Things to Do While Sheltered In Place

Hello loyal JBRish readers, friends and fellow humans who have found their way to this web page. As we are working through trying and unusual times, someone sent me a list of resources covering a wide variety of interests and age groups. We hope you find several things on this list that interest you and help lighten the burden of sheltering in place.

NOTE – I do not know the origins of this list. If anyone can provide the appropriate originator, please leave a comment and I will provide proper annotation.

If you find a broken link in which you are interested, please leave a comment and I will try to fix it!


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Recently Added


Disclaimer: I cannot vouch for the quality or value of any of the links below. I am just passing information along in an effort to help others use their “shelter-in-place” time in a more interesting and perhaps rewarding manner. As always, let the buyer beware and your mileage may vary.

 

8 Online Art Classes That Will Keep Kids Creating

Hollywood Art Institute Photography Course & Certification via Hollywood Art Institute
Discounted 99% ($19) on the date of this post – 3/24/2020


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The San Diego Zoo has a website just for kids with amazing videos, activities, and games. Enjoy the tour!

Tour Yellowstone National Park!

Explore the surface of Mars on the Curiosity Rover.

✅This Canadian site FarmFood 360 offers 11 Virtual Tours of farms from minks, pigs, and cows, to apples and eggs.

Indoor Activities for pre-K – 1st

Play games and learn all about animals

Play with fave show characters and learn too

Travel to Paris, France to see amazing works of art at The Louvre with this virtual field trip.

This Virtual Tour of the Great Wall of China is beautiful and makes history come to life.

Math and Reading games

Phonics skills

✅The British Museum located in the heart of London allows virtual visitors to tour the Great Court and discover the ancient Rosetta Stone and Egyptian mummies.

Read, play games, and hang out with Dr. Seuss

300,000+ FREE printable worksheets from toddlers to teens

Geography and animals

Math practice from counting to algebra and geometry

Fave kids books read by famous people

Crafts, activities, mazes, dot to dot, etc.

Math and reading games

Math and language games

Hands on Elem science videos

Voice based learning… learn through Alexa

Fun games, recipes, crafts, activities

ClickSchooling brings you daily recommendations by email for entertaining websites that help your kids learn.

Math as a fun part of your daily family routine

Games to get “into the book”

Online history classes for all ages preteen through adults

Biology

Elem Math through 6th grade

Educational games K-12

Digital archive of history

Resources for Spanish practice

Chinese learning activities

Music is for everyone

Science, Math, Social Studies

Daily free science or cooking experiment to do at home.

Chemistry

Reading passages for grades 3-12, with reading comprehension and discussion questions.

Vocabulary, grammar, listening activities and games in Spanish, French, Italian, German, Portuguese, Korean, and Latin.

35,000 pages of online content on the cultures and countries of the world.

K-5th Science lessons

Tons of free classes from leading universities and companies

Free printable K-8 Reading and Math activity packs (available in English and Spanish)

Digital learning content for preschool through high school

Day-by-day projects to keep kids reading, thinking, and growing.

3 Free Weeks of Maker Stations to keep your children creating at home! Each challenge includes simple instructions using materials around the house, QR code video resources, and a student recording sheet.

Classes for older teens or adults – One free month of membership!

Online homeschool platform & curriculum for Pre-K to 12th grade. All main subjects are covered, plus extra curriculum courses.

Printable board games, activities and more for phonics and reading all using evidence-based methods. Can be customized to any student’s needs including creating flashcards for other subjects.

K-8 online math program that looks at how a student is solving problems to adjust accordingly and build a unique learning path for them.

Engaging reading game for grades 2-8 that combines strategy, engagement, and imaginative reading passages to create a fun, curriculum-aligned literacy game.

Foreign languages

Interactive video earth science based curriculum supplement.

A safe research site for elementary-level readers. They are offering — free 24/7 access
USERNAME: read (case sensitive)
PASSWORD: read (case sensitive)

✅Educational brain breaks to help students review essential literacy and math skills, while getting in some exercise. Find over 900 videos to help your child keep learning at home and burn off some extra energy. Our site is best used for ages 4-8.

Movement and mindfulness videos created by child development experts.

7,000 free videos in 13 subject areas

Carmen Sandiego videos, stories, and lessons for all subject areas

Math Videos with lessons, real life uses of math, famous actors

Entertaining & educational videos for all levels and subjects

Online education program for toddler through high school

Free Printables for PreK-2nd Grade

Free printables library with activities for children 0-6

Free at-home kids yoga lesson plans

Magic Spell is a carefully crafted spelling adventure.

Enter your math problem or search term, press the button, and they show you the step-by-step work and answer instantly. 2nd grade through college.

