A lot of things have changed since COVID-19 entered the Philippines. In the first few days, it felt like the world stopped. My kids’ schools ended their classes abruptly. My husband suddenly couldn’t come home. And we weren’t allowed to leave the house.
But, we all knew we had to keep moving forward.
Our family coped by making use of technology to have a sense of normalcy. We turned to the internet for learning new hobbies: cooking, gardening, arts. We kept ourselves connected with each other through video calls. And the kids’ learning continued through online classes. We’ve been quite productive!
Now, I know that parents are now expected to be even more proactive in their children’s learning. But, I also know that this can be a challenge. It’s okay to ask for help! So for subjects that we find challenging to teach ourselves, we’ve turned to e-learning for kids.
Here are Resources For e-learning for kids that we discovered:
Wika’y Galing – If your child is struggling in Filipino, this online class is something that can really help. Wika’y Galing makes learning the language fun and interesting through books, videos, and interactive sessions with teachers and classmates. Classes with teachers are held via Google Meet twice a week and students get access to the WG portal where they can read books inside the online library and answer worksheets.
Kelly tried the program for a month and I already saw improvement in her written and oral Filipino. She also developed a deeper interest in the Filipino language and culture, which is great because we weren’t able to instill that interest early on. (Our bad!)
At first, Kelly was hesitant to join the program. However, after her first online class with them, I was surprised to see her eagerly prepare her learning materials every day. Sometimes, I would even forget she had classes scheduled and she would remind me about them so she can borrow my laptop. Truly, this program is highly recommended.
GILAS (Group Interactive Learning Advancement Sessions) – GILAS, which is also under The Learning Library, is an online tutorial program for Grades 3 to 8. They offer classes in Math, Science, Language, and Araling Panlipunan. We haven’t personally tried this, but after our experience with Wika’y Galing, this looks like something we’ll be using as well.
Outschool – E-learning for kids doesn’t have to be just about the subjects they’re learning in school. With Outschool, kids get to join unique and fun online classes by teachers from all over the world. They have super cool classes like Mythology, Baking, Marine Biology, Yoga, and so much more!
What’s super fun is that they get to interact with students from all over the world. Who says e-learning will kill kids’ social life, right?!
ABCmouse – This website has over 9,000 activities to keep your little one engaged and learning from home. The activities are made for kids between 2 to 8 years old, which is great since most of the e-learning programs I’ve seen so far are for older kids. So for preschoolers and lower elementary levels, this is a great resource for e-learning.
TEDEd – I’m sure you know TEDTalks. TEDEd is the same, except it’s geared towards students through their engaging learning library from teachers all over the world. The platform now has over 250,000 global network of teachers creating content for students.
Exploratorium – Do you have a little scientist in your home? Exploratorium is an excellent e-learning resource for science lovers with their vast digital library and DIY projects.
Duolingo – I would say that one of the best things I did when I was in school was to learn languages. I learned Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian, all of which helped me when I went to Europe in 2010. Knowing these languages also helped me connect with more people! So, if you want your kids to learn a language (or two… or three…), Duolingo is a great place to start.
They say that we’ll be entering a new world when we get out of this pandemic. I think that’s true. While we wait for the Earth to heal itself, let’s continue to keep our children’s minds learning – even if it’s from home.
What are your favorite resources for e-learning for kids? Share it in the comments section below!