How about switching up some of the regular routines we’ve been doing with homeschool over the next few weeks! There are some great opportunities open to those at home! Here are a few I have found and compiled. Feel free to comment or send me an email (sarah@thelambertfam.com) so I can update this list- if you know of some other good ones!
And for those of you who are “new to school” at home– these are some things to help fill in some “bored” or down time or if you want to have some fun together.
*You don’t have to come up with a schedule and full fledged homeschool program with your kids.
*Just find some fun things to do together, explore and learn new things together!!! Someone said assign a topic a day– one day, do science things; the next, do history things; next, do art things (or do it in half day segments….)
psst…special highlight for homeschoolers *Well Trained Mind has a bunch of how-to-homeschool workshops and seminar for free download now. Scroll down to the bottom of this post!!!
For starters-if you don’t have internet:
Internet Essentials
Effective Monday, March 16, 2020, Internet Essentials will increase speeds from 15/2 Mbps to 25/3 for all customers in response to emergency measures associated with Coronavirus (COVID-19). This speed increase will happen automatically – no action is required by customers. In addition, new customers will receive two months of free service
And next:
Date night with the husband!! Go to the opera in your own house!
March 16: Bizet’s Carmen
March 17: Puccini’s La Bohème
March 18: Verdi’s Il Trovatore
March 19: Verdi’s La Traviata
March 20: Donizetti’s La Fille du Régiment
March 21: Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor
March 22: Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin
Then if you want something on the Coronavirus:
Coronavirus Brain Pop Lesson
FREE Brain pop lesson on Coronavirus
Washington Post Corona Simulator
Here’s an interesting article with simulations on quarantines & social distancing.
ART:
Art Hub For Kids
Here you’ll find all kinds of art lessons for kids, including how to draw for kids, even painting and origami for kids. Most of our art lessons are self-contained, which means you can jump in and start drawing with us today. All you need is something to draw with, some paper, and coloring supplies! (always free!)
McHarper Manor
Beginning tomorrow (3/16/20), our studio will be going live daily Monday through Friday at 1pm Eastern Time, with free art & craft tutorials to create at home with your kids! We’ll have shopping lists (with links to the supplies you can order from Amazon) so you can have supplies on-hand to complete the projects with us!
Week one projects (Live via our Facebook page daily @ 1pm EST)
Monday: Drawing and painting watercolor animals
Tuesday: Peg Dolls
Wednesday: Painted Canvas (Theme TBD)
Thursday: Chalk Pastel Galaxy
Friday: Sculpt a friend with Model Magic
MUSIC:
Philadelphia Orchestra Live
The Philadelphia Orchestra and Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin performed BeethovenNOW: Symphonies 5 & 6 concert to an empty Verizon Hall for live broadcast on Thursday, March 12 on Facebook Live.
Musik at Home
Free music till April 3rd (click on the red bar at the bottom!)
Family Music for Mixed Ages Classes-Bring the whole family together around charming songs, dances and rhymes that are sure to fill your day with joy while giving your children the benefits of early childhood music education!
Materials Needed: Rhythm Sticks, Shaker, Scarf. You can find these items around your home using wooden spoons, rice inside a closed container, and a bandana. Optional Materials: Bean Bag, Jingle Bell, Glockenspiel.
Music in Our Homeschool
Scroll down for a free 20 Music Appreciation Lessons to give you a taste of what Music in Our Homeschool has to offer.
Gospel Adventures
This year’s Gospel Adventures® will explore the rich culture of Mongolia!
With remarkable landscapes from the Gobi Desert, the Altai Mountains, and more, Gospel Adventures: Go Mongolia is sure to be a journey to remember! Kids will be introduced to kids just like them living in Mongolia who carry their faith with them through day-to-day life. Teach your kids about the foods, animals, people and places of Mongolia with Gospel Adventures.
Travel and leisure.com Museums with virtual tours
12 Famous Museums Offer Virtual Tours: Google Arts & Culture’s collection includes the British Museum in London, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, the Guggenheim in New York City, and literally hundreds of more places where you can gain knowledge about art, history, and science. This collection is especially good for students who are looking for ways to stay on top of their studies while schools are closed.
SCIENCE:
Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden Facebook Page
Riot and dance: Earth
Join in the glorious uproar of creation with Dr. Gordon Wilson as he traverses the planet, basking in God’s masterpieces found throughout the animal kingdom.
Don’t forget the above Coronavirus lessons.
Super Charged Science Science of Physics Class Wednesday March 18th
Discover the amazing world of physics by exploring properties of light, waves, forces, electricity, magnetism and more! We’ll study energy by building catapults, wire up unipolar motors and rail accelerators, be able to “see” invisible particles by building a cosmic ray detectors, discover forces by building, split laser beams into a rainbow of colors, and build the experiment that won Einstein his first Nobel Prize! This class is for kids interested in doing real hands-on science, ages 7 – 14 years.
Since libraries are closed here are some about BOOKS:
Storyline Online
The SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s award-winning children’s literacy website, Storyline Online, streams videos featuring celebrated actors reading children’s books alongside creatively produced illustrations. Readers include Viola Davis, Chris Pine, Lily Tomlin, Kevin Costner, Annette Bening, James Earl Jones, Betty White and dozens more.
Free Digitized Library!
