Over the past few months, our lives have drastically changed due to the spread of COVID-19. Students have had to adjust to virtual classrooms by participating in remote learning and families adjusting to the new normal has proven to be difficult and slightly overwhelming.
Additionally, during these trying times, guardians are now being asked to step up to provide increased levels of academic support and structure while maintaining a positive learning environment for their children.
While some parents find their district’s remote learning curriculums are plentiful, others continue to search for resources to ensure their child continues to achieve at a level that mirrors the progress typically shown within the school year.
As a result, we would like to provide caregivers with free online educational resources to supplement the academic instruction and keep students engaged during these unprecedented times.
10 Free Educational Resources
- Khan Academy
Khan Academy offers educational videos, assignments, and progress tracking for students, grades K–12. The site covers subject areas such as math, science, grammar, history, and SAT practice, all tailored to the specific student’s learning needs and/or gaps.
- No Red Ink
No Red Ink is a great tool for students to improve their writing techniques and grammar. The site has different lessons with instruction, practice, a quiz, and the ability to see all progress tracked and corrected answers. For example, in the active voice practice, sentences roll out and students must click the active verb and submit their answer. After they get through a certain amount of practice, they can move onto the “Quiz Me” section to master the skill.
- Carolina Biological Supply Company
This educational supply company provided free scientific educational resources in the wake of COVID-19. The site is organized in three groups: K–5, 6–8, and 9–12 grades. They offer at-home science experiments, as well as online interactive activities that include lessons, videos, and assessments at the completion of each lesson.
- Wonderopolis
This site’s overall goal is to incite curiosity in the minds of young students by asking and answering interesting questions about the world. This site is tailored to a younger audience, grades 2–6. This is a wonderful tool to ignite a thoughtful conversation or introduce an idea for further research and exploration.
- iCivics
Founded by Sandra Day O’Connor, this site’s purpose is to encourage students to learn how to be active citizens. They have a whole new section titled “Remote Learning Toolkit” with games, weekly planners, lesson plans, and more specifically tailored for families. This tool is made for grades 6–12.
- BrainPop
BrainPop covers a wide range of student grades (K–12) and many subject areas including English, math, science, social studies, art, music, health, social-emotional learning, and more. For each subject, there are subunits that offer an animated video, worksheet, game, quiz, graphic organizer, vocabulary, related reading, and the ability to make your own video!
- Achieve3000
This site includes elementary, middle, and high school instruction (K–12). Achieve3000 is a reading comprehension program that includes over 10,000 non-fiction texts in both English and Spanish. This site offers printable worksheets separated by grade level, along with a sample reading log.
- Carnegie Learning’s LONG + LIVE + MATH at Home
Carnegie Learning allows family access to textbook and software mathematics tools through an online excel sheet. The tool is easy to use with separate tabs for each grade level (6–12). The document includes access to lesson plans, skills practice, videos, and more. They also offer access to even more free resources, including their ‘MATHia’ software which was built for independent learning.
- Teachers Pay Teachers
Originally meant to be used by teachers, this site is now a great resource for families trying to access additional supplemental materials during this time of remote learning. The site offers materials for purchase, but they also have a wide variety of free resources. Simply filter the search by clicking “free” and then choosing a grade level (Pre-K–12).
- CREST
This is a wonderful tool to enhance a student’s STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) skills. CREST’s site is offering at-home activities, projects, and challenges, which are broken down by age level groups of 5–11 and 11– 8. These projects make learning about science extremely fun and hands-on!
Many parents have had to learn to adjust to the new normal of their child learning remotely from home. This is new territory for most parents and learning to navigate, manage, and structure a child’s at-home learning can be extremely difficult.
Because of this, many organizations have risen to the occasion with access to free curriculums, lesson plans, games, activities, and more. The above resources can be used to help supplement a student’s remote learning and keep them engaged with their academic life.
