Sometimes the world deals us a series of circumstances that requires a little bit of extra help when educating our kids. All of us can agree that our teachers are complete and total rockstars…we’re more aware of the now more than ever now that many of us are faced with teaching our children for the first time.
We want to reiterate that you do what’s best for your family in this confusing and uncertain time. Some have charts, and activities, and resources and schedules ready to go each day. Others have decided that this time is going to be one of total and complete fun for the entirety of our world’s unique situation. Each family can decide what is best for them and we support you in that.
Below is a list of 200+ online resources to help you as you help your children learn a bit, have some fun, and spend time together during our extended time at home.
To use this list, simply click the icon on the left to expand the heading and reveal the titles and links to resources.
If there is something we are missing on this list, please do let us know by email.
The following public Google document was written by Stacey Kosch from Tierney, an education technology and hardware company. This list of incredible resources comes from The Tierney Professional Development team and Stacey’s many years at the company. We are grateful to Tierney for providing this list. While many schools are providing plans specific to their students, but we understand some families are looking for additional resources to keep the students engaged in additional learning opportunities.
The Tierney Professional Development Team list of educational resources
2Simple – contains thousands of opportunities for learning including open-ended tools, spelling and grammar, math and cross-curricular work.
ABCmouse/Adventure Academy/Reading IQ – Three online programs owned by parent company Age of Learning. Digital online educational resources for early preschool through middle school.
ABCYA – Practice math and reading skills all while playing fun games.
Active History – provides educational, award-winning interactive simulations, decision-making games, self-marking quizzes, high-quality worksheets and detailed lesson plans for the history classroom.
All Kids Network – thousands of fun kids activities like kids crafts, worksheets, coloring pages, printable mazes, dot to dot, hidden pictures and more
American Panorma – Digital Atlas of America uses online GIS to explore and visualize data with maps.
Anywhere Teach by School Zone Publishing – online education learning app (ages 2-8) – 2,000 Activities, preschool learning path, playzone
Khan Academy – Videos that teach students algebra, geometry, trigonometry, calculus, statistics, finance, physics, economics and more
Bamboo Learning – Bamboo Learning Alexa skills focus on fun, home-based, family-friendly learning, and ensure children’s engagement utilizing the unique nature of voice technology that promotes active conversational learning.
Boardmaker – Free, printable activities for students in K-12
Breakout Edu – a collection of digital games that students can play at home.
CheckMath -Boost your math understanding by getting instant feedback on your work.
CircleTime Fun – kids classes for 0-6 from home
Classroom Secrets – packed full of activities for children to use independently.
Conjuguemos – teach language through fun activities & games
Curriki – online teaching and lesson plans
Dyslexia-Academy – online dyslexia school of support for parents, teachers and students
Fluency & Fitness – helping students exercise their brains and their bodies
Fun Brain – Play games while practicing math and reading skills.
Highlights Kids – read, play games, and conduct cool science experiments
HippoCampus – free educational resources for middle school to college
HooplaKidz – a world of fun and fantasy where kids would love to be & parents can set them free
Into the Book – Go “into the book” to play games that practice reading strategies
Learner.org – Run by The Annenberg Foundation, Learner.org hosts multimedia resources for teachers, students and lifelong learners
Libby App – App that allows you to borrow books online from your library
Little Passports – Now with FREE resources! An online subscription service to help teach children about the world around them.
Minecraft: Education Edition – A game-based learning platform that promotes creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving in an immersive digital environment.
National Geographic for Kids – Learn all about geography and fascinating animals
OutSchool – spark your child’s curiosity with access to 10,000 small group video chat classes—created and taught by inspiring teachers.
PBSKids – Hang out with your favorite characters all while learning.
PBS Learning Media – KSMQ and PBS have curated FREE, standards-aligned videos, interactives, and lesson plans
Prodigy – engaging, curriculum aligned math programs for 1st – 8th grade
Scholastic Learn at Home – Day-by-day projects to keep kids reading, thinking, and growing.
Seussville – Read, play games, and hang out with Dr. Seuss and his friends
Shmoop – Test help, essay help, math help and more for students in high school
Schoolhouse Rock – Animated educational short films set to music that teach grammar, science, economics, history, mathematics, and civics.
Starfall Education – Practice your reading skills with these read-along stories.
Storyline Online – have some of your favorite stories read to you by movie stars
Super Simple – Kids songs, nursery rhymes, and more
Switcheroo Zoo – Watch, listen, and play games to learn about amazing animals
TED-Ed – The maker of TED Talks now provides carefully curated educational videos or “lessons worth sharing”
Typing Club – learn touch typing for free
WatchKnowLearn – Over 33,000 educational videos from YouTube and placed into a directory of over 3,000 categories
A Child’s Introduction to Jazz
Art Appreciation/Lessons For Kids
Artrageous with Nate –Interactive videos meant to stimulate creativity and a hands-on activity at home
Art Babble – High definition videos of art that ranges from classical to contemporary
Art for Kids Hub – **A Rochester Mom favorite!** This adorable channel is a family learning how to draw together. Loads of fun, short, instructional videos
Art Projects for Kids – step-by-step learn to draw lessons
ArtThink – Created by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, this site offers theme-based activities in visual arts, language arts, history and social studies
Google Art Project – Gives you access to more than 1,000 works of art appearing in 17 great museums across the world
Chrome Music Lab – Chrome Music Lab is a website that makes learning music more accessible through fun, hands-on experiments.
