Schools are closed in most states across the U.S. due to the novel coronavirus outbreak. Suddenly, parents and caregivers everywhere are scrambling to find ways to occupy and educate their school-aged children from home.
If you find yourself in this unprecedented, unexpected situation, you’ll be grateful to learn that help is available. Premium educational websites and apps that previously required paid subscriptions are currently taking down their paywalls. Check out this collection of the most notable educational resources you can access to keep your kids learning and engaged.
Note that some of these programs require a teacher or school administrator to sign up (free) for students to gain access.
1. Scholastic Learn At Home
Scholastic is offering free online courses for kids from pre-K to ninth grade while students’ learning is disrupted due to the coronavirus. The remote learning site provides approximately three hours of learning opportunities per day, adding new content every week.
2. Adventure 2 Learning
This video-centered education platform is used in more than 25,000 elementary schools. Families affected by school closings can receive free access for two months entering the coupon code LEARN60 on the checkout page.
3. Age Of Learning
Kids in preschool, elementary school and middle school can access ABCmouse, Adventure Academy and ReadingIQ free of charge if they attend schools closed due to the coronavirus. Your child’s school will need to sign up for this, so reach out to a teacher or administrator to fill out a form that will help you get access.
4. Tinybop Schools
Tinybop Schools is providing free access to their homeschool plan through July 2020. This program provides web-based science models of 10 core science subjects for K–6.
5. Zinc Learning Labs
Zinc Learning Labs is offering free licenses for all students affected by coronavirus closures through July 2020. The site offers a comprehensive collection of literacy tools for students in sixth through 12th grade. You can sign up for a demo here.
6. Varsity Tutors
Although this site usually provides online private tutoring, they have shifted gears and are currently offering free, interactive, live classes daily for kids in grades K–12. The curriculum includes math, science, reading, writing and enrichment.
7. Twig Education
Kids in grades K–12 can explore science through real-world phenomena using Twig. Access to their award-winning programs is currently free and the site will be continually updated during the coming weeks.
8. Rosetta Stone
Students stuck at home can keep up on their Spanish or take up a new foreign language thanks to Rosetta Stone. The award-winning program is currently free for the next three months.
9. MobyMax
MobyMax offers a complete curriculum for 27 subjects for kids in grades K–8. Lessons include math, reading, phonics, language, vocabulary, spelling, writing, science, social studies and state test prep. The software is now free for kids affected by school closures.
10. Mark Kistler
With schools closing, kids are missing more than math and social studies. They also lose the benefit of “specials,” such as art and music. Artist Mark Kistler, who hosts drawing instruction programs for children, is now presenting fun art lessons via live webcasts daily on Facebook and YouTube.
11. Rivet
Rivet is a free reading app for kids that came out of Area120, which is Google’s experimental products group. The app offers over 3,500 books that children can read to themselves or choose to have a narrator read to them if they are early readers or get stuck on a particular word.
With so many valuable resources at your fingertips, your kids can keep learning and you can maintain some much-needed order until things are back to normal again.
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Checkout Simplemost for other great tips and ideas to make the most out of life.
