A Teacher’s Picks for Online Summer Ed

A Teacher’s Picks for Free Online Summer Learning

By Amy Guatelli

While earning their certification, all teachers master this mantra: Never work harder than your students! This holds true for parents as well. Instead of doing the heavy lifting to maintain learning gains over the summer break, leverage a free online learning system. Here are my picks for the best programs.

GENERAL EDUCATION

ABCmouse.com • abcmouse.com • ages: 2–8 The scoop: ABCmouse.com helps kids learn to read through phonics and teaches lessons in math, social studies, art, music and much more. Bonus: There’s also a version in Spanish.

Adventure Academy • adventureacademy.com • ages: 8–13 The scoop: Adventure Academy combines an elementary school curriculum with an interactive 3D world that provides the perfect environment for contextual learning and includes games and videos for language arts, math, science, social studies and more.

BrainPOP • brainpop.com • grades: K–8 The scoop: Engaging learning games, animated movies and activities boost your child’s achievement. BrainPOP makes rigorous learning experiences accessible and engaging for all.

AdaptedMind • adaptedmind.com • grades: K–6 The scoop: The K–6 curriculum is research-based, Common Core–aligned and comprehensive. It creates customized learning plans for students, leveraging more than 300,000 math problems and explanations as well as reading passages with comprehension questions.

Learning A–Z • learninga-z.com • grades: K–5 The scoop: Explore award-winning products to see how they empower teachers and equip students with the skills they need for literacy success in the classroom and beyond.

IXL • ixl.com • grades: pre-K–12+ The scoop: IXL is a personalized, comprehensive, immersive pre-K–12 learning experience trusted by educators and parents. More than 8 million students use IXL.

PBS Learning Media • pbslearningmedia.org • grades: pre-K–12 The scoop: PBS curates free, standards-aligned videos, interactive lessons, lesson plans and more. Khan Academy • khanacademy.org • grades: K–12+ The scoop: Khan Academy is a nonprofit with the mission to provide a free, world-class education to anyone, anywhere.

HippoCampus.org • hippocampus.org • grades: middle school–college The scoop: Free educational resources for math, science, social studies and the humanities.

READING

ReadWorks • readworks.org • grades: K–12 The scoop: Free content, curricula and tools to power teaching and learning from kindergarten through grade 12.

Nessy • nessy.com • ages: 6–11 The scoop: Nessy takes a different approach to teaching children with dyslexia. Through games, videos and worksheets, it helps rebuild lost confidence.

WRITING

NoRedInk • noredink.com • grades: K–12 The scoop: NoRedInk creates stronger writers by offering an interest-based curriculum, adaptive exercises and actionable data.

MATH

Prodigy • prodigygame.com • grades: 1–8 The scoop: This engaging, curriculum-aligned math platform is loved by over 50 million students, teachers and administrators. No cost, ever.

DreamBox Learning • dreambox.com • grades: K–12 The scoop: DreamBox Learning Math adapts to students’ actions to meet them at the right level. An engaging, game-like environment motivates students to persist, progress and achieve success.

SCIENCE

Mystery Science • mysteryscience.com • grades: K–5 The scoop: This very popular K–5 science curriculum offers “openand-go” lessons that inspire kids to love science!

LANGUAGE

Duolingo • duolingo.com • ages/grades: all The scoop: Earn points for correct answers, race against the clock and reach higher levels. Bite-size lessons are effective and addictive.

SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING

Everyday Speech • everydayspeech.com • grades: pre-K–12 The scoop: The only curricula you’ll ever need to teach social pragmatics or social-emotional learning skills. ■ Amy Guatelli has been a special education parent, volunteer, educator and consultant in King County for almost 20 years.