Last week, our school district cancelled school on Friday due to possible COVID-19 exposure. And this week on Tuesday, my youngest daughter had off school. Whether or not we will see more cancellations in the future is unknown at this time (sorry, no crystal ball, here), but I thought it would be helpful to compile a list of educational resources for online learning just in case it happens. This way, if your kids are off school for a few days (or few weeks – who knows), you’ll be prepared with a variety of options to help keep them busy and learning.
Related: 6 of the best educational YouTube channels for kids
Outschool
My 9-year old daughter has been getting tutoring from Outschool over the last few months and we couldn’t be happier. Same goes for our editor Kate, who has been using it as part of her homeschooling curriculum (see her son, above) You’ll find everything from art classes to ASL tutoring and pretty much everything in between. Classes are taught live via Zoom, so as long as you have a computer and WIFI, you’re golden.
Skillshare
While Skillshare definitely skews older (which hey, you can learn a new skill too, Mamas), they’ve got some fantastic offerings. They’ve got video courses in things like hand lettering, DSLR photography, creative writing, gaming… (just to name a bunch). You and your tweens and teens will get a lot of use out of this.
Related: The best YouTube cooking shows for kids
YouTube
What? You thought YouTube was just a bunch of gamers playing games and make-up tutorials (which hey, both are sort of educational too, by the way). We’ve shared a ton of our favorite educational YouTube channels on Cool Mom Tech over the years, but Crash Course comes to mind as one of our all-time favorites. We love watching the videos as much as our kids do.
Khan Academy
Your kids might just be able to move up a level in math after watching Khan Academy videos for a few weeks. While people go back and forth on the entertainment value of the videos (I’ve got kids who love them, and others who really don’t love them), they are most definitely educational and cover a myriad subject areas. They’ve even got SAT Prep if you want to use this chance to help your high schooler get ahead.
Related: The best Youtube channels to get your kids excited about math
BrainPop
Your kids may already be familiar with BrainPop and BrainPop Jr., since many teachers use this awesome resource in their elementary school classrooms. We’ve been recommending their clever videos and content for years, particularly for difficult-to-talk-about topics.
Coding With Kids
We always love when sponsors (and in this case, former sponsors) are things we love anyway, so we’re happy to add Coding With Kids to this list. They offer live, online coding and STEM courses for kids, where they can learn JavaScript, HTML and more.
Brilliant.org
Whether you’ve got teens in your house who love STEM, or you want to give yourself a little mental boost, a Brilliant subscription (another former sponsor – yay) will do just that. They also help hone problem solving skills that you or your teen can use throughout their life.
Master Class
If you’ve got teens or tweens interested in acting, screenwriting, cooking, space exploration (the list goes on), investing in a Master Class subscription might be a great idea. Bonus: You’ll definitely be able to enjoy these too.
Thank you for sharing this! I’d love to put another resource on people’s radar, too.
At Vocabbett, I help high schoolers painlessly improve their vocabulary for the SAT through a unique, story-based method. I have lots of free resources available, too! : )
Stay safe, everyone!