Albert Einstein said “The only thing that you absolutely have to know is the location of the library.” With libraries across the country closed on account of the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic, where do we turn? Lucky for us, we have the world at our fingertips, something Einstein could only have dreamed of. Over the past few weeks, as quarantine bans rolled out across the nation and schools closed, numerous companies and non-profits stepped up meet the needs of children, from providing food to students who rely on schools for meals to offering free or discounted resources to keep children learning online. At first, I was amazed and gratified by the response, and then a little overwhelmed. I would see these offers in my feed one minute and they'd be gone when I went to act on them. And because our family limits screen time, I wanted to choose wisely.
And then, even with the library closed, my local librarian came to the rescue.
Librarians are pretty high up there on my list of heroes. Sure, they may not fight fires or stop bad guys, but they are knowledgeable, helpful and full of enthusiasm for helping readers find the next book to love, which is pretty awesome in my book. Through our weekly visits to the library, my toddler and I have gotten to know a few of our librarians and we've exchanged book recommendations. On one of our last visits, one of the librarians agreed to let me interview her for a future blog post, and we exchanged email addresses.
A week later, the Cornonavirus stuff had hit the fan, the library closed and I forgot all about it until out of the blue, my librarian emailed me a few days ago. Since the last time we spoke, she had been busy compiling a list of free online learning resources. With her permission, I am posting this amazing list. You'll definitely want to bookmark and it and come back to it, because there are so many!
I am personally familiar with some from my teaching days like Kahoot and Scholastic and a few others we use for limited screen time like PBSKids and Vooks. I've been hearing a lot about GoNoodle so I'm excited to try it out. My advice would always be to vet these sites before allowing your children to use them to make sure the content is appropriate for your child's age and align with your family values. Be sure to check out the section: "Virtual Field Trips" to help make staying home a little more bearable!
Without further delay, here is this EPIC List of FREE Online Learning Resources
A Note From The Author
Here is a list of the different freemium, trial period and premium offers available during the Coronavirus situation. I did mainly focus on sites to help students with distance learning (since now most kids are learning at home) and ones that I thought were helpful and easy to access. Note that the website may require you to register for a free account to access the free content. A small minority of sites requires you to sign up for a free trial period that you can cancel at any time. I put these sites into 6 different categories for your convenience: 1) Home Schooling, Distance Learning and Parent Access
2) Teacher and Students Access 3) Educational Sites for Students with Special Needs 4) Virtual Field Trips
5) General Public Access and General Education
6) Work From Home Also included is a list of sources I used to compile this list. Enjoy!
Home Schooling, Distance Learning and Parent Access
ABCYA has fun educational games for kids K - 6th grade: https://www.abcya.com/
Beaverton School District is offering home access to their online content for grades K-12th. https://www.beaverton.k12.or.us/departments/library-services/remote-learning/
Big History Project has 13.8 billion years of history for free online. Awesome! https://school.bighistoryproject.com/bhplive
BlocksCAD is doing their part to give students and parents access to some of their content for free. Just sign up and get started. https://www.blockscad3d.com/parents
The California Department of Education has a webpage for resources that support distance learning for all grade levels, including special education. https://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/he/hn/appendix1.asp#four
Classroom Cereal offers free comprehension lessons online. Download the story and begin the learning! https://www.classroomcereal.com/
CrashCourse is a free youtube channel that uploads educational videos about many interesting topics! https://www.youtube.com/user/crashcourse
