By Erin Pittman
Let’s be honest. Parents, caregivers and students are diving into all new territory when it comes to education in 2020. You may have learned new terminology and been forced to operate webcams and new applications (yet never as quickly and adeptly as your kids).
But there is some good news as we launch into this new world of learning. Whether you’re riding the new wave of full-time virtual learning with your children or providing supplemental activities to children in a hybrid learning environment, there are a variety of resources available to help students and families when they need a boost. Before you attempt to relearn eighth grade math, check out these websites and find support right at your fingertips.
CK-12.org
The CK-12 Foundation “was founded with the mission to enable everyone to learn in his or her own way.” The website equips parents, teachers and students with resources they need — for free. Using the latest technology, CK-12 offers concept-based learning through videos, games and online practice questions.
At ck12.org/browse, parents and students can easily access subjects organized by grade level and topic. With a free account, students will find additional explanations and practice questions to help with
mastery and even test preparation, all without parents having to ever admit they don’t fully remember the information.
Education.com
If virtual learning has you missing good old-fashioned paper and pencil worksheets, then Education.com may become your favorite resource. Parents and students can access free worksheets, games and more to help cement concepts into learning minds. With a free account, you can access a limited number of worksheets each month and not every resource on the site, but certainly enough to help with a concept here or there throughout the year. If you find that you wish to access more content, like their workbooks and additional games and worksheets, they are currently offering 50% off their usual subscription prices. Visit education.com/pricing for more information.
KhanAcademy.org
Khan Academy is a nonprofit organization. Via their website, they strive to provide “a free, world-class education to anyone, anywhere.” Their personalized learning approach allows students to learn and master skills at their own pace, “first filling in gaps in their understanding and then accelerating their learning.”
Khan Academy’s library of information was created by experts, and their content aligns with learning standards. There are practice lessons and instructional videos for kindergarten through early college students in math, grammar, science, history and even AP® classes. High schoolers can also access test-preparation materials for the SATs, Praxis and LSATs. And all content is always free for everyone.
Khan Academy operates on the belief that education is a human right. Through supporters like Bank of America, AT&T, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and more, their content for any subject your child needs to master will be free for them to access. Visit khanacademy.org to get started.
Outschool.com
Maybe worksheets, online games or prerecorded videos aren’t the best supplement for your student. Outschool may be a good alternative. Outschool offers inexpensive courses in a variety of subjects to help students solidify their understanding of concepts.
Each small-group class is held via Zoom, where students interact directly with their instructor, and sometimes each other. You’ll find classes in every core subject, as well as a variety of STEM classes, world languages, the arts and even life skills. Need to master those multiplication facts? There are a number of classes for that. Want to build those middle-school writing skills? Outschool can definitely help.
In our 2020 world of social distancing, Outschool can also fill in those extracurricular activity gaps. Do you have a child interested in dance? Try a variety of hip hop, ballet and jazz classes. Does your child only talk about Minecraft? Sneak some math and history into their Minecraft worlds with a class, so they learn as they craft. You can even sign kids up for a variety of health and wellness classes to help balance the potential emotional stress of learning from home and living through a pandemic.
Visit outschool.com to view their full course listing and to sign up for an account. You can even opt to subscribe to a tailored email newsletter delivered weekly to your inbox featuring classes for the upcoming week.
VarsityTutors.com
Much like Outschool, Varsity Tutors offers live instruction in small group classes on a variety of subjects. Additionally, though, they provide one-on-one access to highly qualified online tutors who support your learner in the areas they need additional help. To get started, you provide information about your student, and they take an adaptive test to gauge their strengths and weaknesses. Based on this information, Varsity Tutors’ matching process pairs students with one of their more than 40,000 experts to find the perfect tutor.
Varsity Tutors also provides support for learning pods or small groups of students who wish to study together. Choose as many subjects as your group wants and set up recurring sessions as needed. Prices per student vary based upon the number of students in the group.
Visit VarsityTutors.com for information on all of their options for academic support and pricing for each service.
Living through 2020 at times feels like we’ve been shipped to an alternate universe. At least you can breathe a little easier knowing that with a few clicks of a mouse you can support your children’s
education — all without sitting next to them on their class Zooms.
Erin Pittman is Editor in Chief of Prince William Living. She loves reading, writing, time with her family and snuggling all the dogs — but especially her yellow Lab, Wilson. Reach Erin at epittman@princewilliamliving.com.
