All parents want to help their kids to succeed, and often this means support with their school work. There are many ways that you can help your child to learn new things, from curriculum-based apps to arts activities, let’s explore some free resources and tips.
1 . Funbrain Jr.
Funbrain Jr. includes games for kindergarteners and preschoolers, these games are designed to help kids with their problem solving and math, and early literacy skills. These games cover concepts such as letter sounds, and letter recognition, as well as basic counting and number recognition. Using the app your child will learn about patterns, order, and sequence. Kids can also use the games to develop their fine motor skills. A few of the example games include:
- Flashy Cards: This is a memory game where kids need to match letters and pictures.
- Balloon Blowup: In this game, kids need to burst the balloon which has the largest set of numbers.
- Heat Wave: The game aims to fill up a pool by positioning the tubes in alphabetical order.
- Khan Academy Kids
Khan Academy Kids is an award-winning app designed for children aged 2-8 years old. The app focuses on reading, phonics, maths, emotional and social skills, and more. There are plenty of different games, books, activities, and lessons. You’ll find a wide range of cool content, from songs to yoga videos.
There’s a library of activities to choose from, or you can access a customized learning journey, tailored to your child’s level. Why Is Determining Reading Level Important? A reading level helps you to choose books for your child that provide a challenge, without being too difficult. On the app, you’ll find a range of engaging content, including content from the National Geographic Young Explorer Magazine.
- NASA Visualization Explorer
Using this application kids can discover stories, facts, and news about the planets and the universe. The tool includes beautiful videos and images from space, and animations too. The NASA Visualization Explorer is suitable for children aged 7 and over. It’s an excellent free resource to get kids excited about science and help them to learn about space.
- BrainPop
BrainPop is a resource designed for K-12 students, and there’s also BrainPop JR, aimed at children 3 years and under. These apps feature lesson plans and activities in health, social studies, science, writing, and maths. The app includes movies that explore the history, current events, and more. All movies arrive with a quiz, to help your child test their skills and knowledge. You’ll love Moby and Annie, these cute characters guide your kids through the various exercises.
- Duolingo Kids
Want to support your kids to learn a new language? The Duolingo Kids app is a fantastic resource. Choose from French, Spanish, English, and more. All the lessons are game-based, kids just love playing with the animated characters, unlocking levels, and earning crowns. These lessons are based on expressions, sentences, and vocab, to help children develop their bilingual skills. The app includes a range of interactive challenges, helping kids to make progress fast. Duolingo Kids is suitable to use both online and offline.
Remember if your kids are using apps and the internet it’s important to teach them about online safety for children. Another great resource for kids is the Homer app, this resource is both affordable, and highly rated:
7 . Homer
HOMER is a learning app for children aged 2-8 years. The app includes stories, exercises, and personalized literacy lessons. These activities were all designed by learning experts, and are supported by research. A few of the main features are:
- Lots of stories to browse, including all the classics.
- A range of fun games, stories and songs.
- Using Homer can improve a child’s reading score by 74%.
- There are many great resources for parents.
Tips to support your child’s learning journey
- Educational days out
There are plenty of different ways that you can help your child to learn new things. Educational days out are a great way to spend quality time together. One of the most popular children’s museums in the USA is the Children’s Museum Indianapolis, here there’s an amazing dinosaur exhibition and thousands of different artifacts. Other popular kids museums across America include the ‘Please Touch Museum’ in Philadelphia, and ‘The Strong’ in Rochester NY.
- Inspire their imagination
If you want to support your child’s learning journey there are many ways that you can inspire their imagination. You might like to provide dressing up boxes and encourage acting games? Maybe your kids would prefer arts & crafts days? Read books together about magic, or take your kids to watch shows at the theatre. Inspiring your child’s imagination will help them to improve their writing, artistic abilities, independent thinking, and confidence.
- Create the right space
When you’re supporting your child to learn from home you’ll need to design the right kind of space. You’ll need a spacious desk area that’s free of clutter, and comfortable. Create cosy floor spaces to practice art or a reading corner for independent reading. Designing an inviting space will help your child to focus and enjoy their learning experience. Here are a few more ideas to create the perfect learning space:
- Hang up colorful art, and display your child’s work.
- Use a range of resources to boost concentration.
- Ensure that your child takes enough breaks.
- Create an outdoor learning space to make the experience more enjoyable.
- Extracurricular activities
To help your child to learn and grow, encourage them to practice extracurricular activities. They might like to join a sports team, a drama club, or take up singing lessons? Whether it’s art, or hiking club, there are lots of activities to choose from. Learning new skills is a great way to help kids make new friends and boost their confidence. Not all learning is about academia, it’s also important for kids to develop their social skills.
- More tools to help
Looking for more tools to support your child with their learning? These podcasts have some great ideas:
Honey I’m Homeschooling The Kids: If you’re teaching your children from home, this podcast is an excellent resource. Here you’ll learn all about parenting, alternative education, and making the learning experience fun.
But Why: A Podcast For Curious Kids: This is a super fun podcast aimed at children. Throughout the show, the hosts answer real questions from children, whether these are questions about ‘nature, words, even the end of the world.’ If your child has a question you can record it and send it in to ‘questions@butwhykids.org!’
For more ideas try podcasts such as ‘Brains On Science’, and ‘What If World’, both of which are excellent tools for entertainment and learning. With podcasts like these you’ll have so many great ideas.
- Plenty of praise
Lastly, it’s important to give your child lots of praise. You might like to give your child rewards whether it’s stickers, sweets, or small toys? You might consider creating a rewards chart where they can earn special prizes? If you’re teaching your child from home, ask your kid for feedback. See if there is anything else you can do to make the learning experience more enjoyable. Working together with your child is the key to a successful home learning experience.
Using resources and tips like these you’ll support your child to develop their knowledge, skills, and confidence. Whether it’s educational days out or inspirational resources there are many ways that you can support your kids.
