A bunch of people have been asking me for homeschool advice, since everyone's been forced to shelter in place. One of my usual responses, in prior circumstances to the "how do you homeschool?" is "Homeschooling is a misnomer! Homeschooling means your kid is not at home most of the time!" But that no longer applies. This isn't really how homeschooling works. Another frequent question is "are you her teacher?" to which I respond that I'm not--I'm really more of an Educational Director.
We belong to the Low Media Homeschool Group in Marin County, and many of our homeschool friends and fellow students come from that group. Technology is used as a tool, and for creation rather than consumption, and until recently wasn't used that much. Now, like all of you, we are forced to spend a lot of time on Zoom and other video platforms. It's not great. However, we do have some resources we've used in the past. So, a quick list of educational resources we've used online, and I will add to this as I come up with more.
Books are the default go-to around here. So let's start with that.
The Birchbark House books - by Louise Erdrich. We read these ages 8-9, as an antidote to the sometimes racist Little House on the Prairie books. Tells the story from the native perspective. There are four of them and they're all good, and get better as the series goes along.
Oishinbo - Comic books from Japan about Japanese Cooking, which we gave to our 10-11 year old, who then developed a big interest in cooking Japanese food.
DK Eyewitness Series. Instead of an old-fashioned encyclopedia, on everything from Leonardo to Soccer
Video
Before you let your kids watch anything on YouTube, install Distraction Free YouTube if you're running Chrome so they don't end up watching self-harm videos or being recruited by ISIS. I wish I were joking. Screen Time on Apple should be set up with reasonable limits you can discuss with your kid, if your kid is reasonable. Otherwise, use your own judgement. :D Here are some useful web sites for edutainment content.
Science
Deep Look by PBS - really brief, but really good science videos
Veritasium - new developments in science, debunking science myths
Nature shows on BBC Earth - what they're famous for
Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell - animations, clearly explaining complex topics.
Seeker - updated more often than some of the others, more like news programs
Art
Smarthistory - opening up museums online to teach art history
MoMA - for older kids, with artist profiles, exhibition explainers, of varying quality and utility
General
The Kids Should See This -a collection of "over 4,500 kid-friendly videos, curated for teachers and parents who want to share smarter, more meaningful media in the classroom and at home."
General
The Kids Should See This -a collection of "over 4,500 kid-friendly videos, curated for teachers and parents who want to share smarter, more meaningful media in the classroom and at home."
Crash Course Useful for explaining things from WWII to CRISPR
TED Ed - TED, but for kids, mostly animated, on many varied topics
Outschool - online classes on a wide array of subjects, taught remotely online. We have done D&D groups, classes on how to be more productive in studying, music lessons and history.
Languages
Spanish Academy - remote learning classes with native speakers from Guatemala
iTalki - A great place to find tutors, teachers and remote learning partners. I've studied both French and Finnish with tutors here.
Podcasts
Brains On the science podcast was a huge favorite with our kids ages 7-10
Story Pirates - for younger kids, this one takes stories written by kids and dramatizes them with hilarious results. Listen to one of my favorites, In the Car by 5-year-old Leah from Maryland.
TED Ed - TED, but for kids, mostly animated, on many varied topics
Outschool - online classes on a wide array of subjects, taught remotely online. We have done D&D groups, classes on how to be more productive in studying, music lessons and history.
Languages
Spanish Academy - remote learning classes with native speakers from Guatemala
iTalki - A great place to find tutors, teachers and remote learning partners. I've studied both French and Finnish with tutors here.
Podcasts
Brains On the science podcast was a huge favorite with our kids ages 7-10
Story Pirates - for younger kids, this one takes stories written by kids and dramatizes them with hilarious results. Listen to one of my favorites, In the Car by 5-year-old Leah from Maryland.
