Make Homeschooling Way More Fun with These Resources
We all have plenty to be stressed about these days without adding homeschooling to the mix, but for many parents and kids school closures are a reality. Luckily most schools are giving some guidance and basic reading and math resources to parents, but the real concern is how to fill all that time! Inevitably for many families free time = screen time, but there are tons of ways to use screens in creative and educational ways that your kids will enjoy. Here is my roundup of various apps and websites that can offer some enrichment during the long days at home. Wishing you all good health, safety and peace of mind.
ART/DESIGN/CREATIVITY:
APPS:
iMOVIE - Shoot and edit your own movies!
CANVA - create beautiful posters, cards, presentations and more
MOMA ART LAB - Learn about famous artists and play with tools to create your own versions of their famous works
BOOK CREATOR - create your own books with pics and text - there is even a publish option.
STRIP DESIGNER - a drag and drop comic book maker with tons of graphics
STOP MOTION STUDIO - simple yet robust stop motion movie making app
LEGO MOVIE MAKER - make stop motion Lego movies
FLIPaCLIP - animation app that brings your simple drawings to life
STYLE STUDIO FASHION DESIGNER - For budding clothing designers this app allows you to create your own line of clothing with tons of patterns, fabrics and different styles
WEBSITES:
Carla Sonheim - either on her YouTube channel or full 1 week courses for free on her website at: https://www.carlasonheim.com/product-category/classes/free-classes/
This is the most unique source I’ve found for art classes for kids and adults. It’s more than just copying cartoons. This woman is a real artist and the outcomes are beautiful and whimsical.
Online classes for kids from sewing to drawing to rube goldbergs - they have it all and with super fun and engaging teachers. Also, kids earn badges as they go which is a nice bonus.
For kids 4 - 18 yrs. And, best of all - you can do a free 14 day trial!
SCIENCE PROJECTS and GAMES:
APPS:
COASTER PHYSICS - Kids who love zooming through the air at amusement parks will be crazy about designing their own roller coaster tracks in this innovative app.
MONSTER PHYSICS - Kids ages 9–11 can get their fingers on over 65 moving parts to invent their own wacky machine and see it in action with Monster Physics.
WEBSITES:
https://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/
A full library of fun science experiments to do at home. You’ll probably need to plan ahead to get some of the needed items, but most of these look really fun and not too complicated!
Really fun science videos produced by PBS and hosted by Joe Hanson. They cover all kinds of topics - animals, space, the environment, human nature in very engaging videos that average about 10 min long.
Games, videos, articles all about the natural world in NatGeo’s friendly style.
Planet Earth I and II are hands down the most amazing look at this planet we live on. Mesmerizing footage and so much mind blowing information. These will give your kids so much to talk and think about when it comes to protecting our planet while simply enjoying the beauty that it holds. You can stream them on Netflix for free and paid on YouTube or Amazon Prime.
With the help of her upgraded Magic School Bus, Ms. Frizzle takes her class on wild field trips exploring a wide variety of science topics including, invasive species, weather hazards, schools of fish, the rock cycle, magnets, allergies, camouflage, states of matter, satellites, glaciers, brain and nervous system, and deep sea exploration!
SOCIAL STUDIES IN ACTION:
THE STORYCORPS APP - This is so cool. Storycorps is a project you may have heard on NPR. It’s the gathering of people’s audio stories which gets archived in the Library of Congress as a record of the human experience. The stories can be about anything. This app guides your kid through interviewing someone about a story in their life, recording the audio and then allows it to go into the archive!
DIYdoc APP - How about getting your kids to make a short documentary about a subject they care about? Great for kids in late elementary all the way up to teens and adults. This app makes it easy. DIYdoc is based on a template structure, like a storyboard, which has a series of scenes of a prescribed length, shot type and basic questions for people to answer. People fill in the storyboard template with their videos and when they're done, they upload them to a server where they’re automatically edited and processed with transitions, filters, graphics and other professional elements. Within about five minutes people get the edited film back, which they can watch, share and post on their social channels.
IF YOU CAN’T GET OUTSIDE BUT NEED MOVEMENT:
Adriene is lovely and has a huge library of yoga classes mostly for adults or at least teens, but she does have these specifically for kids and I think they’re great!
For younger kids this is a fun silly way to burn off energy with dances and “indoor recess.”
GENERAL EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES:
TIME FOR KIDS (from Time Magazine)
LIST OF GREAT DOCUMENTARIES FOR KIDS
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/lists/best-documentaries