Elem Math games, logic puzzles and educational resources

Poetry and music

3D printing projects and Coding projects, involving math and other K-12 subjects

Introductory and intermediate music theory lessons, exercises, ear trainers, and calculators.

Scads of free resources, games, learning resources, and lesson plans for teaching personal finance

Improve your typing skills while competing in fast-paced races with up to 5 typers from around the world.

Illustrated recipes designed to help kids age 2-12 cook with their grown-ups. Recipes encourage culinary skills, literacy, math, and science.

Online curriculum that builds better writers.

80+ do at home science activities

Daily lessons and educational activities that kids can do on their own

Adaptive curriculum in Math and ELA for Grades K-8

Novel Effect makes storytime a little more fun for kids (and grown-ups too!) As you read out loud from print books (or ebooks!) music, sound effects, and character voices play at just the right moment, adjusting and responding to your voice.

Quick & easy at home projects curated for kids 2 and up

Teaches students how to write a paragraph through interactive online tutorial

PreK-12 digital media service with more than 30,000 learning materials

Curricular content hub specifically designed for K-3 students.

Science and math labs and simulations

Prodigies is a colorful music curriculum for kids 1-12 that will teach your kids how to play their first instrument, how to sing in tune & how to understand the language of music! 21 for free

Free videos from around the world from grade 3-12

QuaverMusic is offering free access to general music activities to all impacted schools, including free student access at-home

For students to practice and master whatever they are learning.

ReadWorks is an online resource of reading passages and lesson plans for students of all levels K-12.

Critical Thinking resources for K-6 students

Music Based Spanish Learning

Science simulations, scientist profiles, and other digital resources for middle school science and high school biology

The Shurley English program for grades K-8 provides a clear, logical, and concrete approach to language arts.

Sight reading and sight singing practice exercises.

Music practice transformed

Spellingcity is free right now with code VSCFree90

Kid-friendly workouts — choose from Strength for Kids, Agility for Kids, Flexibility and Balance for Kids, Warm-Up for Kids, Cooldown for Kids, Stand Up and Move for Kids, OR create your own custom kid workout.

A collection of hundreds of free K-12 STEM resources, from standalone models and simulations to short activities and week long sequences of curriculum materials.

✅Course sets (Levels 1–5) that combine and thoroughly cover phonics, reading, writing, spelling, literature, grammar, punctuation, art, and geography—all in one easy-to-use, beautiful course.

At home OT, PT, and ST resources designed to build skills in children through movement and play.

Science projects that can be completed with or without Internet access

Keyboarding practice OR

Next Generation Science video game focused on middle school where students directly engage in science phenomena as they solve problems.

Short videos and readings that answer various burning questions for students. There are vocabulary challenges and comprehension questions.

Math practice

K-5 curriculum that builds deep understanding and a love of learning math for all students

✅A quick start resource to help families pull together a plan for surviving the next 1-2 months at home with their kids, but it can also be a time of slowing down and enjoying kids as they learn.
Preschool through 8th grade

Spelling 1-4 grade

2,500+ online courses from top institutions

22 languages to learn

Learn to code

Miscellaneous games for all subjects k-8

Phonics and learning to read

PreK – 5 games for all subjects

Online digital coloring pages

Every course you could possibly want to homeschool preschool – 8

✅Every course you could possibly want to homeschool for high school

Phonics worksheets for kids

Free stories online ages 3-12

National Geographic Young Explorers is a magazine designed specifically for kindergarten and first grade students. Children can listen to the magazine being read to them as they follow along with the highlighted text.

Learn all about earthquakes

Learn all about the periodic table

Farmer’s almanac for kids… Date, weather, moon phase, etc.

Guide to gardening for kids

✅Website allows students to play basic games to reinforce math skills and compete against the computer or others

Space science for kiddos

Math Games, Logic Puzzles and Brain Builders

Games, quizzes and fact sheets take kids on a journey through time.

✅NGAkids interactives offer an entertaining and informative introduction to art and art history.

News and more for kids

Randomly generates 356,300,262,144 story starters

✅Immerse yourself in cryptography

Math games galore

✅Tons of science experiments that you can do at home

✅An interactive way to learn history

✅Just explore, have fun, and learn some science along the way.

Interactive games based on the book series

Work on the 8 parts of speech

Learn all about cells

All sorts of learning here if you dig in

✅Scratch draws students of all types into coding and lays a foundation for future learning.

✅A wonderful, endlessly detailed way to get kids engaged in the world of art.

Tests kids’ geography skills. Using images from Google’s Street View, it plops players down in the middle of the street and asks them to figure out where they are.

