While most people who choose to homeschool normally opt to do so with a curriculum, there’s also a ton of homeschooling resources (some free) that are great additions to any homeschool/unschool routine.
Outschool (you’ll rec
Virtual Field Trips
The White House: A virtual visit to the White House features a tour of the Eisenhower Executive Office as well as a look at the art of the ground floor and the state floor.
Visitors can also explore the White House grounds, view the presidential portraits that hang in the White House, and investigate the dinnerware that has been used during various presidential administrations.
The International Space Station: Thanks to NASA’s video tours, viewers can get a guided tour of the International Space Station with Commander Suni Williams.
In addition to learning about the space station itself, visitors will learn how astronauts exercise to prevent the loss of bone density and muscle mass, how they get rid of their trash, and how they wash their hair and brush their teeth in zero gravity.
The Statue of Liberty: If you can’t visit the Statue of Liberty in person, this virtual tour is the next best thing. With 360° panoramic photos, along with videos and text, you control the field trip experience. Before beginning, read through the icon descriptions so that you can take full advantage of all the extras that are available.
Field Trip Zoom is a site that offers such events for classrooms and home schools. There is an annual fee for using the service, but it allows a single classroom or homeschooling family to participate in as many field trips as they’d like during the year. The field trips aren’t virtual tours but educational programs designed for specific grade levels and curriculum standards. Options include visits to Ford’s Theater, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, learning about DNA at the National Law Enforcement Museum, trips to the Space Center in Houston, or the Alaska Sealife Center.
Users can watch pre-recorded events or register for upcoming events and watch live. During live events, students can ask questions by typing in a question and answer tab. Sometimes the field trip partner will set up a poll that allows students to answer in real time.
National Geographic Explorer Classroom: All you need to join in on these live-streaming field trips is access to YouTube. The first six classrooms to register get to interact live with the field trip guide, but everyone can ask questions using Twitter and #ExplorerClassroom.
Viewers can register and join in live at the scheduled time, or watch archived events on the Explorer Classroom YouTube channel.
The experts leading National Geographic’s virtual field trips include deep sea explorers, archaeologists, conservationists, marine biologists, space architects, and many more.
Smithsonian Learning Lab
Take advantage of the Smithsonian’s 19 museums, galleries, and research centers and their wealth of material to expand your kids’ horizons. Through the Smithsonian Learning Lab, the institution offers images, texts, videos, audio recordings, and learning activities featuring its collection of more than 1 million artifacts. The site offers a flexible design and is easy to use. You can curate your own collection and share with your students to match your educational goals.
Recently, the Smithsonian also released more than 2.8 million high resolution images into the public domain, so now it is easy to explore and share the museums from the comfort of your home.
Animal Island Sit & Play Preschool Learning System
Animal Island Learning Adventure (AILA) Sit & Play offers a fun and robust preschool curriculum for toddlers 12 months+ that centers around a fun-filled island with a group of animal friends ready to say hello, sing, read, dance, stop and talk, and play games.
The learning experiences provide toddlers and preschoolers opportunities to develop literacy, 21st Century, and STEAM skills.
AILA Sit & Play Curriculum Benefits
- A child’s interest, preferences, and motivation contribute to a tailored learning experience.
- Curated original content with colorful, animated characters model language and foster communication.
- Preschool concepts are taught in a learning progression that takes educational objectives, developmental milestones, and age into consideration.
- AILA modes (Broadcast, Learning, Lullaby) meet emotional and cognitive needs of the child.
- AILA Parent App enables parent and child visual and verbal communication
- Curated content and time limits promote healthy, educational, and fun use of technology.
- Real-life videos and images, as well as suggested offline activities, bridge online with offline and support STEAM concepts.
- Age-appropriate images, animation, and stories stimulate cognitive learning and creativity.
- Character interactions and real-life videos model appropriate social emotional behavior and 21st Century skills.
In addition to all of the benefits listed above, AILA also comes with:
- All-In-One Preschool Curriculum
- Letters & Numbers
- Colors, Shapes and Social Skills
- Storybooks & Singalongs
- Adaptive Learning for Each Child
- No Subscription & No Ads
- Free Parent App to Control Screen Time and Track Learning Journey
Starfall
Starfall is a free educational resource for Pre-K through 3rd grade. Launched in 2002, Starfall offers an extensive library of interactive online reading and math activities, plus a Parent-Teacher Center with printable lesson plans and worksheets. Starfall is also available as an app for smartphone and tablet users.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy offers practice exercises, instructional videos, and a personalized learning dashboard that empower learners to study at their own pace in and outside of the classroom.
It offers math, science, computing, history, art history, economics, and more, including K-14 and test preparation (SAT, Praxis, LSAT) content and focuses on skill mastery to help learners establish strong foundations, so there’s no limit to what they can learn next.
How it works:
Personalized learning
Students practice at their own pace, first filling in gaps in their understanding and then accelerating their learning.
Trusted content
Created by experts, Khan Academy’s library of trusted, standards-aligned practice and lessons covers math K-12 through early college, grammar, science, history, AP, SAT, and more. It’s all free for learners and teachers.
Tools to empower teachers
With Khan Academy, teachers can identify gaps in their students’ understanding, tailor instruction, and meet the needs of every student.
Code.org
This site offers a structured computer science curriculum for kids at all levels, from pre-readers to AP-level students.
Lessons teach coding, of course, but they also touch on important topics such as online privacy and digital citizenship.
Engaging videos and fun games and activities enable students to learn at their own pace and stay challenged. Kids can even learn to build and design their own apps and games!
Most work can be done independently, though younger students might need supervision to stay on course.
Youtube
YouTube isn’t without its pitfalls, especially for young viewers, but with parental oversight, it can be a wealth of information and a fantastic supplement to homeschooling.
There are educational videos for nearly any topic imaginable on YouTube, including music lessons, foreign language, writing courses, preschool themes, and more.
Crash Course is a top-rated channel for older kids. The video series covers topics such as science, history, economics, and literature. There is now a version for younger students called Crash Course Kids. Other valuable YouTube channels include TED Education, Minute Physics, and Big Think.
Online Education Sites
Many online education sites such as The CK12 Foundation and Discovery K12 offer free courses for students in grades K-12. Both were started to provide access to a quality education to students everywhere.
CNN Student News is an excellent free resource for current events. It’s available during the traditional public school year, from mid-August to late-May. Students will enjoy using Google Earth to study geography or learning computer coding through Khan Academy or Code.org.
For nature study, the best free resource is the great outdoors itself.
Couple that with sites such as:
Try these sites for high-quality free printables:
- Enchanted Learning
- Teacher Pay Teachers (Offers free and paid printables)
- Free Homeschool Deals
- Education.com
Books:
Sandra Dodd’s Big Book of Unschooling
John Holt: Learning All the Time