Caribu, an educational app for mobile devices, is now available for free. Just download the app and you're all set: https://caribu.com/
Class Central is offering free online courses from Ivy League universities like Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, Princeton and Yale: https://www.classcentral.com/collection/ivy-league-moocs
DiscoveryK12 is a free online homeschool for students K-12th grade. There is an optional upgrade option for teachers/parents to keep track of students' progress. http://discoveryk12.com/dk12/
Funbrain has games and videos available for grades Pre-K through 8th grade: https://www.funbrain.com/
Funbrain Jr. helps preschoolers and kindergarteners jumpstart their way to learning: http://www.funbrainjr.com/
Giant List of Ideas For Being Home with Kids is a google doc of a giant list of things to do while spending time at home. (this may appear as an attachment to this email. Just FYI.) https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1o6kEgCKLn3cyIm2hehhhSTIk7yRTd0C3zx49JS4wwCI/mobilebasic?fbclid=IwAR2fF5JjiKGzBWeS3iHzrVMuqmaCQIr8DQdd7zjouaAoWdtnzjiLr8zyy8o
GoNoodle has put together a free online resource for parents during this time: https://www.gonoodle.com/good-energy-at-home-kids-games-and-videos/
Highlights Kids lets you explore your world with fun games and cool activities: https://www.highlightskids.com/
HomeSchool4Me offers tons of free printable worksheets for grades K-8th: https://www.123homeschool4me.com/home-school-free-printables/
"Into the Book" lets kids play games that practice different reading strategies: https://reading.ecb.org/
Into the Map offers activities to help introduce you to the world of geography and maps. https://intothemap.org/
Kahoot! is offering free premium access to schools, teachers and parents! https://kahoot.com/
Khan Academy and Walt Disney Imagineering is offering a free "imagineering in a box" course for curious young imagineers to build their own theme park. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/hass-storytelling/imagineering-in-a-box?CMP=ILC-DPFY19Q4wo0808190814190031F
Kinedu, a baby development app, is a free resource for kids 0-4. It helps you generate a daily enriching schedule for your child after answering a few questions. This is free through April 15, 2020. https://www.kinedu.com/
MobyMax helps fix learning gaps in your child's education. It is offering access to its online content for free during the coronavirus school closures. For homeschooling from home, register for your free account by selecting "homeschool" on the signup form. https://www.mobymax.com/
NatGeo For Kids has fun games and videos for kids to explore the world! https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/
New American History provides a new way to learn American history with free online content for students and educators. https://learn.newamericanhistory.org/
Oasis is a free STEM club for students, parents and educators! https://social.oasismatters.com/
PBSkids has educational games and videos from PBS kids shows! https://pbskids.org/
ReadWorks is offering free access to their remote learning site for educators and families. https://www.readworks.org/
Scholastic is offering 20 days of curriculum for teachers, parents and administrators: https://classroommagazines.scholastic.com/support/learnathome.html?promo_code=6294&eml=CM/smd/20200312//txtl/sm/ed&linkId=84269747&fbclid=IwAR0O9w8PL2JQ0L19k0ErbRhagbNPKWeAvBgOI5iQgDKUDslAzCcfU-GQ1Kc
Seussville lets you play games and read with Dr. Seuss and his friends: https://www.seussville.com/
Starfall has activities and games about language arts, music, math as well as seasonal stuff for kids Pre-K thtrough 3rd grade. https://www.starfall.com/h/
Storyline Online has some of your favorite stories read to you by movie stars! https://www.storylineonline.net/
Switcheroo Zoo lets users watch, listen and play games to learn about amazing animals. Play online or download the app to a mobile device: https://www.switchzoo.com/
Toy Theater is a collection of free interactive elementary-geared educational games for kids that can be accessed through any electronic device. http://toytheater.com/
Varsity Tutors offers free tools and online resources for better at-home learning. Available for grades K-12th. https://www.varsitytutors.com/virtual-school-day
Teachers and Students Access
(To access most of the offers here, a school email is required. For parents and students without a school email, ask your child’s teacher or school to assist you with attaining access.)
