While our local community has several excellent resources for learning enrichment – such as libraries, museums, STEM science centers, and Makerspaces – in times where getting out is challenging, here are several online tools that you can access for FREE anytime from the comfort of your home. These resources are also broken down by grade and subject matter for easy access to what you need the most, including additional tools to help parents engage in at-home learning enrichment.
Comprehensive Learning Platforms
- Kahn Academy – Available in 40 languages! A world class education for anyone, anywhere. 100% free. Join Khan Academy to get personalized help with what you’re studying or to learn something completely new. Early Learners through High School. Create both a learner and parent account to check on learner progress
- CK-12 – This collection of free online learning resources covers pretty much every topic. Lessons include reading, activities, videos, and more to engage students. They also have free online textbooks.
- Time4Learning – While not free, this platform is accessed through a monthly fee (as low as $19.95 per month) and is one of the most popular learning platforms for homeschoolers and includes all grade levels and school subjects.
Quiz and Study Platforms
- Gamilab – Turn learning into a game when you create online quizzes and learning experiences. Use their extensive question bank, plus upload your own as needed.
- Kahoot! – Do you Kahoot? Use this online quiz game platform to test your child’s remote/online learning.
- Quizlet: Learning tools & flashcards – Quizlet makes simple learning tools that let you study anything. Start learning today with flashcards, games and learning tools — all for free.
Real-world learning resources
- FutureU – Bring the real world into the classroom by taking students on a journey to places outside their city, country, even planet. These behind-the-scenes videos transport students to places where innovation meets creativity and shows there is no one path toward success in a STEM career. Explore the latest engineering, technology, and manufacturing at Boeing with these Virtual Field Trips.
- 100 Days of Learning – produced by Boeing, this is a collection of lesson plans, videos, interactive media, and design challenges, all of which are intended to increase student interest and aptitude for 21st-century skills.
- Banzai – Banzai is a financial education program that helps students learn the value of a dollar. There are real-life scenarios available in three interactive courses (3rd grade- 12th grade). The program includes tests, games, activities, an entire interactive library, embedded calculators, and more.
- EVERFI – EVERFI offers courses for K-12 on real-world topics like mental health, financial planning, career readiness, and more.
- TED-Ed – The maker of TED Talks now provides carefully curated educational videos or “lessons worth sharing.” Topics range from Literature and Language, to Mathematics, to Science and Technology.
Just for fun
- America’s Test Kitchen – school-age kids can learn the ins and outs of measuring and reading recipes and try their hand at making French toast for free thanks to America’s Test Kitchen weekly program.
- Funology is “the Science of Fun” and this website is packed with great activities that “offer the cure to boredom.” The activities are great for kids elementary-school-aged to middle school.
- GoNoodle is a go-to to get help the wiggles out. Every kid needs a brain break, and you can use GoNoodle for a 5-minute break between lessons or a full 20-minute dance session — whatever you need that day.
- Lunch Doodle with Mo Willems – beloved children’s book author and illustrator Mo Willems is sharing this series of lunch doodles to inspire kids to pick up a pen and start drawing themselves.
- Metropolitan Museum of Art – (New York City) has loads of exhibits online, including the #MetKids site, which features kid-friendly videos about creating and enjoying art, as well as a “time machine” that allows kids to search the collection for by time, place, and theme.
- Minecraft: Education Edition – who says video games can’t be educational? Mincraft: Education Edition is always free and teaches kids of all ages problem-solving, collaboration, and creativity.
- NASA Space Place – a colorful and fun website that encourages kids to “explore Earth and Space!” This is a great source for any child who is fascinated with Earth and Space or for any novice who may just be getting started.
- Physics Girl – PBS Digital Studios Youtube channel created by Dianna Cowern that adventures into the physical sciences with experiments, demonstrations, and cool new discoveries. Recent videos includes “20 Easy Experiments in 5 mins for Bored Adults and Kids at School Inside.”
- The Whitney Museum of American Art – features over 25,000 works by contemporary artists to browse through, as well as a Watch & Listen section with artists’ stories, videos of exhibitions, and musical performances.
Resources by Grade Level
PreK-5
- Spring into STEM Activities – Interactive STEM Activities for early learners
- Sno-Isle Libraries Youth Resources – FREE online tutors, at-home games and activities, practice reading, writing, and math through LearningExpress, downloadable ebooks. Need a library card to access (get a card online!)
- Arcademic Skill Builders – designed for students in first through sixth grade, the free website has dozens of games that aim to improve your child’s knowledge in math, geography, typing, spelling, and language arts
- Early Sesame Street – Exciting math opportunities abound! Whether you’re indoors, outdoors, or on the go, making math part of your daily routines helps your child understand that math is fun — and important.
- Adventure Academy – This MMO game gives kids something other online learning resources may lack: a sense of community. Students up to age 13 play games to learn across a range of topics (math, reading, social studies, science, and more), while also creating their own online persona and interacting with others in the game. Free 30 day trial
- Noggin, kids ages 2 and older can watch educational videos on topics like how germs spread, and complete a mix of daily activities from yoga to sing-alongs.
