Leveling the Playing Field

Educational enrichment options for all budgets

This post is part of a series by @edpsychprof where I share edited highlights from my K12 guide to education along with additional thoughts and commentary.

Let’s face it: not all children have access to the same resources or financial support as others. Educational enrichment options can help level the playing field. Some children have disabilities or struggle with learning, and afterschool options or summer camps can provide them with the skills they need to keep up in school. Other children have trouble with social connections or have few friends; finding the right niche for them can make all the difference in helping them feel a sense of belonging. Some children don’t have access to sophisticated technology or great teachers; educational enrichment can help provide that. Educational enrichment also extends kids’ social networks, which are an important element in their future success, especially for students with less access to such networks.

Summer camps are one powerful to get kids connected to meaningful activities and develop social relationships, but online enrichment options have skyrocketed since the pandemic. Though these classes often lack the sense of shared community that face-to-face options provide, they are a fantastic resource to connect kids to enrichment options that are not available locally. Just as with camps, online enrichment serves a variety of student needs and interests, such as skill development, talent building, academic acceleration and remediation, and exploration. In this week’s post, I review various online enrichment opportunities and provide established websites for each, as well as the typical cost, including both free and paid options, for parents, teachers, tutors, coaches, and anyone who works with kids. The following are just a sample of offerings to give you an idea of the breadth of what is available.

1. General academic enrichment

• Khan Academy. Despite the popularity of Khan Academy’s approach to personalized learning, its self-paced video tutorial format isn’t a good fit for all kids, especially those who need more help and are less able to work independently. However, the Khan Academy website does help with skill building in particular areas via quizzes and video instruction. And though Khan is known for its math tutorials, there are also lessons on arts & humanities, English language arts, reading, computer programming, science, economics, life skills, and personal finance. Cost: Free

• Do It Yourself (DIY). The DIY website and app offer a variety of kid-friendly videos for ages 4 and up on various topics such as astronomy, chess, botany, history, leatherworking, storytelling, animal tracking, and more. DIY also hosts live online challenges where students share their projects with each other and get feedback on them. Cost: $$

• Typing. Keyboarding skills are important to our text-based world (at least until voice recognition gets better). Students can learn to type for free here . Cost: Free

2. STEM

• Art of Problem Solving (AoPS). AoPS is the opposite of Khan Academy: it is a fee-based provider of math instruction via online textbooks or online classes for middle and high school students. AoPS offers several options. One is a lower cost, self-paced online math text with solution key on different math grades and topics that students can work through independently or in a homeschooling or tutor format. Another option is their fully online, teacher-led, live online classes for students to advance their mathematical skills. Cost: varies

• The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The NASA website has resources about spaceflight, engineering, climate change, and so much more. Students can learn about robotics and 3D printing or create a postcard of themselves on Mars. Cost: Free.

• National Geographic Kids (NGK). NGK’s website offers science and nature videos plus student activities (https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/). They also offer lessons, such as how to make a stop motion movie. Cost: Free.

3. Creative Writing

• NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program. NaNoWriMo stands for the National Novel Writing Month, which takes place each November. The goal is to write the draft of a novel in one month. My son did this as part of a school challenge one year, writing a mystery short story from scratch. This is a fun, free resource for adults and older kids who like to write but need some direction and want to be part of a larger community of writers. Cost: Free

• Creative Writing. The Crafty Writer hosts a free site to provide instruction in creative writing, including writing prompts and information on getting published. It’s geared towards adults but is suitable for teens as well. Cost: Free

4. Arts and Crafts

• Online museums. Museums often host online resources for kids to explore their art collections. Try the Louvre, or my favorite art museum, the Met in NYC, or the National Gallery of Art, which has art and activities for kids to create art themselves. Cost: Free

• Crafts. There are a plethora of YouTube “how to” videos that teach all kinds of crafts. However, YouTube videos are of variable quality, and there many videos on there that are inappropriate for children. Instead, I recommend finding kid-friendly craft sites to bookmark on your child’s device. Here’s a sample to get started: for kids that want to learn to sew; knit, or draw. Cost: Free

• Cooking. One of my regrets in raising my boys was not teaching them how to cook. Of course, we baked cookies together when they were young and they helped me prepare meals, but I neglected to teach them practical cooking skills so they could eat a variety of home-cooked meals once they left our nest. Cooking videos are a great resource for kids to learn how to cook food they want to eat. Some helpful, kid-friendly websites include the Food Network or Cooking with Kids (with lessons in English and Spanish). Cost: Free

• Music. Music, like art, provides a healthy outlet for kids’ emotions as well as their creativity. There are many, many resources here, from apps like GarageBand where they can make high-quality digital recordings, to websites where they can learn about music appreciation and sample songs from other cultures. There are even websites and apps that can teach your child how to play an instrument. When I was learning to play bass guitar, I plugged my bass into my computer and practiced along with Rocksmith’s training software. There are even entire websites devoted to introducing students to an instrument. Cost: Varies

5. Online schools. Online schools are sprouting up all over the place. They are an option for students seeking academic classes to enrich their current school’s offerings. (Some can even serve as an entire virtual school for children, in lieu of their district school.) Note that online schools are constantly changing and being updated, and many are not accredited. For enrichment purposes, accreditation doesn’t matter unless your child wants to transfer the credits to another school. Some online schools are only open to students of a particular state. For academic enrichment purposes, online schools can provide high-quality content that can open your child’s mind to new areas of learning or help them build upon their existing knowledge and interests.