Classics for Kids – Introduces elementary and middle school children to classical music in a fun and entertaining way
Hoffman Academy – free piano lessons
Sight Reading Factory – provides sight reading and sight singing practice
The World Music Archive – Run by the BBC, this archive allows you to sample the musical traditions of more than 40 countries
Alchemie – Immersive augmented reality game where you build and discover new molecules in 3D
American Chemistry Society – demystifying everyday chemistry
Backpack Sciences – teach hands on elementary science without getting overwhelmed
Bad Astronomy – Bad Astronomy is all about astronomy, space, and science
CMU CS Academy – A novel, world-class, online, interactive high school computer science curriculum that is entirely free.
LabsLand – LabsLand is providing free remote access to real STEM laboratories for schools (typically High School and a few for Middle School)
MIT-K12 – MIT is now producing ”short videos teaching basic concepts in science and engineering” for K-12 students
Minute Physics – Cool science videos that are all about getting people into learning physics
Mystery Science – Video Science Lessons for kids K-5th grade
NASA Television – NASA’s mission is to pioneer the future in space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautics research
Periodic Videos – lots of chemistry videos
San Diego Zoo – The San Diego Zoo has a website just for kids with amazing videos, activities, and games.
Mars – explore the surface of Mars
Yellowstone National Park Virtual Field Trip – Ready to explore Yellowstone? You don’t have to wait for your trip out here. You can start exploring now by virtually touring some of the main attractions around the park.
The Great Wall of China – As China’s most famous attraction, the Great Wall of China is an essential stop on any trip to China. Commonly considered a wonder of the world, the Great Wall boasts a history of over 2,000 years and stretches more than 3,000 miles.
Thank you to Mrs. Fahrney for the resources above. For even MORE tours, please check out her list here.
Google Arts & Culture – Google Arts & Culture features content from over 1200 leading museums and archives who have partnered with the Google Cultural Institute.
US Museums
Metropolitan Museum– New York
National Gallery of Art – Washington
Guggenheim Museum – New York
British Museum – London
Louvre – Paris
Prado – Madrid
Brera Pinacoteca – Milan
Uffizi Gallery – Florence
Vatican Museums – Rome
Archaeological Museum – Athens
Musée d’Orsay – Paris
History Center of Olmsted County
We will experience, explore, and examine history in ways that keep the distance SOCIAL. Parents, our content is family-friendly, fun, and educational! Make us a part of your family’s new routine by following us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, IGTV, or YouTube channel and watch for daily posts.
Join the Rochester Public Library on Facebook Live for a family storytime at 10 AM. Be sure to check if they are doing this on the day you want to watch. We are unsure how long they will do the Facebook Lives.
Super popular children’s author and illustrator (Piggie & Elephant, the Pigeon series) Mo Willems, will go Live with the Doodle of the Day at 1 p.m. Eastern each day.
Daily farm related stories and activities at the barnyard! (dairy farmer based in Hastings, MN)
Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden
Join the Cincinnati Zoo for a Home Safari Facebook Live each weekday at 3pm EDT where they will highlight one of their amazing animals and include an activity you can do from home.
Josh Gad (Twitter) (voice actor of Olaf)
He’s released a few videos of his story reading series so far and we’re already hooked. Voices, accents, funny commentary – these videos have it all.
A spot to watch your favorite celebrities (Amy Adams, Jennifer Garner) read your favorite children’s books.
New York Times bestselling author/illustrator Jarrett J. Krosoczka for children will be going live every day at 2:00 Eastern. He’ll be hosting free webcasts for you and your kids. If you can’t watch live, each art lesson will be archived.
Game of the Day, 11 AM Central Time. Literacy games that are easy to prepare and play at home.
Illustrate with “Captain Underpants” Author
The Library of Congress is collaborating with Captain Underpants author and illustrator Dav Pilkey to create weekly videos for kids (and adults!) who might want to try their hand at drawing while we’re social distancing at home.
Free Audio Books – 450+ free audio books includes many children’s classics.
Free eBooks – This collection includes many children’s classics in ebook format.
International Children’s Digital Library – Provides free access to high-quality children’s books from around the world in different languages
Project Gutenberg – The mother of all ebook sites hosts 40000 free ebooks, and makes them accessible for Kindle, Android, iPad, and iPhone
Project Guthenberg Children’s Books – free ebooks
Free Textbook Collection – a collection of free textbooks available on the web. It covers everything from Art History to Biology, Math, Physics, and Psychology
Sesame Street – Sesame Street has made 110 ebooks free to read!