AmblesideOnline is a free homeschool curriculum that uses Charlotte Mason’s classically-based principles to prepare children for a life of rich relationships with everything around them: God, humanity, and the natural world. AO’s detailed schedules, time-tested methods, and extensive teacher resources allow parents to focus effectively on the unique needs of each child.The AmblesideOnline library hosts a large collection of original Charlotte Mason materials, which have been digitized by our volunteers.
Do you have a writer? Search for writing contests or writing prompts.
Dandelion Press Micro Fiction Contest
Here’s a contest to start!
Or create a story together as a family roll a story Writing
Some RANDOM THINGS:
Free Election Day Unit Study from Sonlight
The 2020 American presidential election is a perfect opportunity to add civics, government, and current events to your homeschool lessons and family discussions.
Use this free unit study to introduce your children to the presidential election process in a simple, thorough way.
Amazing Educational Resources
This began as a google.doc and after a few days has become it’s own website! This is an extremely LARGE listing of resources! (You may want to save this for last, it’s rather large and overwhelming!)
List of freebies:
They Call Me Blessed Blog
“There is nothing better than finding great resources that won’t cost you a penny. I will continue to gather here as many great freebies as I can find for you.” Have fun digging into all these great free resources from my own blog, from my favorite homeschool blogs and companies I am proud to promote and partner with. There is no limit to how much you can download from here.”
If you’d like some help with LOOSE ROUTINES and “how to make the day flow” IDEAS:
Sonlight Blog Post: Coronavirus has your kids at home? Here are ideas for school at home.
Sonlight has some experience (30 years in fact) with school at home, so we’ve compiled a list of emergency educational resources for those temporarily bringing school to their living rooms and kitchen tables.
Wild Flower Ramblings
“Here are suggestions for a beautiful time with your kids that is completely FREE!!”
This includes lots of links and ideas for art, history, Bible time, read alouds, nature journaling/science, math, spelling, and more!!!
SOME GAME/LEARNING/PLAYING SITES:
Scholastic Learn at Home
Even when schools are closed, you can keep the learning going with these special cross-curricular journeys. Every day includes four separate learning experiences, each built around a thrilling, meaningful story or video. Kids can do them on their own, with their families, or with their teachers. Just find your grade level and let the learning begin!
-The Editors of Scholastic Classroom Magazines.
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. We tackle math, science, computer programming, history, art history, economics, and more. Our math missions guide learners from kindergarten to calculus using state-of-the-art, adaptive technology that identifies strengths and learning gaps. We’ve also partnered with institutions like NASA, The Museum of Modern Art, The California Academy of Sciences, and MIT to offer specialized content.
BrainPOP Free Access for Closed Schools
Animated educational site for kids- science, social studies, english, math, arts & Music, health, and technology. Engaging learning games, animated movies, and activities.
If your school is closed due to the COVID-19 virus, please fill out this form to receive free, unlimited use of the full BrainPOP suite during the period of closure. You will receive an email with instructions on next steps to set up your account.
And then if you want some CURRICULUM TYPE SITES:
Easy Peasy All-in-One Homeschool
This curriculum is great for anyone who needs/wants to save money or time. As for money, the curriculum is free. The materials are online and free. You will need to have basic school supplies such as paper and pencils, but it requires no books or major supplies.This is a Christian curriculum. Most things are not overtly Christian, but I do point to the Bible from time to time in literature, science, history, etc. and seek to promote a biblical worldview.
Charlotte Mason Institute
In an effort to support those of you who unexpectedly find yourself homeschooling your children due to the unprecedented spread of COVID-19 throughout the world, the Charlotte Mason Institute is offering a FREE emergency curriculum packet to help you quickly jump into homeschooling. We’ve included a term of lessons in selected subjects from our 2019-20 curriculum for all ages and chosen those easiest to begin with little or no prep. Sign up for FREE to receive your curriculum packet of Alveary lessons.
South Alabama Homeschooling
These curriculums run the gamut. They are religious and secular, they are right learning and left, they are common core aligned and NOT Common core aligned. They only thing they all have in common is that they are FREE! You will need to refer to “about” tabs to find out if they match your beliefs and educational styles!
If you were thinking about homeschooling and would like to know more about it: here’s a free download booklet.
Here’s what you’ll get in the FREE “Homeschool 101” eBook:
- Learn about the history of homeschooling.
- Find your state’s homeschool laws.
- Familiarize yourself with different styles of homeschooling.
- Receive tips from professionals and homeschool veterans.
- Explore practical and inspirational resources to improve your homeschool experience.
Again, if you are interested in learning more about homeschooling there are some free videos available during this time from Well-Trained Mind. (scroll down a little for the $0.00)
Well Trained Mind Training
Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise have long been among the most popular speakers at homeschool conferences and teacher-training seminars. Here you can find audio recordings of the many workshops and lectures that they have given over the years.
Hopefully you have found a few things to add to your day or week to bring some fun into it! I’d love to hear what you chose or if you have some other treasures to add to the list!!
Send me an email at sarah@thelambertfam.com!
Philadelphia Homeschool 
Thank you so much for taking the time to do this Sarah You hVe been on my mind and I hope u all are doing well.
On Sunday, March 15, 2020, Philadelphia Homeschool wrote:
> Sarah L. posted: “How about switching up some of the regular routines > we’ve been doing with homeschool over the next few weeks! There are some > great opportunities open to those at home! Here are a few I have found and > compiled. Feel free to comment or send me an email (sar” >
Thanks Seena! My pleasure!! I hope you find some fun things to do!! 🙂