Adapted Mind offers an individualized program for your child. This offer is a free trial of 30 days. https://www.adaptedmind.com/index.html
Age of Learning is offering families at affected schools free at-home access to ABCmouse (ages 2-8), Adventure Academy (ages 8-13) and ReadingIQ (ages 12 and under). Special permission is required from your child's teacher or school administrator for free access for your child. https://www.ageoflearning.com/ Request access form is found here: https://www.ageoflearning.com/schools.html
Amazon Future Engineer is providing free online access to sponsored computer science courses in the United States. Students, teachers and parents can access this free content by signing up. https://edhesive.com/amazon/free_access
Arcademics offers freemium and premium games for students and students with disabilities. https://www.arcademics.com/
Ascend Math is offering access to their content to affected schools and students until the end of April 2020. https://ascendmath.com/coronavirus-offer/
Beaverton School District is offering home access to their online content for grades K-12th. https://www.beaverton.k12.or.us/departments/library-services/remote-learning/
Belouga has free access for teachers and students K-12th grade. https://belouga.org/
BWS Educational Consulting has free test prep and college admission guides. https://www.bwseducationconsulting.com/handouts.php
Emotional ABCs Classroom is offering access that is "FREE FOR TEACHERS" for a limited time! https://www.emotionalabcs.com/signup/
Epic! is offering instant and unlimited access to 35,000 high-quality digital books for Kids 12 and under for all verified educators. https://www.getepic.com/app/personalize_account_type
Google is offering free premium access to G Suite and G Suite for educators until July 1, 2020: https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/g-suite/helping-businesses-and-schools-stay-connected-in-response-to-coronavirus?mod=article_inline
IXL is offering free classroom access for special education educators. https://www.ixl.com/resources/at-home-learning
Kahoot! (a game quiz platform) is offering free premium access to schools, teachers and parents! https://kahoot.com/
Loom is now free for all teachers and students as of March 12, 2020. Free access ends July1st, 2020. https://support.loom.com/hc/en-us/articles/360006638998
News-o-matic is offering free access to teachers and students to help stay informed about the latest current events: https://newsomatic.org/2020/03/18/2052/
New American History provides a new way to learn American history with free online content for students and educators. https://learn.newamericanhistory.org/
ReadWorks is offering free access to their remote learning site for educators and families. https://www.readworks.org/
Scholastic is offering 20 days of curriculum for teachers, parents and administrators: https://classroommagazines.scholastic.com/support/learnathome.html?promo_code=6294&eml=CM/smd/20200312//txtl/sm/ed&linkId=84269747&fbclid=IwAR0O9w8PL2JQ0L19k0ErbRhagbNPKWeAvBgOI5iQgDKUDslAzCcfU-GQ1Kc
Toy Theater is a collection of free interactive educational games for kids that can be accessed through any electronic device. http://toytheater.com/
Vooks is offering free access for one year of their platform for teachers and homeschool educators. https://www.vooks.com/teacher-appreciation?fbclid=IwAR1vBBCvWIUahj2lzbAHHVhSQJKhPCuMWTfZF6fFVXCsrPtmxd56p6p-d_c
Zoom is lifting its 40-minute meeting limit on free Basic accounts for nearly 60,000 K-12 schools in the U.S. You need to request free access for your school: https://blog.zoom.us/wordpress/2020/03/13/how-to-use-zoom-for-online-learning/?_ga=2.136157361.1098783655.1584461400-117071067.1584461400&mod=article_inline Free request access can be found here: https://zoom.us/docs/ent/school-verification.html?zcid=1231&_ga=2.23371006.551525991.1583696790-827731685.1566335579
Education Sites for Students with Special Needs
AAAMath offers free math resources, especially for students with dyscalculia. http://aaamath.com/
AdaptiveWorksheets allows parents to make free customizable worksheets for their child's unique learning needs. http://www.adaptiveworksheets.com/free.html
Autism Speaks has information and resources for families about COVID-19 for those on the autism spectrum. https://www.autismspeaks.org/covid-19-information-and-resources
