Homeschooling During the COVID-19 Lockdown

Hand-Picked Virtual STEM Resources to Keep Kids Learning & Researching through Summer

Here we are in a brave new world where we just can't rely on traditional school and afterschool activities to educate our children on STEM.

Our lives have shifted online – from orders on Amazon and takeout dinners to gathering reading materials & projects on tablets.  I write this as I juggle homeschooling two boys (age 4 and 5) with researching these resources and trying to focus on this story! (they are wrestling and destroying the living room at this very moment)

To make virtual learning a bit easier, Broadcom Foundation is routinely gathering quality sources of online STEM education content from trusted partners who will help you keep your kids busy, engaged and inspire them to find and follow their passions in STEM.

Check it out and share your favorite online tool or STEM activity!

And be sure to follow us @BroadcomSTEM on Twitter and Facebook for more valuable resources updated daily.

Summer Guide from GSAN

A summer guide for kids by age from the Georgia Statewide Afterschool Network here.

100 Virtual Field Trips!

Check out world-famous places that can be fun (such as LEGOLAND), educational (the Colosseum in Rome), or a bit of both (the National Aquarium) here!

NASA

Launch rockets, build a hovercraft, create a winning science fair project and more! Find STEM activities for students from Kindergarten to 4th Grade here. Also, explore Space Place and discover how your state and NASA work together.

Science Buddies

• STEM Activities & Videos that can be done in under an hour and usually use materials easily be found around a home.
• Online Learning Blog updated regularly with tips and tricks for parents to support remote learning.
• Coronavirus-COVID19 is a special collection of hands-on resources, news articles, and other information for grasping the science behind the novel coronavirus including learning about viruses, transmission, how to treat them, and more.
• Scientific American Bring Science Home is a collection of 500+ hands-on STEM activities that were developed by Science Buddies for Scientific American.

Kahn Academy

Free education modules for students ages 2-18 to keep them learning. Try their Schedule along with a full library of Parent & Teacher Resources.

The Society for Science & the Public

NEW!  Find info on how to research at home including resources, advice and stories of inspiration here!

Science News & Science News for Students has a dedicated site for the very latest in novel coronavirus news from a science perspective.  Don’t forget a huge amount of STEM resources and online learning including:
• Experiments that can help kids learn how science is done by trying it themselves.
• Feature articles that come with discussion questions to gauge understanding.
• Explainers that allow students to dig in to particular concepts.
• For fun, a Technically Fiction series that explores the science behind fiction.
• And a new series, Let’s Learn About, with mini-lessons on fun topics.

Raspberry Pi Foundation

Digital Making at Home is a new distance learning resource that features a weekly blog introducing a new theme to inspire digital making ideas, code-along videos to guide young people through digital making projects and opportunities to share digital making creations.  Start making now!

Code.org

Once a week, Code.org is hosting Code Break -- a live webcast to teach computer science concepts in a live interactive classroom for both beginners and experienced students every Wednesday at 10am PST/ 1pm EST.

PBS Education

From early childhood to high school, Kara Wilkins, Technology Integration Specialist, breaks down the best platforms and activities to extend the classroom into your home! Read her post here. Additionally, PBS Learning Media has hundreds of interactive lessons for middle and high school students.

TGR Foundation

Their entire digital platform is free! Designed to turn parents into educators, TGR EDU: Explore has digital modules, worksheets and content on everything from animal ancestry, astronomy, college readiness, engineering to video game design!

Girl Scouts of Orange County

Hear from CEO Vikki Shepp, “look for opportunities to connect online and over the phone and stay connected!” They have tons of new at home badges and activities and community service ideas like sending cards to nursing home residents. They also offer helpful advice during COVID-19 like “How to Talk to Your Girl about Coronavirus.” Find it all here.

IPSF

The Irvine Public Schools Foundation has tons of resources here including how to talk to your child about COVID-19, tips for managing screen time and online learning tools. Others include:

Galileo Anywhere! -- STEM activities updated weekly

Genius Online STEM Learning -- STEM apps including Minecraft, Scratch and more

The Young Americans -- Get your body moving with these video warm up routines

Bytes & Bots

Click here for live, online classes to learn coding with Python.

Discovery Education

All schools receive free access to the Discovery Education Experience digital suit, and there are free resources for parents and caregivers.

STEM Ecosystems

Need ideas on how to keep learning going? Find a resource library for kids, webinars and workshops and federal resources. Find everything here.

Big Brothers/ Big Sisters of OC and Inland Empire

From educational resources to tips on intentional communication, find helpful advice here.

Orange County  & California Dept of Ed

Find an extensive list of free educational resources for distance learning from the OC Dept of Ed here and the California Department of Education here.

Find daily at-home science activities using household supplies from the California Science Center here.

And, feel free to roam the earth with free, virtual field trips.  Go to Mars, Buckingham Palace or the Houston Zoo just to name a few.  Find a large list here.

Finally, we found this helpful, 100 Things to Do while Stuck Inside due to a Pandemic. Thanks USA Today!

We are grateful to everyone in the STEM learning community for providing up-to-date information and engaging activities to keep kids informed and learning while sheltering-in-place.

Thanks for reading and continue to follow us on Twitter and Facebook for more at-home learning resources, and please share your favorites with us!