzworld.com/brain-candy/the-lab
• Dyson engineers have designed these challenges specifically for children. Ideal for home or in the classroom, they encourage inquisitive young minds to get excited about engineering. https://www.jamesdysonfoundation.com/resources/challenge-cards.html
• Flash back in time with the familiar Sesame Street characters! Thanks to @SesameWorkshop, many of their eBooks are currently Free.
• Minecraft is often touted as edutainment; a game that can foster creativity. Minecraft: Education Edition has many “worlds” that are currently free until June 30th. Visit
• Learn a language through immersion. Rosetta Stone is offering a free 3 month language learning subscription for students in grades K-12 whose schools were closed in response to the COVID-19 virus.
• Kids in high school love photography often joining clubs or taking courses if they are offered. Keep the skill going or learn it thanks to Nikon. Check out Nikon School, free until April 30th.

Reading

• Epic Books offers novels, picture books and even read aloud options for pre/early readers!
• Raz-kids offers levelled stories fiction and non-fiction. It will provide read aloud, quizzes and record their own voices.
• Tumblebooks Free ebooks including audio books and graphic novels.