Remote-Learning Resources
It’s been the longest summer break EV-er, and if summer learning loss is a real phenomenon, what about the possible loss of an entire quarter? Fortunately artists, content providers, and education specialists have started offering their subscription-only content for free until the pandemic crisis abates. Here’s a partial list of resources you can draw from as you and your children engage in education at home. We’ll start with free resources:
NC Teacher of the Year for 2019-20, Mariah Morris, has set up a YouTube sharing site where she and other NC teachers are uploading their best remote-learning resources, mostly videos of lessons for grades K – 12. The videos aren’t labeled with a lot of descriptive information, but at least you can see their running times: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOcAYHULb8XeZpmiVW_CkwQ/videos
The website WeAreTeachers has a new page dedicated to hooking you up with home-based learning resources for grades K – 5. You’ll find links to virtual field trips, links to science, reading, and math instruction online, podcasts, and educational games.
The literacy resource Letterland is temporarily free to access: https://us.letterland.com/phonics-online — Sign up for a free account and get access to animated lessons, stories, readers, online games, and more.
NCDPI and UNC-TV have worked together to create new “curriculum-informed” educational programming that’s designed to support K – 12 learning at home. Find the schedule and more info here: https://www.unctv.org/unctv-at-home-learning/
This website provides well-regarded learning resources geared toward students with disabilities: https://www.education.com/
This page on the WeAreTeachers website has a long list of sites where you can access videos of children’s books, read aloud by their authors or by celebrities (including Oprah!).
Book publisher Scholastic has a new web page for parents who are trying to teach children at home temporarily. Older elementary students can, for example, read an age-appropriate news article and answer a series of questions about it. Scholastic authors have been pressed into service, participating in video lessons and providing input for the site. Resources are curriculum-aligned and sorted by grade level. Browse here: https://classroommagazines.scholastic.com/support/learnathome.html.
Encourage your child to watch educational sessions about wildlife featuring staff from the North Carolina Zoo each Mon., Wed., and Fri. at 10:00 am on their Facebook page: https://facebook.com/nczoo/. The Cincinnati Zoo is also offering daily educational programs, called “Home Safaris,” each day at 3:00 pm on Facebook Live. They even provide a daily activity that kids can complete. Find them here: https://www.facebook.com/events/2915534028492292/.
This site offers free stories, read aloud: https://www.storylineonline.net/.
Children’s book author Dav Pilkey, of “Dog Boy” and “Captain Underpants” fame, has launched a brand-new, interactive “at Home” site: https://kids.scholastic.com/kids/books/dav-pilkey-at-home/.
Audible has made hundreds of its children’s audio books available without a pricey subscription. More info here: https://t.co/fV2S1xlNKn?amp=1.
This site offers free online Spanish lessons and children’s stories read aloud in Spanish: https://www.thespanishexperiment.com/.
Art, Music, and Dance Education Resources:
Children’s book author and illustrator Mo Willems is offering thirty-minute drawing sessions daily on YouTube. They’re part demo, part lesson, part chat session. His slow pace and soothing tone are ideal for children, and all they need to participate is a pen or crayon and a piece of paper. Check out Episode 1 of Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmzjCPQv3y8.
The North Carolina Symphony posted a free educational concert and an accompanying student book and tweeted a password for access. worldwide! Go to and use the password 1932.
Principal dancer Tiler Peck of NY City Ballet is teaching daily ballet classes every day at 1:00 pm, streamed on Instagram Live. She uses objects in her house, such as a kitchen counter or a chair, to show that you don’t have to have a barre. Go to her page and click LiveClass: https://www.instagram.com/tilerpeck/.
Offerings For Teachers:
A group of NC educators is offering a “hub for best practices in virtual learning,” full of free how-to videos, resources, and advice for NC teachers seeking to improve their remote-teaching practices. The Bridging to Teaching Online Your Way (BTOY Way) website is a product of educators from the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT): https://sites.google.com/mgsd.k12.nc.us/btoy-website/home
EL Education, the main provider of language-arts curriculum resources for WCPSS, is providing free access to their online courses for teachers until June 1. Register and browse their catalogue here: https://eleducation.org/what-we-offer/curriculum-services/online-courses.
Free PD from the Friday Institute: https://www.fi.ncsu.edu/news/friday-institute-expands-offerings-for-online-professional-learning-for-educators/ — Topics include teaching math with technology, reading instruction, social-emotional learning, and computer science.
The WeAreTeachers site has many useful links to learning opportunities for teachers, but here’s one that’s particularly timely: Zoom 101 for Teachers.
Not Free, But Reduced-Cost Offerings:
Curiosity Stream has lowered the cost of a subscription to $12 for a year. You can browse their offerings here: https://curiositystream.com/categories/113
Babbel language app subscriptions are now 50% off: https://www.babbel.com/.
Choreographer, actor, and dance instructor Debbie Allen has organized a series of live dance webinars for $3 apiece, using the Zoom video-conferencing app. Register by clicking a link to the name of the course you’re interested in here: http://www.debbieallendanceacademy.com/events/5e80d096676cf20d00ce6fe1. Allen also has a few free dance class sessions that she streamed live on Instagram. Look for @therealdebbieallen. She archives video from previous classes and teaches different age groups on different days of the week.