Online Learning Resources for Homeschooling!

Are you suddenly homeschooling your students? Even if you’ve got plenty of “homework” from the classroom teachers, the lazy days of summer are coming too. Along with summer comes what educators refer to as the “summer slide,” or learning that slips away over the summer recess. To help you teach your kids and spark some interest in some really cool things, here are some good online learning resources for homeschooling we’ve compiled on a variety of topics and for many ages.

Below you’ll find links for every school subject, languages and even virtual tours and live concerts/performances to enjoy. It’s a massive list! Most of these sites are free, or are offering a temporary free period as we stay home to avoid illness. We do not endorse, nor affiliate with any of these sites. Let us know which ones you tried and like!

Online learning resources for homeschooling preschool and early elementary students

This is such a busy stage! Having a few aces in your pocket is key with these high-energy kiddos. If “Alexa, read me a story” is old news at your house, here are 10 resources to consider for stay-at-home toddlers as well as early elementary students. Some are more interactive than others. Our little animal-lover particularly enjoys the Eagle Cam, and we’ve always been big fans of Epic.

1. All Kids Network offers educational kids crafts, worksheets, mazes, dot-to-dot and hidden pictures for K-2^nd, focuses on math, reading, writing.
2. Astronauts read to kids at Story Time from Space, and you have a variety stories to choose.
3. Circle Time offers Mommy and me classes to engage kids ages 0-6, led by an instructor.
4. Eagle Cam is a live video focused on the nest of a bald eagle in Decorah, IA. Have your toddler watch as the eggs hatch. It won’t be long!
5. Epic offers a digital library for kids 12 and under, free for 30 days.
6. Be A Dinosaur focuses on reading and math skills with interactive games, from preK-5^th grade.
7. Bedtime Math helps sharpen kids’ math skills without screen time. Math riddles and fun facts for ages 3-9.
8. Eduprintables has free resources for pre-K-3^rd.
9. Purple Mash has creative activities for kids ages 3-11, elementary applications for math, grammar, coding, art.
10. Vroom offers science-based tips for brain building in preschool kids, from the Bezo Family Foundation.

We hope you enjoyed some of these sites above and will look over the rest of the list below too. We spent quite a bit of time sorting through tons of tools suddenly offered up as online learning resources for homeschooling parents – and we focused on the best ones targeted to parents who don’t do this on a regular basis and the free ones. As you can imagine, many are touting favorite resources that might be geared toward a teacher who is conducting  a course online for students. And, there are plenty that want to lure you with a free short trial in hopes you will sign up for a subscription. We hope you don’t mind, but we culled out those types of sites.

Online learning resources for homeschooling elementary students

So expanding the academic side a bit, check out these online learning resources for homeschooling elementary students. These links can be great for learning along with your elementary students, or to supplement classroom teaching. Our oldest has used Khan Academy in the classroom, and we’ve been able to transition easily for at-home learning. And come on, who doesn’t like Magic School Bus?

1. Arcademics helps students in grades 1-6^th learn facts with games for math, language arts and more.
2. Center for Interactive Learning & Collaboration – offers live, interactive learning appropriate for grades K-6^th. Programs delivered by Zoom link, 8:30-2:30 CDT.
3. Doodles is an art curriculum for grades 1-5^th.
4. Fact site for elementary students on a variety of topics.
5. Khan Academy for Kids can be found here.
6. Magic School Bus – Find Ms. Frizzle’s lessons on a variety of science concepts, grades K-4^th.
7. Maths Hub has resources to teach elementary school math concepts.
8. MathScore is a site for K-9^th.
9. Mystery Science is providing its most popular science lessons free, for K-5^th.
10. NASA Kids’ Club has activities for preK-4^th that support education standards for STEM – test your driving skills on Mars, design a rocket, learn about the solar system.
11. Prodigy is math curriculum, grades 1-8^th.
12. Teach@Home offers daily lessons and activities for K-5^th students in math, science – videos and pdfs.
13. Walkabout activities for young elementary – preK- 2^nd – has a free trial until Sept 1, 2020. Parents should start with the quick reference guide. Math, reading and language content on several topics is integrated with moving; includes worksheets and correlates to state standards.
14. Zearn is for K-5^th math learners, with webinars on a variety of topics.
15. And, if you like our stuff at RBF, you might check out some of our RBF resources here.

Online learning resources for middle school

Middle school aged students are a little more independent, are they not? While the iPad or computer learning is a huge advantage today, don’t forget to allow ample time for discussion. It’s amazing what these students can create, learn and develop! Some of the recommendations on our below list of online learning resources for homeschooling middle school students are particularly geared to STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math). Let us know which of these resources work well for your students!

1. Albert is like a one-on-one tutor to boost vocabulary, for students in middle school or high school. You can also find resources for math, social studies, science and pre-tests.
2. History lessons here can be fun, along with quizzes, games and a few simulations of ages 11-18.
3. Science activities at home via Flinn Scientific for middle school and high school students in chemistry, biology, physics, life science, STEM.
4. Science News for Students covers reading, science, STEM and current events for students ages 9-14.
5. Techy Kids has online courses for K through 8^th in robotics, coding 3D modeling.
6. Vidcode helps students learn to code with a variety of projects for 2^nd grade and up.