Boardmaker is offering free resources for students with special needs. This site offers is a collection of standardized picture symbols used for communication with students who are strong visual learners. https://goboardmaker.com/pages/coronavirus-resources
The California Department of Education has a webpage for resources that support distance learning for all grade levels, including special education. https://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/he/hn/appendix1.asp#four
CanDoKids has a variety of fun online games for students with learning disabilities. http://www.ucando.org/kids.html
CAR has information and resources available for students with disabilities and with ASD. http://community-autism-resources.com/
Do2Learn offers freemium and premium access for students with disabilities. https://do2learn.com/
Dog on a Log has free resources for students with dyslexia. https://dogonalogbooks.com/printables/
Funbrain has educational resources for students with disabilities for grades K-8th. https://www.funbrain.com/pre-k-and-k-playground
IXL is offering families access to their content for students with disabilities. https://www.ixl.com/inspiration/family-learning
Reading Rockets has educational resources for parents to help their children with learning disabilities. https://www.readingrockets.org/audience/parents
Special Students Services Blog offers resources and information for students with disabilities. https://pickettsmill.typepad.com/pritchard/home.html
Virtual Tours (Virtual Field Trips)
(For the complete list visit: https://people.com/travel/stuck-at-home-you-can-visit-these-world-famous-sites-from-your-couch-for-free/ or to digitally explore the world even further, visit: https://artsandculture.google.com/
Atlanta Zoo has a panda cam for all you panda lovers. https://zooatlanta.org/panda-cam/
American Museum of Natural History is offering 3 online exhibits: https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/american-museum-of-natural-history?hl=en
The Art Institute of Chicago is offering many works of art to be viewed virtually: https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/the-art-institute-of-chicago?hl=en
The British Museum is offering a virtual tour that includes mummies, the Rosetta stone and much more: https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/the-british-museum
Ever wanted a virtual tour of Buckingham Palace? Here you go! https://www.royal.uk/virtual-tours-buckingham-palace
Detroit Institute of Arts is offering virtual tours of their exhibits showcasing Frida Kahlo: https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/detroit-institute-of-arts?hl=en
Georgia Aquarium has several live cams of popular exhibits. I recommend the Ocean Voyager Webcam for some glimpses of awesome whale sharks! https://www.georgiaaquarium.org/webcam/beluga-whale-webcam/
Georgia O’Keeffe Museum is offering 6 virtual online exhibits: https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/georgia-o-keeffe-museum?hl=en
Explore the Great Barrier Reef with this interactive map! http://attenboroughsreef.com/
You can view a virtual tour of the Great Wall of China. https://www.thechinaguide.com/destination/great-wall-of-china
The Getty Museum has 2 online tours of its exhibits. http://www.getty.edu/research/exhibitions_events/#online_exhib
The Guggenheim is offering a virtual tour of its museum: https://artsandculture.google.com/streetview/solomon-r-guggenheim-museum-interior-streetview/jAHfbv3JGM2KaQ?hl=en&sv_lng=-73.95897540047744&sv_lat=40.78284373830581&sv_h=315.1449460682706&sv_p=-14.048308669549044&sv_pid=rfLOHTGWrOlcY4J1Oc_UzQ&sv_z=0.2739310462916821
Take a virtual fieldtrip of the Johnson Space Center. https://www.boeingfutureu.com/virtual-field-trips
High Museum of Art located in Atlanta, GA, has 6 virtual exhibits: https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/high-museum-of-art?hl=en
Hockey Hall of Fame gives you a 3D tour of their museum, located in Toronto, Canada: http://www.hockeyhalloffame.com/htmlExhibits/vrtour.shtml
The Louvre is offering virtual tours for 3 of their world-renowned exhibits: https://www.louvre.fr/en/visites-en-ligne#tabs
The Metropolitan Museum of Art lets you explore 26 exhibits online: https://artsandculture.google.com/streetview/metropolitan-museum-of-art/KAFHmsOTE-4Xyw?hl=en&sv_lng=-73.9624786&sv_lat=40.7803959&sv_h=335.0285349959785&sv_p=0.9453475127378823&sv_pid=KeFx8oXHzeuY8L5rfepHaA&sv_z=0.6253222631835356
