Learning Resources for Self-Guided Kids

Parents, family, and even strangers regularly ask why we chose homeschooling over sending the kids to school. My reason is time. Time to be with my children and time for them to explore their many interests. I was so busy in school trying to learn things I didn’t care about, that I didn’t have time to figure out what I did care about. Our kids get engross themselves in subject areas and endeavors that would not even be open to them if they were in school. I created the Learning Resources for Self-guided Kids for our kids to use as their interests guided them. Low and behold, others seem to find this page useful as well as it is the most popular page on Infomiss! The page will be updated soon to make it more readable and offer additional sources.

RESOURCES

Animals Online

• Animal Diversity Web

Animals YouTube

• Animalogic
• The Brain Scoop – Mammals

Art Apps

• The Art Assignment – Crash Course
• Show Me Interactive Whiteboard Whiteboard + Voice to create learning videos (iPad)

Art Online

• 99U.com  A site that attempts to inspire the creative community
• A. Pintura  Art Detective
• Architect Frank Lloyd Wright videos on design
• Art Babble
• Art for Kids Hub
• The Art of Crime Detection
• Artventure Online Art Classes
• Autodesk Sketchbook
• The Artist’s Toolkit
• Coloring Pages of popular art (tedious ads but nice printables)
• Comics (Things without)
• Coursera
• Eye Level  Smithsonian Art Education
• Field Guide to Pulp Art
• Getty Museum – open content
• KinderArt
• ItzaBitza Create art inside of a game (MAC or PC) Not free
• La Louvre
• Art Curriculum & Learning through Art
• The Met
• National Gallery of Art  digital images of the NGA art collection
• Pexels free stock photography / graphics
• Pixabay free stock photography / graphics
• Portrait Detectives  Liverpool Museum
• The Renaissance Collection
• Rjks Museum  Create your own gallery
• SmartHistory KhanAcademy
• Street to Studio – Jean-Michel Basquiat
• Thrive Art First online class is free
• Vatican Virtual Tour

Art YouTube / Vimeo

• 3D Printing  Enabling Dreams to Reality (YouTube)
• Art Think SFMoma
• Basics of Digital Animation  Minute Earth
• Jaime’s Dream School  The Arts
• Mark Crilley  Youtube tutorials
• Socratica – Art
• SmART History  Khan Academy
• Strange Wonderful A tiny monster dreams through her school day. (Vimeo)
• Time lapse video of editing a Youtube Video by CGP Grey

Astronomy

• Ask an Astronomer
• Astronomy Introduction  Great Courses – not free
• Cosmos for Kids
• Intro to Astronomy Course  Open 2 Study
• NASA Ed – Grades K-4  Grade 5-8 Grades 9-12  Higher Ed
• Sixty Symbols Videos about the symbols of physics and astronomy
• Space  Chris Hadfield talks about being in Space (NPR)
• Spore

Astronomy YouTube

• It’s Okay to be Smart – Space
• Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell
• Neil de Grasse Tyson
• Scishow Space
• Socratica
• Space Pumpkins – Literally

Automobiles Online

• Cars: Past, Present, and Future – Stanford

Aviation Online

• Airplane Anatomy, Geography from Space ++
• Things that Fly  MIT K-12

Biology

• Biology Coloring Pages
• Biology for Kids
• Cells Alive

Biology YouTube

• Crash Course
• It’s Okay to Be Smart – Biology
• MIT K-12 Videos – Biology

Business / Entrepreneuring Online

• Free Inbound Marketing Course / Certification – SEO, Blogging, Marketing
• ZipKids

Business / Entrepreneuring YouTube

• TedTalk – Cameron Herald (Raising Kids to be Entrepreneurs)

Calligraphy

• Learning Calligraphy from Llyod Reynolds

Chemistry

• Chemistry for Kids
• Chemistry Course – Building Blocks for the World – on Open 2 Study
• Dynamic Periodic Table

Chemistry YouTube

• Crash Course – Chemistry
• MIT K-12 Videos
• Socratica Chemistry Glossary
• Socratica Chemical Elements
• Socratica Chemistry Lessons

Civics Online

• iCivics

Cooking YouTube

• America’s Test Kitchen
• Andrew Zimmern of Bizarre Foods
• Jaime Oliver’s Food Tube
• Jaime Oliver – About Beef and cooking Beef
• Jaime’s Dream School – Cooking