✅Allows students to type in any city, state, or country to view an archive of historical photographs and other documents. It’s a unique way to help them learn about history.

Short videos about numbers that help kids explore complex math topics and make math more fun.

✅A human visualization platform that allows students to explore the human body in really cool ways.

✅Helps kids learn to appreciate the arts by providing them with the opportunity to play games, conduct investigations, and explore different forms of art.

✅Lets kids play instruments online. Instruments include the guitar, piano, pan flute, drums, and bongos.

Crafts, activities, bulletin board designs, and finger plays for early education teachers and parents to use with kids.

✅A large selection of fun songs to help teach preschool and kindergarten students

Resource section includes free flashcards, coloring pages, worksheets, and other resources for children, teachers, and parents.

Life skills curriculum for students in grades K-12. Their resources include strategies for teaching social and emotional skills.

Coding for ages 4-10

✅No need to travel to one of the Smithsonian’s zoos or museums — this website brings your child everything from live video of the National Zoo to the Smithsonian Learning Lab right to their screen

✅Cool Kid Facts gives your child access to educational videos, pictures, quizzes, downloadable worksheets, and infographics. They can use these to learn about geography, history, science, animals, and even the human body.

✅This interactive website, hosted by the U.S. Government Publishing Office, allows your child to see the ins and outs of the U.S. government by taking a series of learning adventures with none other than Benjamin Franklin.

✅This NASA initiative covers a wide range of topics including weather, climate, atmosphere, water, energy, plants, and animals.

✅Ask Dr. Universe is a science-education project from Washington State University. Kids can send Dr. Universe any question they may have about history, geography, plants, animals, technology, engineering, math, culture, and more.

✅Your child can play games, learn fun facts, and find out how to turn coin collecting into a hobby.

✅From rainbows to tornadoes and winter storms to tsunamis, meteorologist Crystal Wicker breaks down the fascinating world of weather.

Kids Think Design explores careers in fashion design, graphic design, interior design, book design, product design, film and theatre, architecture, animation, and environmental design.

Brainscape offers over a million flashcard decks for every subject, entrance exam, and certification imaginable.

✅The Theta Music Trainer offers a series of online courses and games for ear training and music theory.

✅Banzai exposes students to real-world financial dilemmas to teach them the importance of smart money management.

Innerbody explores the 11 bodily systems in depth. With interactive models and detailed explanations, this website will help them learn more about the internal mechanics of the amazing human

Alcumus is specifically designed to provide high-performing students with a challenging curriculum appropriate to their abilities

Find and fix learning gaps

Fractions practice

Education for kids all topics

Math and logic problems for ages 5 and up to adult

Science podcasts to listen to with your kids

Alaskan Wildlife cams

Coding with Star Wars

Tons and tons and tons of games some learning some just fun

Crafts, projects, science, recipes for young children

Amphibian unit studies

 
Read more miscellaneous stories on JBRish HERE


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All original content on this blog is copyrighted by Jeffrey B. Ross with ALL Rights Reserved. While reference links back to JBRish.com are appreciated and encouraged, please acquire approval for any reproduction of original content from this website.

©Jeffrey B. Ross 2014 – 2020 — JBRish.com



Words Worth: SMONDAY

Neologism – A relatively recent or isolated term, word, or phrase that may be in the process of entering common use, but that has not yet been fully accepted into mainstream language. — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neologism


Smonday: The moment when Sunday stops feeling like  Sunday and the anxiety of Monday kicks in.

Smonday: The moment when Sunday stops feeling like Sunday
and the anxiety of Monday kicks in.”

 
Picture Via

 

If you enjoy language, wordplay, etc., check out other WordsWorth posts HERE.


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All original content on this blog is copyrighted by Jeffrey B. Ross with ALL Rights Reserved. While reference links back to JBRish.com are appreciated and encouraged, please acquire approval for any reproduction of original content from this website.

©Jeffrey B. Ross 2014 – 20120 – JBRish.com



Words Worth: Derivations – 20190905

Etymology is the study of word origins. I am often intrigued by the evolution of idioms. According to linguist Joy Levine, “There are approximately 25,000 idioms in the English language alone.”


Spilling the Beans

“To Spill the Beans”

Sources: Text, Background Photograph

If you enjoy language, wordplay, etc., check out other WordsWorth posts HERE.


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All original content on this blog is copyrighted by Jeffrey B. Ross with ALL Rights Reserved. While reference links back to JBRish.com are appreciated and encouraged, please acquire approval for any reproduction of original content from this website.

©Jeffrey B. Ross 2014 – 2019 – JBRish.com



Words Worth: Paraprosdokians – 20170724

I must admit that I am a punster. I enjoy a good pun and perhaps even a not-so-good pun and I am often the originator of puns much to the groans of my friends and relatives.

