Parents, do you know that over the summer your child can lose up to three months of learning? Yes, it is scary! That is why it is always advisable to have your kid do some academic learning over the three months long summer, in addition to relaxing and having fun!
There have been multiple research conducted and all point towards summer learning loss, summer setback, or summer slide. According to NWEA (Northwest Evaluation Association) research, summer learning loss was observed in math and reading across third to eighth grade. They propose summer reading, school district led summer programs, as well as Math practice over the summer. According to Brookings.org, students’ achievement scores declined over summer vacation by one month’s worth of school-year learning.
As an educator and a mom, I always have my kids work on something academic in addition to relaxing and taking it easy over the summer. Now that they are teens, I don’t have to watch over them. My older high schooler has multiple extra-curricular activities and organizations that she gets involved with during the summer and my rising 8th grader gets some ELA & Math work from school every summer. Today’s post is learning about some Free online education sites!
SECTION I:
Elementary and secondary free online education sites:
I have made this list of 25+ free educational resources and free online education sites for kids of all ages. Although all of them are great learning platforms, I am breaking them into elementary and secondary categories; but you are welcome to look at all of them as they are all wonderful teaching and learning resources.
For elementary kids:
Sesamestreet.org
starfalls.com
pbskids.com
Izzit.org
abcmouse.com
tlsbooks.com (free printable worksheets)
Coolmath4kids.com
Khanacademy.org
BrainPOP.com
kidsdiscover.com. You can sign up for free here
minecraft.net (for free coding lessons)
nasa.gov/kidsclub
kids.nationalgeographic.com
kids.scholastic.com
suessville.com
For secondary kids:
khanacademy.org
Smithsonianeducation.org
edx.org (free online coding)
IXL.com
Discoveryeducation.com
Studyjams.scholastic.com
collegeboard.org (for AP resources)
coursera.org
duolingo.com
quizlet.com
explore.org
SECTION II:
Science educational videos on YouTube:
Parents, do you know that YouTube has tons of educational videos? These are just a few I would recommend for Science-
- Amoeba sister video: Amoeba sisters
- Crash courses: Crash courses
- Bill Nye the Science guy: Bill Nye
- The Organic Chemistry Tutor: The Organic Chemistry tutor
- Science music video: Science music video
- Make me genius: Make me genius
- Ted Ed: Ted Ed
- Steve Spangler: The Spangler effect
- Netflix Jr: Storybots
- Sci Show Kids: scishowkids
SECTION III:
Simple Science activities prepared by me:
Here are my 2 YouTube videos that I have made of Simple Science activities done in a classroom with my students, and these can easily be done at home with some prep and adult supervision.
- Video 1- DNA model lab. Click here
Materials needed for simple edible DNA model are licorice, marshmallows and toothpicks. For a non-edible DNA model you need pipe cleaners, toothpicks and pompoms. Yes! That is all what is needed. Watch my video here.
- Video 2- Hands-on Science activities. Click here
Includes flower dissection, DNA bracelet lab, mung lab, and yarn activity.
SECTION IV:
Hands-on home-grown plants:
These are some cool plants we have grown in our home from cuttings. Please try them out!
You can do vegetative propagation (plants growing from parts of plants) with celery, and carrot, and can try onions, potato, garlic and ginger too!
SECTION V:
Science experiments/project books:
This section contains affiliate links and I may earn compensation when you click on the links at no additional cost to you.
Below are Amazon affiliate links for the 2 books I would recommend buying for Science fun over the summer!
- Awesome Science Experiments for Kids
There are 100+ fun STEAM (Science, technology, engineering, art and Math) projects with some all-time favorites. Some examples include Bean in a bag, lava lamp, rainbow rain and walking on eggs under the Science section; magic spoon, flying birds, magnetic puppets and mini lightning spark for the Technology, balloon-powered car, laser maze, pom-pom drop and straw rafts under Engineering; bubble painting, candy rainbow, magnet painting, and icy art under Arts, and penny dome, popcorn math, the greenhouse effect and soda geyser eruption under the Math section.
- Awesome kitchen Science experiments for kids.
