Home Schooling during the Novel Corona Virus.
Well i am a teacher based in Hong Kong so we find ourselves under a defacto quarantine arrangement. I actually wrote this a couple of weeks ago and decided not to post it in the hope it would have all blown over. However students are now out of school until the 16th of March, and teachers are being asked to come up with online learning activities to try to bridge the gap. This is no small task and for some of us to switch to online learning with out being able to properly teach the students ( and lets be honest the teachers) how to access, interact and utilize these resources has its challenges.
There are many online resources, but most of the full in depth programs require a certain amount of pre-teaching before hand. So it leaves us with a little problem. I have tried to find ones that keep this to a minimum, and hopefully this is needed for a short a time as possible. When its all over i will be so happy to get back into the classroom, change the title to just homeschooling resources and drop the Corona Virus part!
I certainly don’t have all the answers, but i can try to point us all in the right direction. I have found and located some good resource sites that homeschooling parents and teachers have been using for years. It should help you find something, though of course not every site will fit your particular needs there is something for everyone here.
Feel free to take a look of them, i have tried to find ones that are totally free but there are some mixed in where the payment or subscription is worth considering.
If you need English specific Websites put a post about online learning as well here.
1. TED-Ed
Ted talks are superb for older learners, so more suitable for upper Primary ages. Most of the talks, and they are on so many different subjects, will have subtitles in your native languages so it doesn’t have to be all about English. The speakers are world leaders in their fields and the talks come with lessons and ideas to explore all for free. Great for everyone not just homeschooling.
2. Reading Eggs
You have to pay for this one, but they have a free trial, so you can see if it suits you first. It teaches reading with games and activities and is aimed squarely at younger learners it is really popular so that free trial is definitely worth a look!
3. Khan Academy
Totally free and absolutely fantastic, This group offers an ever expanding library of free lessons on science, history, maths at levels from Kindergarten upwards. It has videos and plans to go through either at school or at home. It is completely free to use and is a superb resource for either full lessons or idea generation for teachers.
4. Quizizz
A great Kahoot style site that allows teachers to create and make quizzes for any subject or topic they like. These can be assigned and marked and even linked to google classroom. They are a little more kid friendly than the google forms version.
This, as you would imagine, has a lot of STEM and Science based activities and games. It covers the whole K1 – 12 year groups, and is great to build motivation knowing it is NASA who designed all of these.
Basically a free online library, with over 60000 books. If you need reading resources they also have a good collection of classic and modern children’s literature as well. If you need to set reading work this could certainly come in handy
Great science activities from this site, there are videos, lessons, activities and links to know more. I use this in my lessons and it will be just as fun and useful in a home environment. I really enjoy these ones.
A useful and informative site that is great for beginners and for those who have been homeschooling for a long time. It has a forum, which offers a level of interactivity for the teacher or homeschooler and means you can ask other more experienced homeschooling parents for advice and tips.
9. HowtoSmile
This is simply an awesome resource. Math and STEM lessons, information and activities from museums and teachers. over 3000 at last count. it is designed to be after hours activities so perfect for home environments, though i also use them in school a lot. I like it so much i made the title bigger to grab your eye 😉
10. The Activity Mom
Written and maintained by classroom teachers who are collaborating to share the resources they have developed for others. It is aimed firmly at younger students and the activities are both fun and educational! Lots of good ideas and free resources here.
11. PowerMyLearning
This is an online platform that has thousands of games, activities and videos from kindergarten to year 12. It covers all school subjects and can be used both in school and out of school! Did i mention its free!!
About the Author
Hi I’m Marc. A teacher of over 15 years, mostly English but dabbled in outdoor pursuits and media. Thought is was about time to sharing both what I have learnt during that time and the resources I have put together. On this site we aim to teach the theory and share our thoughts, but also go that one step further and give you access to the hard resources you need for your class or for you children. Feel free to take a look at our resources, email us on info@makingenglishfuncom.wpcomstaging.com, or jump on the Facebook group to ask questions. Happy learning, teaching or playing!
Post by Marc of Making English Fun
Making English Fun!
I have been a teacher of English for over 15 years, in that time i made hundreds and thousands of resources and learnt so much i think its worth sharing. Hopefully to help teachers and parents around the world.
Wow, what an incredible compilation you created! Thank you for all your hard work!
Thank you, If you have found some good ones i am happy to add to it as well. Pleased its useful 🙂