Since I find word play interesting and entertaining, I thought I would bring JBRish readers a few Paraprosdokians to “enjoy.”

A paraprosdokian is a form wordplay or literary device. It is a phrase or sentence that ends in an unexpected way which causes readers to reinterpret the opening phrase or sentence of a text. Often, it is used to create comic effect. Some paraprosdokians change the meaning of an initial phrase, and play on the double meanings of the words.

Simply put, a paraprosdokian is a linguistic U-turn that results in humor or surprise.

Source: Literary Devices and Terms

Today’s Paraprosdokians

 

  • Today a man knocked on my door and asked for a small donation towards the local swimming pool, so I gave him a bottle of water.
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  • Take my advice — I’m not using it.
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  • Hospitality is the art of making guests feel like they’re at home when you wish they were.
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  • Is it wrong that only one company makes the game Monopoly?
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  • I was going to give him a nasty look, but he already had one.
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If you enjoy language, wordplay, etc., check out other WordsWorth posts HERE.


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All original content on this blog is copyrighted by Jeffrey B. Ross with ALL Rights Reserved. While reference links back to JBRish.com are appreciated and encouraged, please acquire approval for any reproduction of original content from this website.

©Jeffrey B. Ross – 2017


Words Worth – PUN-ishment 20160514

pun; (noun)

“a joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that there are words that sound alike but have different meanings.”**

**https://www.google.com/#q=define+pun

At JBRIsh, which really is not gibberish, we enjoy a good pun as much as anyone and perhaps a bit more. Our readers, friends and others send them to us all the time. I thought it was about time that we shared those puns which we find most amusing. Of course your mileage may vary, but we do hope at least some of them bring a smile to your face. A good pun is a gem, but one that is not so good is just PUN-ishment!

 

  • No matter how much you push the envelope, it’ll still be stationery.
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  • Atheism is a non-prophet organization.
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  • Two hats were hanging on a hat rack in the hallway. One hat said to the other: ‘You stay here; I’ll go on a head.’
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  • A backward poet writes inverse.
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  • There was the person who sent ten puns to friends, with the hope that at least one of the puns would make them laugh. No pun in ten did.
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Do you have a favorite pun or a real groaner? If so, send it along in the comment section and perhaps it will make our most appreciated list!

 

JBRish.com originally published this post

See previous Words Worth entries HERE

Words Worth – English Can be Weird!

I have often heard it said that English is one of the most difficult languages to learn because the grammar rules have so many exceptions. As our Words Worth selection below also reveals, English provides a challenge to those learning how to spell correctly!

Yes, English can be weird. It can be understood through tough, thorough thought though.
“Yes, English can be weird. It can be understood through tough, thorough thought though.”

Do you have any short English examples we can include? Leave them in the comments below!

Via

 

JBRish.com originally published this post

See previous Words Worth entries HERE

The Job of Editing as a Grammar Referee

What publication are you reading if you see the following in print?

  • naïve
  • teen-ager
  • coöperate

Well, if you must know, it is The New Yorker

Mary Norris is the copy editor for The New Yorker and she has some rather interesting tidbits to share about editing, language, readers and writers.

Copy Editor Mary Norris

As an example, Ms. Norris pointed to the following sentence that appeared in the magazine:

“Last Tuesday, Sarah Palin, the pre-Trump embodiment of populist no-nothingism in the Republican Party, endorsed Trump.”

She was apparently raked over the coals, so-to-speak, for not catching the error [Did you?].

Mary Norris also quoted E.B. White’s comment about commas in The New Yorker: “They fall with the precision of knives outlining a body.”

If you enjoy exploring the English language in this way and learning about the process of editing, I urge you to watch this engaging presentation by Mary Morris via here TED talk.

You can watch the presentation HERE.

Mary Norris is author of Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen

 


While JBRish is pleased to write about Mary Norris and her TED talk, the original content is derived from the linked resources above.

See previous Words Worth entries HERE

English Anguish

I don’t declare that I am a grammar expert and I do have to look up certain grammar rules from time-to-time. The difference is that I take that extra step and do the research.

I am not an official member of the grammar police even though there are certain violations of English grammar rules that annoy me.

The proper use of then and than, the differences between two, two and too and of course…

 

XXXXXX
Via

are most disconcerting!

Many people are confused about when to use commas, but as you can see (below) it is even more confusing when they are not used.

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Via

Credit where credit is due. Even though JBRish is pleased to present the above as infotainment, it is not original to us. These were originally presented as part of a BuzzFeed post. You can see all of their grammar gift recommendations by clicking here: