My two older boys go to school which, takes the pressure off me to have a curriculum for them! I feel that supporting teachers and doing learning at home is important though. I’ve looked at different apps and websites, both free and paid for. These are the free resources that I have found that we love.
These resources have tons of fun activities to help them learn and grow! My kids can do some of these independently but I watch over them to see what they’re doing and I also try to engage with them when I can. I may sit down with them for a few minutes to ask questions or play a game with them. They love to explain what is going on and how to play the games. I feel it helps the boys and me feel connected because it’s something they’re able to talk to me about throughout the day.
Vooks
We recently bought a subscription to Vooks and have enjoyed it. If you haven’t heard about them, you pay a subscription fee for animated books. They a small selection of free books and a month free to try it out. That’s how I decided to subscribe. I like that they try to include different types of books for different age groups. They have books about colors, inventors, and fiction books. All the books are appropriate quality books for kids and they are inclusive! I also feel it helped my oldest son with his reading. The book is slowly and clearly read, with no funny voices or pronunciations, and highlights each word as it’s said so it’s easy to follow along on their own!
I recently found out they had lesson plans to go with some of the books! The lesson plans cover a wide age range which is perfect since I have a toddler to a second grader right now! Each lesson plan is different. They tell you a little about the book, what age range it would be suitable for, questions you can ask, and activities to do. I took parts of the lessons depending on the child I was going to use it for. I feel they did an amazing job trying to make sure each lesson would be able to be used for multiple age groups!
Khan Academy
I found this app just after the schools were shutting down. It’s an amazing resource. The app is free and I love the fact that they have no ads. My kids love playing the games and earning prizes! Besides the app, they also have printables and video circle times each day! I took a quick peek at them and they look perfect for younger kids, although we haven’t done it yet.
PBS Kids
We love PBS Kids! We have both the video app as well as the games app. As they’ve gotten older the shows have changed. They’re always able to find something they love! I like that these shows are teaching them something and are fun for them! The games are engaging and they learn a lot from them. I recently looked at their website and found out they have even more resources there! You’re able to select your child’s age and what subject you’re looking for (math, science, emotional). It will then bring up a list of activities, games, and shows that meet your criteria. I liked that it had simple activities to do with the boys. It’ll give us a nice break from all of the worksheets and connect while learning and having fun!
HP Printables
I follow Hello https://www.hellowonderful.co on Instagram. She always has fun, simple, and beautiful ideas! She worked with HP and had been featured on their website. I took a look and had a lot of fun activities for kids. There was a wide range of printable activities to do. Some were worksheets such as word searches and sound charts. While most of them were more interactive, such as mixing colors and taking notes, a recipe for natural playdough along with printable shape cards, and how to create a light-up card.
Tips
My oldest has apps that he has to do for a set amount of time for school. He’s good about putting the timer on and doing it for that set amount of time. I still check to make sure he does it though. A few times he was fooling around rather than doing his school work. You can simply go to Settings >screen time>see all activity (under the chart) >click on the day on the graph (it’ll show you how long each app was running). You’ll be able to see how long they’ve been on each program. Under screen time you can also set the downtime (times that they shouldn’t be on their phone/iPad) and App Limits (they amount of time they can spend on an app). Since they use it for school and we keep them in the kitchen at night we haven’t used the downtime or limits yet.