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With many school districts making the final decisions to not go back until the fall I know many friends who just want to cry. If your kids are missing interactions with friends and teachers, there are some great resources out there that you can use to give them a break, help them learn differently and help you too!
No one wants their kids on screens all day, but some screen options are definitely better than others. Thankfully, many companies are making available free educational programs to help parents and caregivers. There are some great options for almost every age group!
Free Educational Programs for Kids
ABC Mouse is currently offering 1 month free! This is a great program that we’ve enjoyed. It’s for ages 2-8 and includes hundreds of lessons across subjects like reading, math, science, social studies, and more. It’s normally $9.95 a month, so this is a great chance to try it out and see if it’s something that works for your child.
Tip: If you want to use through the end of the school year, you can also get 2 months for $5 right now.
With every library shut down this has been wonderful for us! Reading IQ is run by the same company that does ABC Mouse, and they’re also offering 1 month free. Reading IQ offers reading help and support for ages 2-12, plus over 7,000 books to read!!
Knowbuddy Resources is a website that is basically a free library. They are currently offering access to tons of different ebooks. Login to create an account and then enjoy 4 free weeks of reading!
Like ABC Mouse and Reading IQ, Adventure Academy is for older kids and is offering one month free. This is an online learning program for ages 8-13. The format is game-based and focuses on subjects like math, language arts, reading, social studies, science and more.
Scholastic is providing projects and resources that gives daily ideas for learning activities for kindergarten through ninth grade.
Audible is a subscription service owned by Audible that usually costs a monthly fee to use. But they’ve made tons of their audiobooks free that are suitable for kids. Think about a time during the day when you could all sit around and listen—maybe while eating lunch or while your kids are coloring.
Creative Bug gives you access to thousands of arts and crafts classes. They are taught by experts and some offer downloadable patterns so you can try them yourself. The current offer is 2 months for free!
The American Girl Company is releasing several free books each week for you to download.
The Noggin app by Nick Jr. has digital learning resources for kids based on your favorite Nick Jr. shows. The current offer is free access for 90 days!
Khan Academy is actually ALWAYS free. They have come up with some extra offerings like daily schedule ideas for all grades, which for those who are new to ‘homeschooling’ will be helpful. They have lessons and practice quizzes and tests in a ton of different subject areas for school-age children.
This website gives you access to the Adventures in Odyssey audio episodes as well as daily devotionals, web quests, and a monthly newsletter. They are currently offering one free month. After that, it’s $9.99 a month.
This website offers fun science lessons for elementary school kids.
Digital Escape Rooms (created by libraries)
Since no one can go to real escape rooms right now, you and your family might enjoy these digital versions. I’ve heard great things about the Sherlock Holmes one!
Disney’s The Lion King Experience
This is an arts education program that is geared for kids ages 8-11 and 12-15. It allows you to teach your kids about theater at home (previously it was only available for schools).
If you or your kids are interested in diving into a new foreign language, check out our round up of free foreign language resources. My girls love DuoLingo along with many others!
ExtraCredit@Home by Scholastic
This site features educational activities for grades 1-5 that you can do at home—but that won’t feeling like “doing school.” There are activities across a variety of subjects.
Youtube/Live Videos
A number of zoos and centers around the US are doing daily live videos for kids. We’ve worked a few of these into our day and feel like after a few days that it’s like having those folks stop in and visit in person.
These are some of our favorites:
Draw Everyday with JJK – Author and Illustrator of Diary of a Wimpy Kid and many other books
Draw with Rob – award-winning children’s book author and illustrator (plus he has a wonderful English accent)
Home Safari with the Cincinnati Zoo – visit with a different animal and trainer everyday
Are you looking for adult free educational programs? Check out our list of free classes for adults!
