Top Tips & Life Hacks - during the Coronavirus outbreak

Hey everyone! 😀 It’s no secret that the country is facing a really difficult time right now, with the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak. Times like these...

kiesha_p · 2020-03-18T15:09:07+00:00

Hey everyone! 😀 It’s no secret that the country is facing a really difficult time right now, with the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak. Times like these...

Top Tips & Life Hacks - during the Coronavirus outbreak

kath72

Tips on entertaining children at home

Schools are closing this week. And maybe you are worried that they may not give you enough resources to inspire your children to continue learning. Or you don’t think you are up to supporting that a level maths 😮

Here is a list of FREE online education resources compiled by home educators which will hopefully help at this difficult time. A lot of these are great for letting your kids learn while you work from home

Remember that 15 minutes of maths or language at home may actually achieve more than an hour in the classroom so theres plenty of time for board games and baking, family movies and memory making

The main advice though is that education at home does not have to look like school... Home Ed ‘uniform’ is often pyjamas and the school desk is more often the woods or a tent in the garden or upside down on the couch. Relax, enjoy family time de-school, de-stress and embrace the time together rather than fight it.

Khan Academy
https://www.khanacademy.org
Especially good for maths and computing for all ages but other subjects at Secondary level. Note this uses the U.S. grade system but it's mostly common material.

BBC Learning
http://www.bbc.co.uk/learning/coursesearch/
This site is old and no longer updated and yet there's so much still available, from language learning to BBC Bitesize for revision. No TV licence required except for content on BBC iPlayer.

Futurelearn
https://www.futurelearn.com
Free to access 100s of courses, only pay to upgrade if you need a certificate in your name (own account from age 14+ but younger learners can use a parent account).

Seneca
https://www.senecalearning.com
For those revising at GCSE or A level. Tons of free revision content. Paid access to higher level material.

Openlearn
https://www.open.edu/openlearn/
Free taster courses aimed at those considering Open University but everyone can access it. Adult level, but some e.g. nature and environment courses could well be of interest to young people.

Blockly
https://blockly.games
Learn computer programming skills - fun and free.

Scratch
https://scratch.mit.edu/explore/projects/games/
Creative computer programming

Ted Ed
https://ed.ted.com
All sorts of engaging educational videos

National Geographic Kids
https://www.natgeokids.com/uk/
Activities and quizzes for younger kids.

Duolingo
https://www.duolingo.com
Learn languages for free. Web or app.

Mystery Science
https://mysteryscience.com
Free science lessons

The Kids Should See This
https://thekidshouldseethis.com
Wide range of cool educational videos

Crash Course
https://thecrashcourse.com
You Tube videos on many subjects

Crash Course Kids
https://m.youtube.com/user/crashcoursekids
As above for a younger audience

Crest Awards
https://www.crestawards.org
Science awards you can complete from home.

iDEA Awards
https://idea.org.uk
Digital enterprise award scheme you can complete online.

Paw Print Badges
https://www.pawprintbadges.co.uk
Free challenge packs and other downloads. Many activities can be completed indoors. Badges cost but are optional.

Tinkercad
https://www.tinkercad.com
All kinds of making.

Prodigy Maths
https://www.prodigygame.com
Is in U.S. grades, but good for UK Primary age.

Cbeebies Radio
https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/radio
Listening activities for the younger ones.

Nature Detectives
https://naturedetectives.woodlandtrust.org.uk/naturedetectives/
A lot of these can be done in a garden, or if you can get to a remote forest location!

British Council
https://www.britishcouncil.org/school-resources/find
Resources for English language learning

Oxford Owl for Home
https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/
Lots of free resources for Primary age

Big History Project
https://www.bighistoryproject.com/home
Aimed at Secondary age. Multi disciplinary activities.

Geography Games
https://world-geography-games.com/world.html
Geography gaming!

Blue Peter Badges
https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/joinin/about-blue-peter-badges
If you have a stamp and a nearby post box.

The Artful Parent
https://www.facebook.com/artfulparent/
Good, free art activities linked to from this Facebook page

Red Ted Art
https://www.redtedart.com
Easy arts and crafts for little ones

The Imagination Tree
https://theimaginationtree.com
Creative art and craft activities for the very youngest.

Toy Theater
https://toytheater.com/
Educational online games

DK Find Out
https://www.dkfindout.com/uk/?fbclid=IwAR2wJdpSJSeITf4do6aPhff8A3tAktnmpaxqZbkgudD49l71ep8-sjXmrac
Activities and quizzes

Twinkl
https://www.twinkl.co.uk
This is more for printouts, and usually at a fee, but they are offering a month of free access to parents in the event of school closures.

riajoy

kath72 This is amazing Kath!! So helpful and i'm going to use these myself whilst I try juggle my 5 year old being off school and work life. Thank you!

frenchielove

kath72 that is fantastic! It is going to be really hard for some people that's for sure.

I am going to concentrate on my exercise and yoga to try to keep myself calm. I am also going to do a lot more knitting, might even get some jigsaws and I love reading so that will be a blessing.
I also shall be ringing my neighbours to make sure they are ok. Positivity is the key but it won't always be easy will it?

shabazmoqsud

kath72 wow so many useful links

thank you so much
much apprecriated.

barishna

kath72 amazing and useful post here is so many informative links

blackfive460

kiesha_p Tips on: Digesting the media

The media can be quite daunting at times like these. 😮 With endless articles, opinions and conversations being put out, at the same time. And it can be super hard to navigate it all. How do you deal with the information overload?

