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HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — More than half a million children are out of Houston-area classrooms, but there are some things parents can do to help their kids continue to learn during the coronavirus crisis.
Tips on learning from home:
- Prepare a space designated for learning that’s away from televisions and video games
- Set goals on what you want your home students to accomplish
- Create a schedule and stick to it
- Talk to your kids’ teachers about accessing learning materials remotely
- Seek clear guidance on what’s expected of your children while they’re out of the classroom
Here are some resources that will help you and your kids make the most of their time away from class.
The Houston Zoo is here to help! Despite closing its doors until April 3, the Houston Zoo is live streaming their favorite animals on Facebook in order to bring the zoo to you! The zoo will be hosting an 11:00 a.m. livestream Monday-Friday, sharing daily updates and showing viewers what the animals are up to.
They encourage viewers to follow @HoustonZoo on all platforms for more updates.
The Houston Astros have some fun free activities for kids to work on, including a word search and a maze.
Houston Astros✔@astros
Stay safe at home and add a little fun!
Activities for #Astros fans of all ages are available to download at http://Astros.com/activities . #ForTheH
The Houston Texans devoted a page on their website called Huddle at Home to activities for kids, including Texans story time, math drills, and more! Parents can print or download an entire activity book for children.
Space Foundation is offering free downloadable STEM lesson plans for students in grades K-8 to help keep kids engaged during the gap in traditional class time.
Children’s Museum Houston
You may know the brick and mortar location in Houston’s Museum District, but did you know about its database of online activities for classes?
The museum is also sharing experiments, activities and inside looks at their exhibits through its daily virtual learning broadcast schedule.
- 10:15 a.m. – O Wow Moment on Facebook
- 11:15 a.m. – Story Time (English) sponsored by Phillips 66 on Instagram
- 12:15 p.m. – Educator Moment on Facebook or Instagram
- 1:15 p.m. – Story Time (Spanish) sponsored by Phillips 66 on Instagram
- 3:15 p.m. – Toodler Time sponsored by McGovern Foundation on YouTube
Frontiers for Young Minds
This website has a free collection of science-related material for kids.
Huntington Learning Center
Download the recorded 30 minute webinar to help parents maximize children’s learning at home.
DK find out!
DK find out! has free lesson plan ideas for teachers and resources for parents, as well as videos and interactive modules on a variety of subjects.
Epic!
Epic! has thousands of books and videos online for kids. There’s a 30 day free trial to set up an account.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy is a non-profit organization that has excercises, quizzes, and videos to help students.
Bill Nye The Science Guy
You might recognize the name of this children’s science show host.
Nye is a well-known science communicator with a long list of life science, physical science, and planetary science lessons.
Brainpop
This website offers free access for students whose school is closed due to COVID-19.
The site even has a free learning module for young people on coronavirus.
National Geographic Kids
This site from the National Geographic Society has everything from outer space to women heroes and homework help.
Raz-Kids
This site from Learning A-Z is designed for students from kindergarten through fifth grade and has a free trial.
Check this list for more free educational resources and activities.