Design Online

• Everything I know – Buckminster Fuller

Environment

• Atlantis Remixed Environment game
• Environmental Science from the Annenberg Project

Economics Online

• Economics – Tom Woods / Ron Paul

Economics YouTube

• Crash Course
• eEconomics with David Angelo
• LostMy1
• MisesMedia – Austrian Economics

English

• Adobe Voice Story Teller Create stories with pictures and voice
• Free Rice – Vocabulary
• Learner.org
• Socratica – English Beginner

Exercise / Health

• Ballet, Biking, Capoeira, Hiking, Ice skating
• Jaime Oliver’s Dream School – Sports
• Jujitsu Danzan Ryu, Robert Hudson
• NWHL – Women’s Hockey
• Rock climbing, Running – 5k’s, Track & Field through city programs
• Swimming
• Trail Running

Film

• Image and Video Processing Course – Coursera / Duke University
• iMovie – Create Shorts, Stories and Movies
• How We Make Minute Earth Videos
• Philosophy in Film and Other Media – MIT
• Scandinavian Film & Television – Coursera / University of Copenhagen
• Toontastic Create video stories and plays
• Watch Movies like a Critic – MIT

French Online

• BBC French – Ma France
• French – Yale, WBGH, Wellesley
• French-word-a-day
• Memrise (All languages)

French Youtube

• Comme une Française
• Je French

Game Portals

• FunBrain
• Kizi – Kids web games
• Gamequarium – Funky little site, but lots of games
• Hooda Math Many games, including Ice Cream Truck for the budding entrepreneur
• Whyville 100+ games (arts, science, etc.)

General

• Carnegie Mellon – Free Online Course
• Iversity.org – Online course, Europe
• John Hopkins Center for Talented Youth
• TedX Youth
• Open 2 Study – Various Courses / Subjects
• Outschool – Online Classes in various subjects
• Saylor Academy – Online Classes in various subjects

Geography Apps

• Stack the States  Learning about the United States
• Stack the Countries

Geography Online

• 40 Maps that explain the Middle East
• Geography Holistic Homework Project
• Geography with Angela Orr
• GeoGuessr Visit the World!
• Geography for Kids
• Geography Map Quiz Games
• How the 50 US States got their names – Mental Floss Article
• Mapping the Word by Heart – Geography (online resource)
• Seterra Map Quiz Game
• Top 250 Global Attractions

Geography YouTube

• Visit the 50 States

Geology YouTube

• The Brain Scoop
• It’s okay to be Smart – Earth
• Minute Earth
• MIT K-12 Videos – Earth Science

Health Online

• Doctor Know  Play Doctor!
• Herbal Academy of New England
• Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell (The Immune System)

History

• 20Q – 20 questions
• America – The History of US (Videos from the History Channel)
• Ancient History (BBC)
• Ancient Greece
• Big History
• Best of the Web
• Epic World History
• Free Textbooks – History
• Histomap
• Live Binders – History Lessons 3rd Grade
• Nancy Drew (Computer game)
• The Oregon Trail for iPad
• Stanford Online
• Story of the World book Largely secular, but written from Christian worldview

History YouTube / Vimeo

• Charlie Brown Constitution Video
• Crash Course – World History
• Crash Course – World History Curriculum
• Winston Churchill, top 10 quotes – beautifully done. (Vimeo)

Humanities

• Jaime Oliver’s Dream School

Languages

• BBC Languages – 40 languages, essentials
• Learning a Foreign Language in record time – Tim Ferris (article)
• Duolingo
• Effective Language Learning – Free Lessons, several languages
• Free Language Lessons Resources (All languages)
• Irasshai is an FREE online Japanese program through Georgia Public Television
• Language Lessons – Open Culture (several colleges and languages)
• Latin
• Latin for Beginners by Mary Beard (Jaime’s Dream School)
• Mindsnacks – Language Learning Apps – iPad
• Memrise (All languages)
• Native Languages of the Americas
• Spanish
• Teach Yourself Series (40 languages – CDs) – Elisabeth Smith
• Quizlet

Literature

• Crash Course – Literature
• 1000 Recordings Poetry and Music
• Bartleby.com Online books
• The Free Library
• Free Audiobooks by title on Open Culture
• Harvard Classics
• Learner.org
• LibriVox Free Audio Books
• Project Gutenberg Free eBooks

