I don't know about you, but I'm always looking for new tools to put in my educator's "toolbox"...great blogs, YouTube websites, wonderful stories or the latest technology that can make my teacher life easier. "Free School" is just such a tool; one that is great for teachers but is also meant for home schoolers or for parents in a remote learning situation. What is "Free School"? It's a YouTube website with short videos to teach your kids about "famous art, classical music, children's literature, and natural science in an age-appropriate and kid-accessible way." According to the last count there are approximately 265 videos, each under ten minutes and the variety is amazing! As a music teacher I like their biographies of classical composers, such as Beethoven and Mozart, but there are other types of videos I can utilize for my website or for in class learning as well, such as "The History of the Star-Spangled Banner" or "Spring from Vivaldi's Four Seasons". But what if you're not a music teacher? Well, if you teach science you might like their video about "Auroras" or if you're a math teacher you might find their video called, "An Intro to Angles" to be just what you need! Home schooling? Even better. There are videos about landmarks, animals, weather...the list goes on and on. In addition to the variety of videos that are available, I find that these selections are engaging and just the right length for most attention spans! If you're just looking for a certain subject, you might find the "Playlist" option to be most helpful! If you are an educator of ANY kind or just a parent who loves to explore fun, interesting and educational topics with your kids, I urge you check out this free website. I don't think you'll be disappointed. Here is the address: www.freeschool.com and below is an example for all you music teachers out there!
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As a parent of four, grandmother of two and long time music teacher, I have always been a big fan of wonderful story books. I am always looking for great pictures, good content and, for my music classes, books that are fun AND teach the subjects I want them to learn. While working on a website to deliver instruction during our recent remote learning period, I fell across a GREAT website for read-aloud books. It's called, "KidTimeStoryTime" on YouTube and I absolutely love it. In the words of it's founder this channel "brings books to life with puppets, humor, singing and even storytelling!" In my opinion, why re-invent the wheel when StoryTeller, Green Bear and friends are so fun and effective? Not to mention that the selection of books and especially MUSIC BOOKS is so varied! Instead of creating your own YouTube story read-alouds, you might find that "KidTimeStoryTime" helps your children or students to learn, laugh and smile all at the same time. Here is a sample... |