Do512 Family Featured Babymaker, Quel of HomeGirlBlog, shares her list of go to websites for online learning. Beef up your kid’s screen time with these great, free resources for learning and fun online.
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- Funbrain.com was created for kids in preschool through 8th grade. It offers more than 100 fun, interactive games that develop skills in math, reading, and literacy. Plus, kids can read a variety of popular books and comics on the site, including Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Amelia Writes Again, and Brewster Rocket.
- Khanacademy.org is a free, online, video-rich learning environment that is literally a school for anyone who wants to learn. Perfect for every subject and for tutoring or enrichment in areas where kids in an any grade may be struggling.
- Wonderopolis.org introduces visitors to a new wonder each day. For example, the Wonder on the homepage one day might be a question like Where is The Big Easy? followed by a fleshed out learning experience in New Orleans history, geography, art, jazz and cuisine. Kids (and adults) learn a little bit about a little something different every day!
- Spatulatta.com– Fun cooking website for kids.
- National Gallery of Art NGAKids Art Zone interactives offer an entertaining and informative introduction to art and art history. Featuring a variety of art-making tools that encourage exploration and creativity, these activities are suitable for all ages.
- National Geographic Kids is, um…National Geographic Kids.
- Seussville.com is where games, videos and activities bring kids’ favorite Dr. Seuss characters and books to life.
- Starfall.com is a free public service to teach children to read with phonics.
- PBSkids.org is, um…PBS Kids.
- Neok12.com games and educational videos across all subject areas. The science videos will be your kids favorites. They just will. There is a whole section on the reproductive system. They are an awesome collection of videos to help parents navigate the ‘where do babies come from’ conversations.
- GPBKids.org is the Georgia Public Broadcasting Kids Educational TV site which is on this list because of the awesome kids show on the list called Salsa. It’s all in Spanish and is great for beginning Spanish learners.
- ABCya.com is the leader in free educational kids computer games and activities for elementary students to learn on the web.
- Highlightskids.com has all kinds of free online fun that is as engaging and as educational as the magazine itself.
- Funology.com has tons of great crafts, recipes, and science and magic projects your kids can do offline. Their favorite section might be the Jokes & Riddles—not exactly educational, but they’ll have fun memorizing the jokes and telling them to friends.
- Switchzoo.com is the place online where your child can create a whole new animal by Frankensteining parts of animals from 142 species. It’s crazy and educational and the website features additional animal games, music created from animal voices, a reference section about all the animals in Switch Zoo, lesson plans, poetry and stories.
Honorable Mention(s): BrainPOP and BrainPOPJr. create animated, curricular content that engages students, supports educators, and bolsters achievement. These sites offer a small amount of free content along with mostly subscriber only access (hence the honorable mention), but the free stuff is pretty amazing. For example (and also because it’s January and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is coming up and I would be remiss as an educator not to recommend it) Brain POP has an awesome animated video, perfect for introducing children as young as 4 to Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement. It’s a perfect conversation starter and I highly recommend it to all parents this month. Check it out here.
For older kids, you can also check out Educator.com that’s full of one-to-one lectures with step-by-step solutions and graphical explanations.
There you have it. Did we miss any? What are some of your favorite sites for free online learning?
– Quel
Quel blogs about stuff including her adventures in Austin as a stay at home mom and homeschooler at homegirlblog.com.
