E-Tools for Kids: E-learning for Children Offers Online Courses and Curriculum for Free
Online Global Courses for All (5 out of 5)
Designed for teachers, parents and university personnel e-learning for kids is a quality, free online learning resource for kids. The online courses are for every grade from K-12. Students can use the online courses for review, fun, homework assistance. Teachers can use them for instructional time simply by using a white board or during small group instruction. Better than just getting some games for practice, these are entire courses.
The mission statement of the organization is to open the doors of education worldwide. Programs and courses are led and developed by qualified volunteer instructional designers from around the world and in the languages of English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Chinese, making it a true global resource for children to access from anywhere around the world. This allows for students from all over the world to participate in an online learning environment and therefore, prepare them for the future of e-learning.
Founder, Nick van Dam has a PhD and lives in the Netherlands, and has written a book called, The 25 Best Practices in Learning & Talent Development. The non-profit organization was founded in 2004. The biographies of the executive team of e-learning for kids is available on their website. As e-learning for kids provides more than just some free online games, but whole courses to teach students across academic areas, it justifiably deserves a review of excellence.
Courses to Try
Curriculum areas covered through the courses are:
- Math - skills to master are measurement, counting, estimating, factors, multiples, fractions, length, area, angles, averages, number sense, money, and sequence and patterns.
- Language Arts - letters, library, words, compound words, opposites, phonics (beginning sounds, digraphs), and story comprehension.
- Science - plants, photosynthesis, animals, earth, living things, animal homes, and fossils.
- Computer - Google search skills* and keyboarding skills
- Health and Life Skills - many to choose from, including body systems, teeth, sickness, and well-being.
- English Language - sentence structure, question and answer, story structure, and characters
Within each category there are an abundance of games/courses available across age levels. All of the courses are directive and interactive, allowing the students to interact with the computer characters. If you would like a description of each of the courses in-depth, then there is a PDF file available on the website for further review.
*One caveat- sometimes the Google Search Skills course works and sometimes it does not.
Get Involved with this Great Site
As e-learning for kids is a nonprofit organization, donations are accepted, so consider sponsoring this wonderful site and support their vision today! Quite honestly, most school districts would be willing to pay for courses like these in the classroom, why not use them for free and partner with this endeavor? There are many ways to become involved and can be viewed on their website; just navigate to the “Get Involved” section on the website.
References
- Source: Author experience using the courses
This post is part of the series: Computers for Primary Classrooms
In this series we look at the benefits of using computers to students, managing computer time, using the computer in the morning message, and share some good computer websites for primary students.