This book includes 50 STEAM projects that kids can eat! Example experiments include carbonated hacks and shape changing scones under the Science section; Bioilluminance in your kitchen and spinach chromatography under Technology section; Imitation apple pie and build a gingerbread house under the Engineering section; color swirl candy and potato people under the Art category; as well as popcorn on the fly and ice cream on a roll as some examples of yummy Science projects to eat! Make it right in your kitchen, and eat it straight out of your hands!!
Conclusion about free online education sites for kids of all ages:
In conclusion there are so many free online resources and education sites available for kids of all age groups at the tips of their fingers! It is always a good idea to check each of the site before you let your kids explore them on their own. More importantly explore the YouTube channels before you subscribe! Make sure your kids are also going outdoors, and doing hands-on activities in addition to using technology to learn and grow! Always use any learning opportunity at home to have discussions and explorations with kids!
It is the middle of summer, and most schools are scheduled to open in a month or two. Although it is not still decided by many school districts if the fall session learning would be remote/online, face to face or hybrid; we are hopeful for the future. In the meantime, use the above mentioned resources to keep your kids engaged, excited and looking forward to learning while at home during the summer break.
Dear readers, if you have any resources to share for kids of any age please share below in comment section or send an email to nishtha@dawnandhope.com!
36 replies on “25+ free online education sites”
I didn’t know NASA had kid resources! my daughter loves everything outer space/galaxy right now. definitely will have to check that out
Yes great resources, do check them out. I hope your daughter finds something fascinating
Wow! So many amazing resources. This is exactly what I need right now. Thanks for sharing
Thanks for dropping by and so glad to hear!
Thank you for the comprehensive list! I have some teacher friends who teach young kids, and these can be useful for them.
Thanks for the share!
This is a great list of resources and I love all the labs that are involved!
Thank you! Labs are always fun
Such an extensive repository! Quite handy for parents looking forward to engage their children. Will recommend it to my sister who will be glad to find all this in one place for her little one.
Thank you for your kind words and for the reco!
I am a teacher myself so I knew many of these websites, but there were still so many new ones. I can’t wait to google them. Thank you for the tip!
Thanks fellow educator! You don’t have to google them, just copy and paste. I have direct links for YouTube channels under Section II and the direct website names for the 25+ free educational resources under Section I
These are all resources. We need more of this for now to make sure our children don’t lose the things they should know or forget those they already know.
Great posts, I haven’t heard if most of these platforms, thanks for sharing, I will loom into them.
So many great ideas especially with the school season fast approaching. This should prove to be an interesting year.
Wow so much awesome info here! some really great recourse!
Great post! I learned a lot!!! Getting ready to homeschool this year and this helps me think about what to teach them and what resources.
Thanks Stacy! GL to your boys and you for homeschooling this year!
There are so many great online resources for learning. That’s the saving grace of this whole situation, at least all of this is accessible.
This brings back so many childhood memories of arts, crafts and science projects at home. I grew up on Bill Nye and honestly even ’til this day, even adults can learn a lot from children educational shows.
Jo | http://www.theweddedmillennial.com
Agree Jo! He is an all time favorite and yes we can all learn from any educational shows! Thanks for dropping by!
How cool is it that so many resources are out there that are totally free! I wish some of these existed when I was a kid.
This is a great list of resources! I would absolutely add NewsELA for reading comprehension from grades 1-12, or even higher ed for English Language Learners. That’s my favorite site to use with my ELLs.
Thanks Jacqueline. Yes we use Newsela and Achieve 3000 on our campus too!
This is such a great list – thanks for sharing all these awesome resources. I’ll be sharing this list with my sister who
Just found our they will be online learning again in the Fall.
What a fantastic list! My very favorite is Khan Academy for my kids!
This is an great comprehensive list! We love PBS Kids!
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This is such a great thorough list of resources for parents getting ready to homeschool!
Love to see this every day !
Love to see this every day !
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This is a great list of resources for some stimulating activities for kids! Timely as many are homeschooling now. Teachers would love these resources as well!
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[…] 25+ free online educational resources […]
[…] 25+ free online education sites […]