Pre-School and Early Elementary School
Oxford Owl – Free e-books and math games and activities for ages 3-11
BrainPop Junior – Learning tools for STEM, social studies, reading/writing, health and arts for grades K-3
The Space Foundation Discovery Center – STEM lesson plans for ages PreK-20
Mystery Science – Science lessons for grades K-5
Children’s Museum Houston – Weather and Science videos and activities for grades PreK-5
Elementary, Middle School and Above
ABCYa – Reading and math games and activities for grades PreK-6
Zearn.org – Math lessons for grades K-5
Disneynature – Movies and complimentary educational materials for grades 2-6
Scratch – Interactive story, game and animation design from the MIT Media Lab, designed for ages 8 to 16 but available for anyone
STMath – Math lessons for grades PreK-8
Prodigy Math – Math programs for grades 1-8
Curriculum Associates – Math and reading activity packs for grades K-8
DK Find Out! – Lessons in subjects such as history, science and coding
Listenwise – Non-fiction audio stories covering ELA, social studies and science for grades 2-12
CommonLit – Reading and writing lessons for grades 3-12
Carnegie Mellon University Computer Science Academy – Interactive middle and high school computer science curriculum
Codecademy – Data science and coding lessons for high school and college students
Carnegie Mellon University Computer Science Academy – Interactive middle and high school computer science curriculum
Amazon Future Engineer – Free computer science courses for grades 6-12
All Ages
National Geographic Kids Science Lab – Science experiments, videos and articles
National Ocean Service (NOAA) Kids – Science activities and resources for kids and educators
Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems! – Kennedy Center Education Artist-in-Residence Mo Willems explore ways of writing and making with kids of all ages
Scholastic Learn-At-Home Resources – Learning experiences for K-9
Greg Tang Math – Math games and resources for all ages
SciShow Kids – Videos explaining scientific concepts for young, curious minds
Frontiers for Young Minds – Science articles written by scientists and reviewed by kids
The Kid Should See This – STEAM, history, and culture-focused videos for kids of all ages
Imagineering in a Box – Lessons on theme park design and engineering via Walt Disney Imagineering, Pixar and Khan Academy
BBC Bitesize – Lessons covering math, English, science and more for ages 3-16+
BrainPop – Learning tools covering a variety of subjects
BreakoutEDU – Immersive learning games for grades K-12
Wonderopolis – Educational articles for grades K-12
XtraMath – Math programs for students, parents and teachers
How Stuff Works – Educational videos exploring the world around us
Code.org – Computer science lessons for grades K-12
Typing.com – Keyboarding, digital literacy, and coding lessons for all ages
IXL – Lessons in math, language arts, science, social studies and Spanish for grades PreK-12
Greatminds.org – Math, ELA and science for grades K-12
KCET At-Home Learning – Educational resources from PBS SoCal | KCET, in partnership with LAUSD and in collaboration with California PBS stations for grades PreK-12
California Academy of Sciences – Apps, immersive interactives, and engaging videos covering a variety of science topics
Bill Nye the Science Guy – Educational videos covering life, physical and planetary sciences
NASA STEM @ Home for Students – STEM articles and activities for grades K-12+
Gizmos – Simulations exploring concepts in math and science for grades 3-12
PhET Interactive Simulations – Interactive simulations for science and math
Khan Academy – Lessons on grammar, science, history and math for grades K-12
Professor Egghead Science Academy – Interactive lessons on science and engineering
Quill.org – Writing and grammar activities for grades K-12
Quizlet – Flash cards, quizzes and games for languages, arts and humanities, social science, computer skills, science and math
Duolingo – Language education for 35 languages
OnlineFreeSpanish – Spanish learning games, coloring pages and interactive activities for all levels
OnlineFreeSpanish – Spanish learning games, coloring pages and interactive activities for all levels
Additional Resources (may require purchase or subscription)
Pre-school Inspirations – Lesson plans for toddlers
edHelper – Reading and math exercises for grades PreK-12
hand2mind – Daily lessons and activities in math and literacy for grades K-5
Institute for Excellence in Writing – English language arts lessons in writing, grammar and vocabulary for grades 3-12
Other Goose – Lessons for ages 2-7
ABCmouse – Reading, math, science and art curriculum for ages 2-8
Reading IQ – Books for kids of all reading levels, ages 2-12
Raz-Kids – Literacy and reading comprehension at various levels in English and Spanish for grades K-5
Epic! – Books, learning videos and quizzes for ages 12 and under
Amplify – ELA, math and science curriculum for grades K-8
Adventure Academy – Reading, math and science games and videos for ages 8-13
Vooks – Read-aloud animated books and complimentary lesson plans
Book Creator – Creative book builder for students and teachers
CodeCombat – Game-based computer science lessons
MentalUp – Memory, logic and problem-solving games for all ages
Conjuguemos – Language education for Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian, Korean and Latin
Mango – Language education for 70 languages
PandaTree – Spanish and Mandarin Chinese language education for ages 2-17
edHelper – Reading and math exercises for grades PreK-12
hand2mind – Daily lessons and activities in math and literacy for grades K-5
Institute for Excellence in Writing – English language arts lessons in writing, grammar and vocabulary for grades 3-12
CodeCombat – Game-based computer science lessons
MentalUp – Memory, logic and problem-solving games for all ages