The Parent Home Educator Series: Tips for Learning at Home
Choosing Online Learning Resources for Your Child
By Dr. Chris Harrison | Co-founder | July 9, 2020
You are the Parent Home Educator and you can do this!
This Parent Home Educator Series focuses on helping you develop a framework and decision-making process for homeschooling or supporting your child while learning at home.
How do I choose?
When selecting online resources for your child, consider the following: access online, ease of use, alignment with school curriculum, reliability, audio/video capability, affordability, and culturally relevant design of the platform and features.
Let your child’s needs drive your choice
Find out how your child learns best and areas for improvement and allow that to guide your selection of online learning resources. For instance, some students learn best with interactive features and others may prefer to learn with a partner while completing lesson activities.
Some students enjoy project-based lessons and others may enjoy web-based learning with auditory features. Let your child’s learning preferences and needs drive your selection of supplemental online learning material. If you do this, you are likely to get your child’s buy-in and there will be a reduction in the likelihood of your child rejecting resources misaligned to his/her preferences and areas of strength for learning.
How can I keep track of my child’s online learning resources?
In this age of learning from home with web-based, virtual learning platforms, it is important to organize your access to resources for you and your child so that you can access them with ease when it's time for learning. See the table below that provides an example of how you can organize your child’s online learning resources. You can create this table in Microsoft Excel or Word or in Google Docs or Sheets.
Recommended Resources
Here is a list of online resources that you can check out to help you get started with making curricular decisions in the interest of your child’s learning. Just as your child is a growing lifelong learner, so are you. You are the Parent Home Educator and you can do this! Let’s Go!
KQED / PBS Learning Media - at-Home and Distance Learning Resources
Outschool - live online classes and camps for kids
Math Minutes Pro - free, on-demand math teaching videos for personalized learning
STEM ecosystems - a STEM resource library of activities
Apple Education Learning Series - remote learning resources for educators
Applied Digital Skills - free, video-based teaching resources to help students learn digital skills
Guide to Online Homeschooling - resources, tips, and guidance on getting started