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Open Courseware. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology offers FREE classes, on traditional college-level subjects, so this might be a good resource for your ambitious high school or precocious middle school student seeking advanced knowledge. Cost: Free

• Virtual High School (VHS ): VHS is a nonprofit that offers online, accredited classes, including AP classes, for middle and high school students to supplement or enrich their current schooling. VHS classes are available at some schools, though parents may also sign their child up for these classes individually. Cost: $$$

• Stanford Pre-Collegiate Studies. Stanford offers pre-collegiate summer online (and in person) summer enrichment classes, such as their humanities institute, medical youth science program, and math circles) for K-12 students to advance their knowledge and skills. Summer enrichment, after-school, and high school diploma and college credit courses are offered. Cost: $$$

6. Computer programming/coding

• Code.org. Code.org is a fabulous nonprofit organization dedicated to getting more kids involved in coding, particularly underrepresented students, like girls and students of color. They also sponsor the annual Hour of Code event. Cost: Free

• Codecademy. Codecademy offers a variety of computer programming courses, from Python, JavaScript, and C++, to classes on web design, game development, and data visualization. Their basic lessons are free, but a membership provides real-world projects, complete courses, peer support, and step-by-step guidance, for a price. It’s still cheaper than programming camp though. Cost: $$.

7. Financial Literacy. Financial literacy is a much-needed skill for adults, yet many of us lack sufficient knowledge about the ins and outs of managing our finances. The same goes for teens. Financial literacy is not often taught in high schools, so enrichment in this area can be a real help to your teenager. Fortunately, there are a variety of free financial literacy programs out there. Some are offered via the aforementioned websites, such as Khan Academy. There are also free, dedicated websites aimed at teaching youth financial literacy, including:

• The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (FDIC) Money Smart for Young People. The FDIC website provides a series of lessons, aimed at teachers but usable by parents, for grades k-12 ().

• The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)’s Money as You Grow series. This website contains “money milestones” for parents to use to assess their child’s acquisition of age-appropriate money skills and knowledge, conversational speaking points to use when talking to your child about money, and other parent-friendly information

8. Entrepreneurship. With the popularity of TV shows like Shark Tank, kids are increasingly interested in becoming entrepreneurs, even at a young age. By high school, teens can begin earning income by starting their own business.

• Izzit.org has a series of free videos on everything from creating a business plan, marketing, and business ethics . Cost: Free

• Udemy offers various online classes with some targeted for youth. They have a Kidpreneurs class for kids ages 7-12. Cost: $$

• Warren Buffet’s Secret Millionaires Club. This animated series for younger children provides lessons on entrepreneurship in the context of a television series. Cost: Free

9. Nature Webcams. Children can learn about nature virtually by connecting to a live webcam of an animal or natural feature that interests them. Cost: Free.

Some popular webcams include:

• Monterey Bay Aquarium. Watch birds, turtles, sea otters, or even sharks at these live cams.

• San Diego Zoo. Watch hippos, koalas, owls, tigers, and other zoo animals live.

• Cornell Bird Cams. As an avid birder, I love watching the Cornell bird cams, especially of their very busy bird feeders.

10. Virtual Field Trips. I live in the south, and so I don’t get to see snow during the winter holidays. To help get us in the holiday spirit, my husband plays webcams of ski towns so we can watch the snow fall on our TV screens. And we don’t need to fly anywhere to get this experience! Virtual field trips can take your child to other states, and even countries, to explore life there. Cost: Free

• Freedom Home Schooling. A good place to start is on this homeschooling webpage where Sarah May lists a wide-ranging variety of sites providing virtual field trips for your child to explore.

• Discovery Education. Discovery Education presents a diverse list of sites to “visit,” from a behind-the-scenes trip to the presidential inauguration to a virtual visit to a dairy farm.

• Natural History museums. Museums of natural history hold a special place in my heart, ever since I was awestruck by the giant blue whale at the American Museum of Natural History in NYC. The Smithsonian also has a virtual tour.

• African Wildlife. If you are going to travel virtually, why not visit Africa without having to take a long flight? Africam.com has both recorded and live videos of African wildlife. Their nightcams are especially fascinating.

• Anywhere else! If there’s a specific place your kids want to visit, search the internet for a particular location and add the search term “live webcam” to see what is available in that area. A family favorite for us is a virtual field trip to Alaska each summer to watch the bears go salmon fishing.

Key: Free, $ (low cost); $$ (moderate cost); $$$ (expensive)

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Photo by Artem Kniaz on Unsplash

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Ok, what am I missing? Do you have any great online enrichment sites for k-12 students to add to this list?

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