Daunting indeed, you are spot on there.
I find the best way is to choose one online source that you feel you can trust and stick with that.

In a situation like this there's a lot to be said for avoiding TV news programmes. You get a lot of opinions and speculation fired at you in a relatively short space of time so it can be extremely hard to take it all in and make sense of it. Having the news as something you can take your time reading allows you to get up to speed without being overwhelmed.

One thing I would definitely avoid are the tabloid newspapers. From headlines I've seen recentley some of them seem intent on fueling panic!

As it says on the front cover of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Don't panic...

harrrrrry

blackfive460 Don't panic

It should say that in big letters at the entrance to every supermarket, and again at both ends of every aisle.

shabazmoqsud

kiesha_p these tips are fantastic.
much apprecriated.

riajoy

frenchielove Good shout. Do you use any apps or websites for your yoga or mindfulness? Any tips?

richybhoy36

kiesha_p Hi great post !
It's a time for people to stick together and offer help to others where ever they can ! As it costs nothing to be nice to some1 ! I always try my best to be nice to people whenever I get the chance .

riajoy

richybhoy36 Well said, this community spirit needs to be stronger than ever right now.

frenchielove

riajoy I went to classes for years, so now, I have my own routine which never varies, however, there are some great lessons on you tube, and you can start at the beginner level. Also the same with meditation, it helps when you start to follow a lesson online, but now, I prefer to do my own thing.

kath72

How about taking a virtual museum tour from your sofa

https://www.travelandleisure.com/attractions/museums-galleries/museums-with-virtual-tours

formulaone

@kiesha_p

Awesome post 🙂 Thank you for this!

Wishing everyone on staying well throughout this difficult time! We'll all get through this together!

ray2

kiesha_pHi Kiesha brilliant post,some great idea's already 😄

Being at home with kids for long periods of time can be mentally and physically exhausting (we love our kids to bits 😉 ) but 24/7 for however long is daunting.

Sp what to do we do,firstly anyone with a garden get out there and have a rumage in your shed for any left over seeds bits of compost and pots, or a spare bit of land in the corner of your garden,get the kids digging or planting,helping out to tidy out the shed making it a game of who can fill their black bag the quickest.

secondly get the board games out ,make it a family affair and don't cheat kids arn't that stupid 🤣

As for excercise how about good old hide and seek,or follow mum and dad doing runs up and down the stairs 20 times,or a dance competition (god i'm crap at dancing but anything to keep the grandkids entertained 🤣 )

we can also enjoy pick a movie night putthe name of each persons choice of film in a cup,shake it and pick one,

We don't know how long this will go on,many of us i'm sure will have more grey hairs in the next 3 weeks than the past 20 -30yrs but if it will help save some lives then it's all worth it.

Take care everyone,be safe

cemor32

kiesha_p Great post! Staying connected with others is super important at this challenging time. This is where the internet comes into its own.

Forums like this are great for sharing ideas and contributing, which can help to generate a sense of social purpose, especially if someone is in isolation.

Working from home.

Working from hard can be challenging, particularly if you don't have a choice and you are new to it. My advice is to try to keep focussed, whilst remembering to take time out for breaks and exercise.

Take a walk at lunchtime around the garden, and get some fresh air. It's super important to keep your circulation going.

It might be an idea to make a to do list and update it everyday to keep things on track and make sure you don't fall behind.

It's important to make sure you keep in touch with colleagues and make sure that everyone is ok. You could form a work WhatsApp group, do a video call at lunchtime etc.

Make sure you keep each others spirits up and continue to work as a team.

The most important thing is to look after yourself, and each other. If someone goes quiet, be sure to check in on them and make sure that they are ok and coping well.

Remember, teamwork makes the dream work. Difficult situations can often build stronger bonds within teams. Stay safe everyone.

sha_shah1

Thanks for this thread and all usefull tips.

kath72

**Free books **

World Book Online are making over 3,000 ebooks and audiobooks available for free for children to access at home. They have books suitable for all ages. Click on the following link to access them.
https://worldbook.kitaboo.com/reader/worldbook/index.html?usertoken=Mjk5MzQ6MTpJUjA5MjAxNjoyOmNsaWVudDE2OTc6MTY5NzoyMjE2Mjg4OjE6MTU4NDM4MDExMzA2Mjp1cw==

of course there are also free books available to all through various apps and if you have amazon prime you’ll be able to access books, tv and music as part of the package

kiesha_p

Good morning you amazing people .. it’s lovely to see so many posts in this thread already 😄 🥰.. I’m going to take a read through them all properly shortly, but just wanted to say that you’ve all brightened my morning already. Keep it going everyone, ‘don’t panic’ (love this, @blackfive460) and stay positive xx

@kath72 @blackfive460 @sha_shah1 @french_fag @richybhoy36 @formulaone @ray2 @cemor32 😃🥰

kath72

Glasgow science centre bringing science to your home

From tomorrow, we'll be bringing a bit of science into your home every day at 10am to help keep everyone inspired in these challenging times.
Join us on our Facebook, Instagram and Twitter at 10am each day.
Ask us questions and let us know what you'd like to see! #GSCAtHome