- Math Talk – Research and information for parents of toddlers to the early school years.
- Prodigy – Prodigy is an engaging, curriculum-aligned math platform for students and teachers from 1st – 8th grade. The platform encourages self-paced math practice for both in and out of school based on student progress.
- BrainPOP Jr. – insightful videos on a huge range of topics with related reading and quizzes to check comprehension.
- Reflex – Adaptive and individualized, Reflex is the most effective system for mastering basic math facts in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Full of games that students love, Reflex takes students at every level and helps them quickly gain math fact fluency and confidence.
- Science4Us – covers Inquiry, Physical Science, Life Science and Earth & Space Science with lessons specifically designed for K-2 students. The sessions have 1000’s of online and offline activities that can be completed in as little as ten minutes, and teach students using videos, interaction, poems, songs, and digital notebooks.
- Scratch – a free website to teach coding to elementary age children designed by educators at MIT that’s chock-full of dozens of interactive projects.
- Storyline – a non-profit that brings celebrated actors to read illustrated storybooks to kids (kindergarten through grade 3). The performances make these videos fun and engaging for parents as well as kids.
Grades 6-8
- Sno-Isle Libraries Teen Resources – Homework help, writing lab, book recommendations, foreign language learning, science experiments, ask a librarian. Need a library card to access (get a card online!)
- FutureU – Use virtual experiences and hands-on, standards-aligned STEM lessons to guide students as they explore key concepts in aerospace and engineering.
- Prodigy – Prodigy is an engaging, curriculum-aligned math platform for students and teachers from 1st – 8th grade. The platform encourages self-paced math practice for both in and out of school based on student progress.
- Adventure Academy – This MMO game gives kids something other online learning resources may lack: a sense of community. Students up to age 13 play games to learn across a range of topics (math, reading, social studies, science, and more), while also creating their own online persona and interacting with others in the game. Free 30 day trial
- HippoCampus – Find more than 7,000 videos in 13 subject areas
- BrainPOP – insightful videos on a huge range of topics (including social studies, English, math, and engineering), with related reading and quizzes to check comprehension.
Grades 9-12
- Sno-Isle Libraries Teen Resources – Homework help, writing lab, book recommendations, foreign language learning, science experiments, ask a librarian. Need a library card to access (get a card online!)
- HippoCampus – Find more than 7,000 videos in 13 subject areas
- Math Planet – An online resource where one can study high school math for free with video tutorials. Take math courses in Pre-algebra, Algebra 1, Algebra 2 and Geometry.
- School Yourself – Experience math in a completely new way. Free interactive high school math lessons from award-winning Harvard instructors taught through short interactive videos that are easy to follow.
- Day of Data – Prepare your students for the future by tapping into their creativity and curiosity today with NASA and Microsoft Hacking STEM – take them on a journey to outer space!
Resources by Subject
Math
- Dad’s Worksheets – A growing collection of printable worksheets, online calculators, games, puzzles, and tools such as timer and converter. All of these are completely FREE and designed to help kids fall in love with math.
- Early Sesame Street – Exciting math opportunities abound! Whether you’re indoors, outdoors, or on the go, making math part of your daily routines helps your child understand that math is fun — and important.
- Game Time – beat boredom and keep your math skills sharp thanks to dozens of games that focus on everything from counting to algebra.
- Gizmos – Get hands-on with math and science. Gizmos are online simulations that excite curiosity and invite interaction. We’ve got over 400 Gizmos in our library covering topics and concepts in math and science for grades 3-12. Gizmos help students dig deeper into subjects and really understand challenging concepts.
- Math Planet – An online resource where one can study high school math for free with video tutorials. Take math courses in Pre-algebra, Algebra 1, Algebra 2 and Geometry.
- Math Talk – Research and information for parents of toddlers to the early school years.
- Prodigy – Prodigy is an engaging, curriculum-aligned math platform for students and teachers from 1st – 8th grade. The platform encourages self-paced math practice for both in and out of school that is leveled based on your students progress
- Reflex – Adaptive and individualized, Reflex is the most effective system for mastering basic math facts in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Full of games that students love, Reflex takes students at every level and helps them quickly gain math fact fluency and confidence.
- School Yourself – Experience math in a completely new way. Free interactive high school math lessons from award-winning Harvard instructors taught through short interactive videos that are easy to follow.
Science
- Breakout EDU has a slew of educational games that touch on subjects like science, math, and language arts.
- Code – Learn to code online! Code.org provides free K-12 computer science lessons and games to help students learn how to code at an earlier age.
- Day of Data – Prepare your students for the future by tapping into their creativity and curiosity today with NASA and Microsoft Hacking STEM – take them on a journey to outer space!
- Exploratorium – Teaches students about science and art. Help your students go far into the galaxy or deep down to the bottom of the ocean on this site.