Our favorite online learning resources for homeschooling students grades 8-12

So many parents consider teaching high school aged students “out of their comfort zone.” But, remember, they’re YOUR kids! You know their gifts and interests – lean in! Use the below list as a guide to help you find some supplemental learning for your student. We’re guessing these at-home lessons can springboard into some great conversations about areas of interest for college and/or career paths.

1. Chemistry with the American Association of Chemistry Teachers has free general chemistry content through March 31 here, for middle school, high school and AP (Advanced Placement).
2. Can Figure It is an interactive tool for geometry.
3. Find chemistry games and activities for high school students.
4. ChemMatters – has articles and content by topic.
5. DeltaMath is free math content for ages middle school through AP calculus.
6. Fun-Based Learning has chemistry and algebra games to boost skills like balancing equations and learning element names.
7. Review Game Zone – Online school games for science, English, math, history, government, art, geography, family and consumer sciences, economics and more. Find a subject, click a game and play.
8. Seneca provides middle and high school students help with algebra, chemistry, biology, English, geometry, physics, Spanish, history, statistics and ACT test prep.

Online resources with post high school content

Got a smarty-pants under your roof? Here are a few online learning resources for homeschooling older students who are ready for post-high school content. Again, use these ideas as a guide to supplement existing coursework, expand a particular area of interest or boost some knowledge.

1. Coursera offers courses for upper level high student students, young adults, college students.
2. Fiveable is a resource for AP students, live trivia battles and study guides.
3. IDEA is a series of free mini courses on a variety of subjects, mostly for adults or older students.
4. Shmoop has free study guides, videos and articles, planning for college.

Are you (and family) getting bored during the quarantine? Here’s a few things you might try.

For many of us, this quarantine hit when we weren’t exactly prepared with hours of family activities planned! And if you’re a bit of a busy-body (like us), it’s easy to catch yourself looking for something fun to do while at home. (Because…anything to delay cleaning that basement, right? ahem.)

The below list includes a bunch for ideas you and/or your family might check out to learn something new these next few weeks! Some are long-time favorites of ours (like ATK), some we haven’t yet tried but have them on our list (Dulingo!), and others are some random, totally fun ideas you might enjoy (you’ve always wanted to learn piano, right?). Let us know if you try any of these!

1. America’s Test Kitchen gives a series of recipes, hands-on activities and experiments, and fun food quizzes to tackle in the kitchen – a kitchen curriculum.
2. Boardmaker offers printable activities for K-12^th students.
3. Breakout Edu has digital games on a variety of topics for K-12^th.
4. CK-12 Foundation provides a variety of math and science classes for grades 1-12^th.
5. Common Lit provides a library of over 2,000 high-quality free reading passages for grades 3-12^th, aligned to common core standards.
6. Cool Math has three websites to help math be enjoyable, and kids can learn logic, strategy and math skills: 1) Over age 13, use this site, 2) under 12, use this site, and 3) this site is for brain teasers.
7. Curriki is a free library of videos, simulations and printables, for all ages, by grade level.
8. Discovery K-12 is an online homeschool resource for grades preK-12^th.
9. Dulingo helps you learn a language for free.
10. EconEd at St. Louis Federal Reserve offers free lessons in economics for elementary school through college.
11. Econ LowDown from the Council On Economic Education has courses and videos for K-12^th and college too.
12. English lessons to learn at your own pace.
13. Hippocampus has free videos in 13 subject areas, for middle school to college.
14. Izzit offers free educational videos and teachable moments on world history and geographic; interactive maps plus vocabulary and quizzes; a special section on current events.
15. Iowa Public Television offers lessons from preK-12^th in nearly every subject.
16. Kahoot provides a collection of millions of games – learn about coronavirus, earth and space, world history, math and more.
17. National Geographic for Kids is for kids of all ages. Great photos!
18. National Inventors Hall of Fame offers a STEM activity guide – whose else would be experts?!
19. Next Gen Personal Finance has many great personal finance lessons and activities for all ages.
20. PenPal helps students develop skills in reading, writings, digital citizenship.
21. Piano and music theory online lessons, for all ages.
22. Scholastic has daily projects to keep kids learning, preK-9^th.
23. Science Buddies has STEM activities, including experiments, engineering challenges and demos; most take an hour or less; site also has science fair projects and guides.

Remember the Arts when you’re staying at home – Live concerts and performances

And we simply can’t forget the Arts.

Here’s a link for live virtual concerts, courtesy of National Public Radio (NPR), ranging from folk and classical to jazz and Americana.

The Metropolitan Opera is streaming nightly performances.

Chrome Music Lab is a tool to explore music and connections to science, math and art, and you can make your own songs.

Virtual Tours You Can Do

Virtual field trips can be entertaining for any age. Start here to find zoos, aquariums, national parks and historic sites. Museums have virtual tours as well. You can also tour some of America’s National Parks.

Take a tour of Mars using photos from NASA, the Great Wall of China  the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, or the Louvre Museum in Paris, France.

Remember your library’s subscriptions and tools too!

When your public library is closed, one way to open the door is to go digital. You can “checkout” thousands of e-books and audiobooks for free. Many libraries have a website with directions on how to access the local portal. You can also start your search with Libby. Some libraries may have subscriptions that offer magazines, courses and tutorials, like Lynda. You usually need your library card number and password to access those.

Whatever your taste, we hope we’ve given you a link or two. Do you have any to share?

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