Marine Biology

• Beluga Communication and Echolocation
• Earth Touch Wild Ocean – Episodes
• Intro to the Arctic – Climate
• Marine and Antarctic Studies
• Marine Biology 101 – Not free
• Marine Bio Conservation Society
• Marine Studies – Certificate Program, not free
• Oxford Learning College – Diploma Marine Biology (not free)
• Saylor Online Marine Biology course – legacy course avail on Github

Math Online

• Alcumus – Art of Problem Solving Online Learning (Free, but must register)
• The Art of Problem Solving
• Bedtime Math Problem
• Better Explained – Math Lessons that explain concepts
• Brainpop Games, Learning videos and further learning
• Brilliant
• The Calculus Lifesaver – Open Culture Rec
• Carnegie Mellon University – Free Online Courses
• CoolMath-Games.com
• Coursera – Free Online Courses From Top Universities | Coursera
• Daily Routines – 10-15 minute math thought problems for all ages
• Dreambox (adaptive math learning through 7th grade) Past 4th grade the games may begin to feel a bit drill-y. Highly recommend for grades k-4.
• eiMacs Distance Learning
• edX
• Euclid the Game – Geometry game
• Fact Monster Practice math facts AND play Harry Potter hangman!
• Flatland – Animated Math Movie
• Free Textbooks at Open Culture
• FunBrain
• Google Search – Plotting the Batman Curve
• Harvard Extension School
• iTunesU: 1200 Free Online Courses from Top Universities
• Ivesrity Open Online Courses – Study Anywhere
• IXL – K-8, Our kids quit doing the problems when they get it, not when IXL says they’re proficient.
• John Hopkins Center for Talented Youth Online Programs
• Kakooma Fun math solution puzzles. (Also available at App store)
• KhanAcademy
• Legos for Learning
• Lets Play Math
• Living Math – A collection of links to math games, curriculum, articles and resources
• Manga Math
• Marcia Miller’s unschoolers Math website. Fun mathematical experiences and problem solving activities
• Martin Gardner Puzzles  (Online Puzzles)
• Math & Stuff Super cool math store in Seattle (and online) to find games, puzzles and books
• Math and Physics Courses for Homeschooled Kids – In Person or Online
• Math Blaster Free or Paid Online game
• Math Is Fun
• Mathcats.com
• MathTV
• MIT’s Open courseware
• The Museum of Math
• NeoK12
• Number Nut
• NPR Interview: Mom puts kids to bed with Math
• NRich Math – University of Cambridge Math enrichment site
• Number Theory – An Introduction from Great Courses
• Online Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences
• PhET – Free Interactive Simulations for Math and Science
• Quizlet
• Rocket Math for iPad or iPhone
• Saylor: SA: Mathematics
• Stanford – How to Learn Math for students
• Stanford – OpenEDX
• Statistics – Beginners Guide
• Statistics Videos – Learner.org
• Story of 1 – BBC documentary about the number one by Terry Jones
• Watch, Know, Learn
• Wolfrom Mathworld – Upper level Math. Open Culture Rec
• YouCubed
• Zeno Math – Math activities and toolbox http://zenomath.org/toolbox/

Math YouTube

• Alvin Hall on Maths and Shopping
• Art of Problem Solving
• Crewton Ramone
• Escher in 3-D
• Extraterrestrial Math – Lecture
• Fractals and Music
• Jaime Oliver’s Dream School – Maths
• Legos – Brickworld Chicago 2014 Convention
• Mathloger
• MathTV – Calculus
• MyWhyU
• Nature by Numbers
• Numberphile
• Paul Erdos – N is a Number  Documentary
• Pre-Algebra – Art of Problem Solving – Videos
• Singing Banana
• Socratica
• Socratica – Abstract Algebra
• Sum of Numbers 1-100 – AOPS video
• ViHart
• VSauce

Medicine

• Bacteria Vs. Higher Doses of Antibiotics – Scientists film bacteria’s maneuvers as they become impervious to drugs. Atlantic Article
• Crash Course – Anatomy and Physiology
• Jaime Oliver’s Dream School – Medicine/Surgery

