ACTIVITY AND RESOURCE GUIDE FOR PARENTS ADAPTING TO SCHOOL CLOSINGS

By Art and Maura Keene

Here is a listing of a wide range of free advice, ideas and resources that may be helpful in engaging children of a wide range of ages who are unexpectedly and indefinitely home from school.   The Indy will add new listings to this posting as they become available.  If you have favorite links that you would like to share, or if you would like to report on your own family experiences adjusting to the COVID-19 emergency, you can send your contributions to us at amherstindy@gmail.com.

Thanks to the following folks for their contributions to the list:  Toni Cunningham, Christine DeJong, Sophie Herrman, Danya Keene, Ariella Schwell, and Mila Sherman.

Four sections follow: Activities, Advice and Commentary, Home Schooling Resources and Virtual Tours.

ACTIVITIES
100 Activities to Do at Home During School Closures.

Art At Home Projects

Bedtime Math – a Fun Part of Your Daily Family Routine

Betty White reads Harry the Dirty Dog

Carmen Sandiego Videos, Stories, and Lessons

Cooking -Illustrated recipes designed to help kids age 2-12 cook with their grown-ups. Recipes encourage culinary skills, literacy, math, and science.

Crafts, Activities, Mazes, Dot to Dot, etc, 

Dr. Seuss Games and Activities

Educational Games K-12 

Eric Carle Reads The Very Hungry Caterpiller

Games, Recipes, Crafts, Activities from Highlights Magazine

Geography and Animals from National Geographic

Giant List of Ideas for Being Home with Kids

Kids Books Read by Famous People
 
Mo Willems’ Daily Doodling Class

NOAA Activities Page for Kids

Novel Effect makes storytime a little more fun for kids (and grown-ups too!) As you read out loud from print books (or ebooks!) music, sound effects, and character voices play at just the right moment, adjusting and responding to your voice. 

PBS:Play with Favorite Show Characters and Learn Too

Phonics and Reading -Printable Board Games, Activities

Play Games and Learn All About Animals

Printables (FREE)  Library with Activities for Children Ages 0-6 

San Diego Zoo website for kids with amazing videos, activities, and games. 

Indoor Activities for busy toddlers

Science or Cooking Experiment to do at Home

Yoga Lesson Plans for Kids

ADVICE AND COMMENTARY
A Parent’s Guide to Home Schooling During the Apocalypse

Anti Oppression Resources for Parents

But Can We Survive Working at Home Alongside Our Partners and Our Kids?

ClickSchooling Brings You Daily Recommendations by Email for Entertaining Websites that Help Your Kids Learn 

Schools Are Closing For Coronavirus.  Now what?

Ten Tips for Working from Home with Your Kids there, from a Freelancer Who’s Been Homeschooling Her Kids for Three Years

HOME SCHOOLING RESOURCES
AP – Resoures for Students Including Live Reviews, Live Trivia, and Study Guides

AP Resources

Biology 

Carmen Sandiego Videos, Stories, and Lessons

Chemistry 

Chinese Learning Activities 

Earth science based curriculum supplement (interactive) 

Geometry

Grammar Practice for Middle Grades  

Hands on Elementary Science

History Classes for Preteen through Adults

Homeschool Platform & Curriculum for Pre-K to 12th grade. All Main Subjects Covered, Plus Extra Curriculum courses

Keyboarding -Improve your typing skills while competing in fast-paced races with up to 5 typers from around the world. 

Math through 6th Grade 

Math – Middle School through AP
Calculus 

Math practice from counting to algebra and geometry 

Math -K-8 online math program that looks at how a student is solving problems to adjust accordingly and build a unique learning path for them. 

Math and Reading Games 

Math and Language Games 

More Math and Reading Games

Math Videos with Lessons, Real Life Uses of Math, Famous Actors 

Math Games, Logic Puzzles and Educational Resources for Elementary Students

Math Tutoring -Enter your math problem or search term, press the button, and they show you the step-by-step work and answer instantly. 2nd grade through college.

Music is for Everyone

Music Theory Introductory and intermediate lessons, exercises, ear trainers, and calculators 

Personal Finance – Scads of free resources, games, learning resources, and lesson plans for teaching personal finance 

Phonics Skills

Physical Fitness -Movement and mindfulness videos created by child development experts 

Physical Fitness – Educational brain breaks to help students review essential literacy and math skills, while getting in some exercise. Find over 900 videos to help your child keep learning at home and burn off some extra energy. Our site is best used for ages 4-8. 

Reading game for grades 2-8 that combines strategy, engagement, and imaginative reading passages to create a fun, curriculum-aligned literacy game. 

Reading Passages for Grades 3-12, with Reading Comprehension and Discussion Questions. 

Science Lessons – K-5.

Spanish Practice  

Spelling – Magic Spell is a Carefully Crafted Spelling Adventure. 

Test Prep for SAT, ACT

Writing -Online curriculum that builds better writers. 

VIRTUAL TOURS
The British Museum

Farms -11 Virtual Tours

Great Wall of China

The Louvre

Mars -Explorer the Surface  on the Curiosity Rover

More Museum Tours

Yellowstone National Park – Virtual Tour