L is for Learning #AtoZChallenge

The Blogging from A-Z Challenge continues today. Every day throughout April (except Sundays) I’ll be posting a range of ideas and tips for keeping your family entertained at home. It will include arts and crafts, games, learning ideas and imaginative activities for all ages. I thought it would be particularly useful while we’re all self-isolating or socially distancing, though it can be used for any time of year.

Letter “L” is for Learning. With schools closed for the majority at the moment, many parents are homeschooling their children and luckily there are many online resources available to support this. However, please don’t feel pressured to follow a strict learning timetable as play and family time are just as valuable!

For adults at home and unable to do their regular job, this is also a great opportunity to learn a new skill if you feel like it. I’ve compiled a list of educational materials for people of all ages who would like to learn something new from home.

Thanks to the home education community and Popsy Clothing Frocks & Friends on Facebook who provided some of these links.

Literacy & Numeracy for Kids

• Little ones might enjoy Phonics with Ruth Miskin, who offers live videos daily or Furry Phonics with Mrs G, who gets her pet guinea pig involved.
• If you’ve got some of those plastic easter eggs, you can try making this spin and spell game from Raising Dragons.
• Oxford Owl is a good site for spelling, grammar, vocabularly and maths resources.
• The Maths Factor with Carol Vorderman is now free for children ages 4-12.
• Prodigy Maths is a good US based site.
• Read together! Look out for my post all about reading on 21st April.

Humanities for Kids & Teens

• Horrible Histories is a hilarious and educational TV show that helps teach about History. You can watch it on BBC iPlayer or see clips on YouTube.
• National Geographic Kids has activities and quizzes for younger children.
• There are lots of fun games on World Geography Games.
• The Big History Project offers cross-curricular activities for secondary school students.
• Google Expeditions lets you go on virtual field trips with augmented reality features.
• History Hit TV has a 30 day free trial.
• Steve Backshall

Science & IT for Kids & Teens

• Try some fun kitchen science experiments. Check out these videos from Craft Factory and Cooking Panda for lots of inspiring ideas.
• Free science lessons are avilable on Mystery Science.
• Crest Awards has science awards you can complete at home.
• Kids can learn computer programming skills with Blockly, Tinkercad or Scratch.
• Check out the Woodland Trust’s Nature Detectives for some fun and simple activities you can do in your garden.
• Cosmic Shambles offers science shows featuring Professor Brian Cox, Robin Ince & guests.

Arts & Crafts for Kids & Teens

• The Artful Parent on Facebook offers many fun, free art activities.
• Red Ted Art and Imagination Tree have easy arts and crafts tutorials for little ones.
• Check out my post C is for Creative Crafts for lots of art project ideas.

Misc. Learning Resources for Kids & Teens

• Check out this list of education companies offering free subscriptions due to school closings.
• Twinkl are offering a month’s free access to parents. They have lots of educational worksheets and PowerPoints.
• For GCSE or A Level revision, try Seneca Learning or check out this list of 50 Free Revision Resources. You can also make fun flash cards with TinyCards.
• The Kids Should See this and Ted Ed have a wide range of engaging educational videos.
• iDEA Awards is a digital enterprise award scheme you can complete online.
• Toy Theatre and Fun Brain have lots of educational online games.
• DK Find Out offers educational videos, quizzes and fun facts about all sorts of different topics.
• Have a go at earning a Blue Peter Badge or try a Paw Print Challenge.
• Crash Course has various YouTube videos on many different topics from astronomy to world history, while Crash Course Kids is aimed at younger kids.
• CBeebies Radio has listening activities for the little ones.
• Go on a virtual visit to a zoo, museum or art gallery. I’ll be sharing useful info and links for that on the 25th April.

Learning for Adults

• Brush up on your language skills for just 10 minutes a day using the Duolingo app or try Memrise for free language courses in a game style.
• Learn to play a musical instrument. Scott Guitarist is offering a free 12 week guitar course on YouTube.
• Future Learn has loads of university created free courses on loads of topics.
• 190 universities have launched 600 free courses-you can see the full list here.
• Visit Openlearn to try free university taster courses.

Over to you!

Do you have any learning tips, resources or ideas to share?