Music

• 1000 Recordings Poetry and Music
• Alan Lomax Cultural Equity Sound recordings
• BBC World Music Listen Now!
• BBC Composer Listening Library – Radio 3
• Discovering Music Listening Notes – BBC Radio 3
• Fiddlehead – Online Fiddle instruction from Jason K.
• Fundamentals of Music – Great Courses (Not Free)
• How to Listen to and Understand great Music – Great Courses (not free)
• Intro to Classical Music – Coursera / Yale
• Keeping Score from SF Symphony
• Piano Nanny – Free online lessons for Piano
• Professor Carol – “Combining history, music theory, and behind-the-scenes dirt on the pieces and composers”
• SFSKids discover, listen, play, perform, conduct, compose
• Teaching the Violin & Viola – Coursera / Northwestern Univesity
• Yousician Learn to play Piano, Guitar, Ukulele, Bass

Music YouTube & Vimeo

• Arstidir
• Fiddlehed – Jason’s Fiddle Lessons
• Hoffman Academy – Piano
• Jaime Oliver’s Dream School – Jazzy B
• Justin Guitar
• Music Room with Howard Goodall – BBC Series
• Operas for Children – La Boehme

Paleontology

• The Paleontology Portal
• University of CA Museum of Palentology

Parkour FreeRunning, Movement, Art du Déplacement

• A Beginners Guide, Apex
• Chau Belle founders Yamakasi – ADD Academy
• Jereme Sanders
• MonkeeMoves
• Parkour Visions
• Rafe Kelley
• Ryan Ford
• Sturdy Made – Building Parkour Equipment
• Tempest Freerunning
• Yoann Leroux

Philosophy

• Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy – Zeno’s Paradoxes
• Teaching Children Philosophy
• Free Textbooks at Open Culture

Photography

• Free Digital Photography Course by Mark Levoy

Physics

• Basic Physics Course – Open 2 Study
• ck-12 Exploration Series –Who will make it to the Elevator first?
• Flipping Physics Videos
• Math and Physics Courses for Homeschooled Kids – In Person or Online
• Physics to Go
• Physics for Kids
• Sixty Symbols Videos about the symbols of physics and astronomy
• Tesla – Physics Comic Book, via Open culture

Physics YouTube

• Crash Course
• It’s Okay to be Smart – Physics
• Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell
• How Trains Turn
• Minute Physics
• MIT K-12 Videos
• The Wall of Death -Maut Ka Kuan

Psychology

• Pickpockets Psychology of personal space and misdirection

Science

• BrainPop
• BrainPopJr
• Building Projects for Kids
• Crazy Plant Shop (Science) $2.96/yr or play on Brainpop w/membership
• Explore Animal Live Cams
• Exploratorium
• Exploratorium TV
• Exploratoriam – List of online Resources
• NeoK12
• Ology Many science areas available. From the American Museum of Natural History
• PhET – Free Interactive Simulations for Math and Science
• RI Channel – Science lectures from Science Greats
• Student Science News

Science YouTube

• AsapScience
• CGP Grey
• Crash Course Kids
• Jaime Oliver’s Dream School – Science
• Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell
• The Life of Water by Unesco
• SciShow
• Smarter Everyday
• Veritasium

Technology / Coding / Programming

• Alice Computer Programming in 3-D Environment
• Arduino / Scratch Programming UI (ModKit Micro) Hardware
• Blocky
• Code.org
• CodeAcademy
• CompSci courses from great colleges via Open Culture
• Computer History Museum
• DARPA – Robotic Prosthetics controlled by brain interfaces
• Design a Satellite
• Gamestar Mechanic Design and Build your own game
• Google Code Academy
• Hackey Hack!
• KhanAcademy
• Lego Mindstorms
• MIT App Inventor
• Processing.org
• Program Games
• Python Free – for Desktop Application
• RaspberryPI.org
• Robotics Kits USC
• Ruby4Kids.com
• Scratch – Computer programming in 2-D environment
• Sparkfun.com
• Turtle Logo
• Vintage Tech online Museum
• Youth Digital – Coding, Design, Gaming (We found a good deal on Groupon, so check for coupons)

Technology Online

• Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell
• Made with Code
• Make
• Socratica – Learn Python

Travel

• Project Worldschool
• Semester at Sea

Typing

• Dance Mat Typing

Wood-building

• Cabaret Mechanical Theatre – Making
• Sturdy Made – Building Parkour Equipment

Writing

• Boom Writer
• NaNoWrimo
• Showme Interactive Whiteboard App
• StoryBird – Make your own stories and books
• Time 4 Writing – Essay Writing
• Writing Down the Days: 365 Creative Journaling Ideas for Young People by Lorraine M. Dahlstrom
• Writing Courses – Free through 10 Universities

Writing YouTube

• Shakespeare Sonnets