This is just a collection of resources we’ve used. Steven is in Grade 5, so you’ll mostly find things for that age group, but some of it will work for lots of age groups. If you have anything to add, let me know! Most of the resources listed here are free, or at least temporarily free, but there are a couple paid things.
Letter of intent to homeschool template in Ontario, you’re required to send this to your school board every year if your child was previously enrolled in school and you are homeschooling.
General and multi-subject
Ontario Elementary School Curriculum Checklists (Grades 1-8)
This is where we started. We printed the curriculum for grade 5 and then went through each thing with Steven to see if he was familiar with it and see what we still needed to cover.
Daily Free Learning Workbooks (grades 1-6)
These are a lot of fun. Free printable workbooks that include games and puzzles to help with math, writing and reading.
Ways to use Lego in the classroom
If your kid is like mine, there’s a huge tub of lego somewhere in your house. These are some great ideas for using it to teach a bunch of different subjects.
Teaching Students How to Study
Free printable with study strategies. Steven put them in his binder, but they could be coloured and put up on a wall somewhere too as a reminder.
Teachers Pay Teachers
You’ll find a lot of the links below are to various specific resources on this site. Lots of high quality paid and free resources. You do need to make an account to download.
Dungeons and Dragons
Probably best for older kids (Steven’s been playing since he was 8 or so). This link will take you to the basic rules for the role playing game. There are so many resources available online now, it’s possible to play without much of an investment, but I highly recommend getting the books if this is something you intend to play frequently. It’s great for teaching Language Arts and Math and other subjects, I’m sure, but it’s also a great way to stay connected with friends during this time. Set up your phone/tablet/laptop and facetime or skype each other to play.
Hero Kids
This is my favourite tabletop roleplaying system for kids. It’s fun for all ages, but simple enough for younger kids, and comes with fun cartoon game pieces that can be printed and coloured. As with Dungeons and Dragons, there are a lot of pre-made adventures, but you can also easily write your own. There is a small cost (they deserve it for all the hard work that’s been put into this), but they currently have a Lockdown Bundle on sale for $6 that would be perfect to get started.
French
Who is it? Guess it!
An app similar to the old Guess Who board game. You can set the language to French and let your kid play to learn some simple french words used to describe people. I don’t see it on Android, but if you find it or something like it let me know.
Classic French Tales
This book is available for free until August 15, 2020. It’s an audiobook and a pdf (you can use it with the app or not) of some classic fairy tales. The audio is nice and slow and well enunciated. The text is in both French and English. We’ve been going paragraph by paragraph, following with the French, then reading the English, then re-reading the French on our own and then picking out a few words to ensure comprehension between the two.
Important French Phrases
Match the English to the French.
Weather Worksheets
Just linking to a search in Miss Luftman’s shop because I printed out a lot of her weather worksheets.
French Numbers Colouring Activity
Numbers 60 to 99.
Days and Months worksheet
Match the English to the French.
Feelings worksheet
Draw your own emojis for each emotion.
Colours worksheets
Matching French to English sheet with basic colours and colour by numbers in French.
Body parts
Worksheets and completed posters
Vocabulary Posters
I printed these 6 per page, removing ones that don’t really apply at home, and put them on the wall. They help make simple phrases to ask questions in French.
20 questions (in French)
Includes sheets of French question cards with English translations.
Math
Color-coded long division cheat sheet
Exactly what it says it is.
Homeschool Math (Grades 1-7)
I mostly use this site for the randomly generated math worksheets. It’s great if you just need a page or 20 of long division with an answer key. But there are lots of great math lessons too.
Prodigy (Grades 1-8)
Math learning in the form of an RPG on your tablet. Their website also has some useful teaching resources.
Long division cheat sheet
Free download, but you do need to sign up.
Lego and Minecraft in Math
Haven’t actually tried it yet, but seems like a great way to get kids interested in math.
10 Hands-on strategies for teaching Area and Perimeter
Lots of good ideas here.
Lego Perimeter and Area worksheet
Perimeter, Area and Volume Cheat Sheet
Island Conquer (Perimeter and Area game)
2 Player game to practice perimeter and area, good for grades 3-5.
Dice Game for Area and Perimeter
Could probably use any dice… we have lots of dice. It also says to roll 2, but I bet you could roll more and make complex shapes for a challenge.
Minecraft Area and Perimeter Project
Costs $2, but looks worth it. Could probably easily be made to include volume for older kids.
Social Studies
Complete Grade 5 Ontario Social Studies Inquiry-Based Unit ($10)
This was a part of the grade 5 curriculum that we found daunting. Pre-1713 Canadian history? Indigenous nations? European settlement? There’s so much there. We were glad to find this unit and happy to support the teacher who made it.
Art
Reduction PrintMaking
We’re going to try this with paint because actual printmaking supplies are expensive and somehow not something that ever got added to my craft room, though I have done printmaking. Follow the blog, I’ll post how it goes.
Language Arts
If I was a bird…
This is a project I came up with, based on an art project I found on a teacher’s blog. It’s art and language rolled into one. Feel free to print it out and use it yourself.
Dictionary Detectives
Worksheets to practice using a dictionary.
Penmanship Paper
Steven’s handwriting is horrible. So I printed out a bunch of these pages for him to use instead of regular lined paper, and I wrote out the alphabet on them so he had a reference if needed.
Trace Me Handwriting Font
A font you can use to write pages intended for kids to trace to practice handwriting. Not sure if we’ll use it, but thought someone might find it useful.
Pokemon Themed Handwriting Sheets
Eeeveelutions
Other Pokemon
Science
Kids Health
This site is a great resource for kids and parents. It has some easy to understand explanations of the body and its systems, some mental health stuff and some cute animated videos too.
DIY Heart Model
Build your own model to illustrate how the heart works.
DIY Lung Model
Build your own lung model to illustrate how the lungs work.
Physical Education
The Yoga Collective ($30/year)
Not specifically made for kids, but I already had a subscription so I just went back to the beginner lessons and had Steven do them with me. For younger kids, you might want to look for something made for kids.YouTube videos we’ve used:
YouTube Cardio videos:
Family Fun Cardio Workout
Kids Circuit Workout