With most schools being closed the rest of the year, many parents and students have had to turn to e-learning. Online learning may be a way of the future, but it is still difficult to navigate, and even more so, how to decide which of these many platforms is going to be the best at assisting your child through learning and preparing for their education. The sheer amount of available virtual resources is intimidating.
As parents, we want to be sure we are instilling our child with a good foundation for learning, especially at younger ages. There are many ways that you can accomplish this at home through virtual learning opportunities. Here you can explore some of the best online platforms that will assist your child in establishing the groundwork and ensure a strong development.
Scholastic
Scholastic has what they call a “Learn at Home” program that can provide students with 20 days worth of lessons at home. They cover from Preschool to 9th-grade children, including 4 separate learning experiences that all revolve around a story or video. Children have the freedom to go at their own pace but can enlist the help of parents or teachers if necessary. Most of their lessons take up to 3 hours’ time and can be played on any device. They also have an option for you to purchase books and magazines for learning to bring in the home, so you’re not just focusing online if you feel your child needs less screen time.
Music To Your Home
While it may be less obvious, music education can actually equip students with some great benefits. Music education online has become a great tool for children to further their education and their development. The influence that music has when learned gives children advanced academic and social skills, as well as the ability to better deal with emotions and feelings. This is something that can be truly essential during this time when social distancing is in place because children have a difficult time adjusting to this new way of life. Music To Your Home’s private piano classes online give children the opportunity to learn with one of the best beginner instruments to understand basic music theory, key signatures, and chord progressions. They also have the benefit of interacting with their very own private tutor right from the comfort of home.
In primary school, you learn to memorize every table of multiplication. This can be pretty boring for a child, but understanding them is essential, and he or she will still need these tables regularly in later life. To take the boring edge off of learning, the website MultiplicationGames.com, a fun way of learning tables, was developed: Practicing with the help of fun games. Consequently, a student can playfully practice all tables online, pitting themselves against the computer or classmates. The website is child-friendly, and everything can be used entirely free of charge.ABC Mouse
Though this application is tailored for younger children, the ABC Mouse online learning academy is a fantastic online tool to help your child learn in a way that feels more like playing games. Children earn tickets and rewards for completing their lessons and can have a great sense of accomplishment, while learning essential building blocks of education that include Reading, Math, Science, Arts & Colors, Numbers, and Shapes. One of the best parts is that you can try it completely free for a full 30 days before committing to buy, so your child can have a full month going through each lesson. There are 850 different lessons with over 9,000 different activities to choose from, so there is bound to be something for any kid to help them enjoy at-home learning.
Adventure Academy
This virtual e-learning site or app is geared towards older students, from ages 8 to around 13 years. Adventure Academy is more video-game based, where kids can create their own adventures and be more interactive, which is great to keep them engaged in each lesson. For language arts, Adventure Academy focuses on spelling, language developments, and reading comprehension. Math dives deeper into multiplication, division, geometry, and word problems. The Science program teaches about forces, motion, atoms, and more. There is also a Social Studies section, where students learn about geography, history, world cultures, and even economics.
SplashLearn
Adding to our list of fantastic virtual learning resources, SplashLearn emerges as a delightful and interactive platform, particularly adept at making math and ELA fun for children. Designed for kids in Pre-K to Grade 5, SplashLearn takes a unique approach by blending learning with play, which is perfect for keeping young minds engaged and curious. Math topics are covered through a multitude of engaging activities and games, ensuring that concepts like addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and more are not only understood but also enjoyed. The ELA program is crafted to nurture early reading skills through various interactive games and worksheets. SplashLearn’s colorful and intuitive interface, along with its reward system, keeps children motivated and eager to learn. The platform offers a free trial, allowing parents and educators to explore its features and see the impact on their child’s learning journey before committing.
Online learning doesn’t have to deter your child from learning and development, but it can be difficult to narrow down the best online resources worth checking out. Since many platforms do offer a free trial, be sure to take note and monitor your child’s progress through those free periods before committing to buy. Your child’s education is important for a successful future, and utilizing proper online tools and applications can assist your child in achieving great things during their journey.
KiwiCo
The arts and crafts parts of children’s studies shouldn’t fall by the wayside. Learning applicable things such as do-it-yourself projects help children to work not only virtually, but utilizing their own hands as well, giving them a greater sense of accomplishment when not just clicking a mouse or typing on a keyboard. Enter KiwiCo, a subscription box with interactive kits that you can have delivered to your door. They are even now offering a variety of free resources to help your kids learn at home, even without buying the kits. There are activities for kids ranging in ages 2 to 12 and over, along with different downloadable and printable projects and learning sheets to help keep their brains fresh.
Reading Eggs
Reading is an important part of any child’s education, and if you’re looking for something specific for it, Reading Eggs is a great online resource. It works for students from ages 2 all the way up to 13, making learning to read easier with various games and interactive progressions. Children earn rewards as they progress in their reading levels which provides a nice sense of achievement and helps them feel proud, keeping them excited to continue their journey of learning. Each lesson is matched to your child’s specific reading level to cater to them, and you can even track their progression by getting detailed reports.
Skillshare for Arts & More
Music and Arts are both subjects that parents typically don’t always think of, so it is important to be sure to include them in an at-home curriculum. The last resource that is great for online learning is Skillshare, because not only can you find great art classes for your children to work on drawing, painting, or even graphic design, but the site features TONS of other different classes that your children can explore, and you can do it for free for the first two weeks, so your children have the freedom to find something they like. You can focus on your own child’s interests, and be as specific in courses they offer like Photography, Creative Writing, Web Development, and more. The first year is less than $5/month if you sign up as well, so it’s definitely worth looking at because there are multiple avenues and different courses you can take.