The Monterey Bay Aquarium has 10 live feeds of their animals including their world famous sea otter exhibit. https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals/live-cams
The World Famous San Diego Zoo has live feeds of some of their most popular exhibits such as penguins, polar bears and the endangered condor! https://kids.sandiegozoo.org/videos
Explore the hidden world of National Parks. There are 113 virtual tours to choose from. https://artsandculture.google.com/search/streetview?project=national-park-service
The Smithsonian has a self-guided tour from the convenience of your own home: https://naturalhistory2.si.edu/vt3/NMNH/
Ever wanted a 360 tour of the Van Gogh Museum? Just click the link! https://naturalhistory2.si.edu/vt3/NMNH/
Winchester House is having a free virtual tour of this very unique house until April 7th, 2020. Highly highly recommended!!! https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/321979/winchester-mystery-house-offering-virtual-tours-to-homebound-horror-fans/?fbclid=IwAR2Wr-4OoX4SniaQMWMu-nCSQg6nVExubDKpIco-0nV_zs3SIEDVYA4SRAM
General Public Access and General Education
Cambridge University is offering free access to 700+ online textbooks during this situation: https://www.cambridge.org/core/what-we-publish/textbooks
Comcast is offering free internet access and free xfinity hotspot access during the coronoavirus lockdown to help the community stay connected: https://corporate.comcast.com/covid-19?mod=article_inline
General Assembly is hosting a free online intro to coding class starting 3/26/2020: https://generalassemb.ly/education/intro-to-coding-html-css-livestream/washington-dc/100019?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=paid-social-pro-ntf&utm_content=event-lander&utm_campaign=intro&utm_term=100019
The Guggenheim Museum has released free access to more than 200 books about modern art to be viewed online or download in PDF or ePub formats: https://archive.org/details/guggenheimmuseum
Kindled Unlimited is offering 2 free month subscription. Registration is required. Credit card will be charged after two months are up. Cancel anytime: https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/promoLanding?linkCode=w61&imprToken=SD1PvcoQAl3nCLJQjeqTdw&slotNum=0&campaignId=907ea992-8e47-45f1-bacf-eeee592e4423&promoCode=907ea992-8e47-45f1-bacf-eeee592e4423&tag=nypost-20&tag=nypost-20&mod=article_inline
LibraryThing is offering free access to all for the time being: https://blog.librarything.com/main/2020/03/librarything-goes-free/ or the main site: https://www.librarything.com/ Loom has removed its freemium recording limit, extended its trial period and has cut its pro price by 50%. https://support.loom.com/hc/en-us/articles/360006638998
Project Gutenberg is a free online library where users can download or read eBooks free online. https://www.gutenberg.org/
Webex is offering free access to their content during the coronavirus situation. https://help.webex.com/en-us/n80v1rcb/Cisco-Webex-Available-Free-in-These-Countries-COVID-19-Response
Zencastr (a podcasting platform) is offering unlimited guests and recording time for its freemium Hobbyist plan: https://zencastr.com/pricing
Work From Home
Microsoft is offering a freemium version of Teams, a part of Office 365, for the next 6 months to help with social networking and working from home: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2020/03/05/our-commitment-to-customers-during-covid-19/?mod=article_inline Details can be found here: https://products.office.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/free?&OCID=AID2000955_SEM_Xe7cUAAAAHnJziPd:20200228221128:s&msclkid=54b052bc6b1f119cd58f0ce5fb12755d&ef_id=Xe7cUAAAAHnJziPd:20200228221128:s
Linkedin has offer 16 free online courses for people that are working from home: https://www.linkedin.com/learning/paths/remote-working-setting-yourself-and-your-teams-up-for-success
LogMeIn is offering free emergency remote access kits for those working at home. https://www.gotomeeting.com/work-remote
Sources:
A huge thank you to Marisol Galindo-Wright @ashortloudgirl for allowing me to share this valuable resource on my blog and the Dothan Houston County Library System for helping children and parents during this unprecedented time!