My 50 favorite resources for kids learning-at-home
I was a teacher for 15 years and an education entrepreneur for five. Through a series of interesting and surprising events, six years ago I stumbled upon an emerging type of homeschooling, primarily led by teacher-parents, techies, entrepreneurs, doctors, nurses, artists, writers who chose to homeschool because they were intrigued by the possibility of designing their child’s education, playing a greater role in their child’s learning and exploring new modalities of education outside of traditional school.
For the last 6 years, I’ve been immersed in this secular homeschooling world, helping families find tools to help support their children’s learning, whether that meant the child learning independently, parents or caregivers teaching children or children learning with a tutor or peers. This is a world of brilliant, innovative parents exploring new ways to help their children learn with passion — and efficiency. They are the front runners, testing out ideas, curriculum, new processes for teaching and fostering positive social interaction. The type of homeschooling they do is like conducting mini-lab experiments, creating new modes of education that I believe we will soon see integrated in our school system. They are the first to try new learning apps, books or the most innovative educational youtube channels.
Throughout these six years, I’ve scoured tens of thousands of comments from teachers, parents and intellectuals to find the tools that parents love most to support their children’s learning.
This list represents my top 50 tools based on conversations I’ve had with brilliant parents around the world, who through trial and error have found the best tools to support their kids.
This list not only includes curriculum and learning apps, but practical resources I’ve identified based on needs parents have expressed to me — such as jobs for parents working at home with kids, how to find a tutor or an inexpensive computer -and curriculum for children with different learning styles and special needs.
I hope some of you will find this list helpful. This list is just a beginning and the tip of the iceberg. Every child learns differently and parents often have a preference for different types of tools. Some parents prefer tools that require minimal prep time or that their children can do without help, while other parents like to be deeply involved in their child’s learning. I’m working on creating another list with my top 5–10 tools for each subject area that outlines which type of families the tool is best for, including the student’s learning style and parent preferences
All of these tools are specifically geared towards parents teaching kids or kids learning independently. There are amazing tools to help teachers teach classes in school, but this is not the place to find those.
If you happen to try any of these tools, please let me know in the comments! I’m eager to hear your feedback on how they worked for you!
My favorite….
Accredited online school
Oak Meadow https://www.oakmeadow.com/
Academic Readiness
Understood.org Academic Readiness
https://www.understood.org/pages/en/learning-thinking-differences/signs-symptoms/academic-readiness/
All-in-one Curriculum
Khan App Kids (for PreK-2nd) or Khan Academy for older kids https://apps.apple.com/us/app/khan-academy-kids/id1378467217
All-in-one curriculum for children with ADHD
Blossom And Root https://blossomandroot.com/
All-in-one nature-based curriculum
Blossom And Root https://blossomandroot.com/
Art
Deep Space Sparkle https://www.deepspacesparkle.com/
Art history
Art History Kids https://www.arthistorykids.com/
Assessment
Mobymax https://www.mobymax.com/
Best book to get started
Brave Learner https://thebravelearner.com/
Coding
Scratch https://scratch.mit.edu/
Computers (inexpensive or free)
PCs for People https://www.pcsforpeople.org/
Creative writing
Night Zookeeper https://www.nightzookeeper.com/
Cursive handwriting
Handwriting Without Tears Cursive Handwriting https://www.lwtears.com/HWT/cursive-handwriting-success
Developmental Milestones
Understood Developmental Milestones https://www.understood.org/pages/en/learning-thinking-differences/signs-symptoms/developmental-milestones/
Ecology/environmental science
Real Science Odyssey’s Earth and the Environment https://www.pandiapress.com/product/real-science-odyssey-earth-environment-1/
Educational board games
Wildcraft https://learningherbs.com/wildcraft/
Educational podcasts
Wow In The World https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510321/wow-in-the-world
Facebook Learning Community
Sea Homeschoolers https://www.facebook.com/seahomeschoolers/
Financial literacy
Money Munch Kids https://www.moneymunchkids.com/
Foreign Language
Duo Lingo https://www.duolingo.com/
Free and discounted curriculum
Homeschool Buyer’S Co-Op https://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/
Handwriting
Handwriting Without Tears https://www.lwtears.com/hwt
History
Curiosity Chronicles
https://www.curiositychronicles.org/
Language Arts
Epic www.getepic.com
Latin
Minimus, Followed By Cambridge Latin for more advanced students http://www.minimus-etc.co.uk/
Live classes
Outschool https://outschool.com/
Math
Right Start Math https://rightstartmath.com/
Math for children on the spectrum
Beast Academy https://beastacademy.com/
Orton-Gillingham curriculum for children with dyslexia
Logic Of English https://www.logicofenglish.com/
Phys Ed
Cosmic Yoga https://www.youtube.com/user/CosmicKidsYoga
Public speaking
Toastmasters Junior https://www.toastmasters.org/education/youth-leadership-program
Reading
Teach Your Monster To Read https://www.teachyourmonstertoread.com/
Reading for children with dyslexia
All About Reading https://www.allaboutlearningpress.com/all-about-reading/
Reading comprehension
Build Your Library https://buildyourlibrary.com/
Robotics
Arduino Robotics Kit https://www.arduino.cc/education
Science
Mystery Science https://mysteryscience.com/
Sex ed
Amaze https://amaze.org/
Side gig for parents and teachers
Outschool https://outschool.com/teach#usVxSsChnc
Social studies
Blossom And Root Social Studies https://blossomandroot.com/tag/social-studies/
Side gigs for teachers
SideHustle for teachers https://www.sidehustlenation.com/best-side-hustles-for-teachers/
Social-Emotional Curriculum
Big Life Journal https://biglifejournal.com/
Spanish
Calico Spanish https://calicospanish.com/
Theater
Master Class
https://www.masterclass.com/
Tutors
Chelsea International Education https://www.chelseainternationaleducation.com/
Typing
Typing.Com https://www.typing.com/
US History
Blossom And Root American History https://blossomandroot.com/us-history-with-blossom-and-root/
Vocabulary
Wordly Wise http://wordlywise3000.com/
Work-from-home jobs
Sidehusl https://sidehusl.com/
World history
Curiosity Chronicles https://www.curiositychronicles.org/
Writing composition
Brave Writer https://bravewriter.com/
Youtube channel
Crash Course Kids https://www.youtube.com/user/crashcoursekids