- FUTURE U, a program partnership between Boeing and Discovery Education. The FUTURE U website offers ready-to-go STEM activities, including Innovating the Future Virtual Field Trip taking students to Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. The behind-the-scenes video tour introduces students to just a few of the amazing Boeing employees who are preparing to write the next chapter of space history with the launch of the CST-100 Starliner spacecraft and the deployment of the Space Launch System (SLS). A Pre-Virtual Field Trip Companion Guide introduces students to topics they will encounter during the VFT
- Gizmos – Get hands-on with math and science. Gizmos are online simulations that excite curiosity and invite interaction. We’ve got over 400 Gizmos in our library covering topics and concepts in math and science for grades 3-12. Gizmos help students dig deeper into subjects and really understand challenging concepts.
- How Stuff Works – How Stuff Works is a comprehensive articles-based site that introduces and informs on a variety of topics like culture, science, money, technology and more. Games, quizzes, and videos are also available to supplement the articles.
- NASA Space Place – a colorful and fun website that encourages kids to “explore Earth and Space!” This is a great source for any child who is fascinated with Earth and Space or for any novice who may just be getting started.
- National Geographic Kids – What could be cooler than learning about animals? On National Geographic Kids, students of all ages can enjoy science experiments, animal watch cameras and a ton of activities to keep them busy for hours.
- National Museum of Natural History is always open for virtual tours. The Hall of Fossils is a great place to start.
- Physics Central – The American Physical Society (an organization representing 48,000 physicists), has created a series of comic books designed to get kids excited about physics.
- Physics Girl – PBS Digital Studios Youtube channel created by Dianna Cowern that adventures into the physical sciences with experiments, demonstrations, and cool new discoveries. Recent videos includes “20 Easy Experiments in 5 mins for Bored Adults and Kids at School Inside.”
- San Diego Kids lets kids explore the zoo any time with fantastic pictures and fascinating facts. And don’t miss the live animal cams!
- Science4Us – covers Inquiry, Physical Science, Life Science and Earth & Space Science with lessons specifically designed for K-2 students. The sessions have 1000’s of online and offline activities that can be completed in as little as ten minutes, and teach students using videos, interaction, poems, songs, and digital notebooks.
- STEM Works – an online resource for kids, parents, volunteers, and teachers. Activities is a section of the STEMWORKS website that focuses on the following topics- crime scene investigation, extreme weather, medical innovations, robotics, space, the animal kingdom, under the sea, wind energy, and other STEM subjects.
Reading
- ReadTheory – ReadTheory’s offers a vast library of reading comprehension content that fosters improvement by automatically meeting learners at their own, individual ability levels. Find passages and prompts for students to answer.
- ReadWorks – Access thousands of high-quality, free K-12 articles, and create online assignments with them.
- Storyline – a non-profit that brings celebrated actors to read illustrated storybooks to kids (kindergarten through grade 3). The performances make these videos fun and engaging for parents as well as kids.
Writing
- NoRedInk – NoRedInk builds stronger writers through interest-based curriculum, adaptive exercises, and actionable data.
- Rebel Girls at Home – 90-plus writing activities, podcasts, and various journaling activities meant to stimulate the mind.
- Time4Writing – This website is mostly known for the eight-week online writing courses it offers at cost. However, the website is also a great source of free resources in seven categories: teaching writing, writing skills, writing sentences, writing paragraphs, writing mechanics, writing essays and standardized-test writing.
- Typing Club – offers free games and activities meant to improve your typing skills.
Additional Tools for Parent Engagement
- Boeing FUTURE U Online Lesson Plans – As a companion to Boeing FUTURE U (see Science section) parents can use these standards-aligned STEM lessons as they guide students to explore key concepts in aerospace and engineering. Students can contemplate moon tourism, create a landing system for the world’s first crewed Martian-bound spacecraft, learn about NASA’s citizen science projects, or design their own celestial body!
- BrainPop, a lesson-planning tool, is a great resource for parents of both big and little kids. It’s chock-full of helpful resources that span topics like arts and music, English, science, and technology.
- Crayola has so many lesson plans on its site, covering language arts, math, and more. And they’re totally free!
- Epic! – dubbed the “leading library for kids 12 and under,” Epic! gives parents access to 35,000 different books, videos, and quizzes.
- Izzit – helps parents and educators teach kids of kindergarten age and older a wide variety of subjects — including language arts, music, math, and world history — through digestible videos.
- PBS LearningMedia – offers support to parents and educators for content covering science, math, language arts, and more.
- Scholastic’s “Learn at Home” – this program gives parents with children pre-K through ninth grade 20 days worth of “active learning journeys” designed to keep students engaged while they’re out of the classroom.
- UBTECH Education Resources – a variety of flexible STEM activities across all learning levels; can be easily picked up to support your at-home STEM lesson or fill a creative hour. Also includes links to upcoming webinar training sessions.