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



Yellowstone and Bear Country



I recently returned from more than a week of hiking in Yellowstone National Park and all I can say is WOW! We hiked over seventy miles, but enjoyed every hard-earned inch. We are so lucky to live in a country that has such natural beauty in abundance.

Whenever I explain to other people that I hiked in Yellowstone one of the first topics to be raised is bears. Yes, Yellowstone has bears and by reading all the literature, posted warnings and sales pitches for bear spray one would think they were lurking around every corner. I am not making light of visiting areas in bear country. It needs to be a real concern and we did take it seriously, but not everyone sees the bears of Yellowstone when they visit the park.

My wife and I both had bear bells to make noise as we walked so we didn’t startle any bears in the vicinity. One thing worse than an unintended encounter with a bear is to startle a bear unexpectedly and have them feel threatened. Wearing bear bells sometimes brought snarky comments like: “I thought you were Santa Claus.” My retort would be: “Not Santa Claus, but no bear claws!”


Yes, Yellowstone has two types of bears. Grizzlies are more agrgessive than Black bears. – Picture courtesy of naturalunseenhazards.wordpress.com

All the hype does make one a bit paranoid, but I am not sure that is a bad thing. According to the National Park Service, over 100 million people have visited Yellowstone since 1980. During that time 38 people were injured by grizzly bears.

Here is an interesting breakdown according to their website Bear-Inflicted Human Injuries & Fatalities in Yellowstone

Type of Recreational Activity: Risk of Grizzly Bear Attack

  • Remain in developed areas, roadsides, and boardwalks: 1 in 25.1 million visits
  • Camp in roadside campgrounds: 1 in 22.8 million overnight stays
  • Camp in the backcountry: 1 in 1.4 million overnight stays
  • Travel in the backcountry: 1 in 232,000 person travel days
  • All park activities combined: 1 in 2.7 million visits

Also noted is that only eight people have been killed by bears in Yellowstone since 1872. To keep things in perspective, the website reminds visitors that more people have died from drowning, burns, etc.

We had two grizzly bear encounters in and near Yellowstone National Park. We were hiking along one of the paths around Ice Lake in Yellowstone returning to the parking area. Three hikers were hiking towards us and as they passed, they explained that a mother grizzly crossed in front of them with two adolescent cubs and they were going to hike around the lake to get back to their car. This was a significant, lengthy detour part of which was uphill along the roadway.



Picture courtesy of National Park Service

All the literature I read indicated that the chances of being attacked in a group of three or more was only two percent. I suggested to the group that we continue heading back toward the parking lot and risk a bear encounter since we were a larger group and had several canisters of bear spray between us.



Picture courtesy of National Park Service

We walked quickly, but deliberately toward the area near the road where the bears were spotted. We noted their tracks along the path. Apparently they didn’t like the debris in the wooded area any more than we did and they were walking along the relatively clear hiking path.

About one quarter mile from our cars, the three bears (not those three) were spotted about 300 feet ahead of us. The mother bear (very large!) stood up on her hind legs and spread her arms wide in an “it was this big” fashion. I estimate that she stood at least nine feet tall at that point. One of the rather large cubs also stood in the same fashion while the other remained on all fours looking our way. The bears were only there for a half-minute or so when they scampered into the woods.

It was very exciting indeed, but we were glad that we did not have a more intimate bear encounter. We made it to the cars without further ado. My only regret was that the action happened so fast I couldn’t get a picture.

Our second sighting a few days later was of a grizzly with three cubs along the Beartooth Highway near Beartooth Lake. We noticed a group of people along the side of the road, a certain giveaway that something interesting was happening, and we pulled over.

Sure enough, there was a group of three Grizzly bears about 450 feet downhill munching on a carcass that I assume was that of an elk. The speculation was that this was a mother with her cubs, but the bears all looked to be similarly sized…so who knows? The bears were more interested in eating than in what we were doing and since we were a lineup of more than a dozen people standing quite a bit away uphill, it was not a tense encounter.

Bears are large and they look fat, but don’t ever think you can outrun one and don’t for one minute think climbing up a tree is going to help. Read the placards above to see how to survive a bear encounter.

I am an enthusiastic amateur photographer. I enjoy wildlife, but I don’t have an expensive wildlife kit. The closest I come is my Canon SX50HS bridge camera that has a telephoto lens of approximately 600mm of reach. This isn’t the highest quality camera or lens, but I think you can get an idea of what we saw at the bear buffet along the Beartooth Highway.


group of grizzly bears


lone grizzly bear


two grizzlies bears


lone grizzly bear with carcass



After leaving Yellowstone, we stayed in Red Lodge, Montana one night and did some hiking along the Silver Run Plateau, Trail # 102, Loop #3 in the Custer Gallatin National Forest.

There were warnings there as well.



There’s a reason for all these signs. One shouldn’t be afraid, but it is important to take precautions and be aware. They refer to it as being “Bear Aware” and they aren’t kidding.

Yellowstone even uses celebrities to help impress the importance of bear safety upon visitors.



We now have bear encounter memories that will last forever and we are very happy that they turned out the way they did.

 

Read more Hiking and Exploration 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 – 2018 – JBRish.com



Birding with an Opportunistic & Occasional Birder

We recently spent ten days hiking the trails of Yellowstone National Park. This was a bucketlist item for us and we were thrilled to be able to check off this box. Although we are senior citizens, we logged more than seventy miles along the pathways and mountains of this beautiful and intriguing geographical area.

We were enjoying the beautiful meadows and wooded areas while hiking to Cascade Lake. There were bison in the area (more about that in a later post) and while photographing and admiring these large animals, I saw a silhouette of the bird below. At first it appeared mostly black.


Northern Harrier Hawk

I took several steps closer to get a better look and rather than a raven as I originally thought, I knew this was a falcon or a hawk. What I normally do in this situation is I take several pictures while moving a bit closer for each click of the shutter. In this way, I hope to capture shots that will enable me to identify the bird without chasing it away.


Northern Harrier Hawk

This was a very confident bird. As you can note, it was clearly perched in an open and perhaps vulnerable spot. As I moved a bit closer, it did not move on inch. The only change in posture was for this hawk to turn its head to look at me.

I always try to respect the animals I photograph by giving them plenty of room. I do not get very close because, after all, this is their home and I do not want to frighten them or change their behavior. I try to observe from a distance. I have a Canon bridge camera which does allow me to get fairly close with an equivalent 600mm lens.

After trying to identify this bird, I thought it might be a Harris Hawk, but as I normally do when I am unsure, I post a question in the Bird Identification forum on the BirdForum website. If you are interested in birding or bird identification, I cannot recommend this resource more highly. The members are very helpful in guiding novices to learn how to properly identify birds.

After making my guess and posting the three pictures from this post on the forum, I learned that this was a Northern Harrier Hawk and that the facial markings, referred to as a mask, is the clincher in this identification.

This was a bird that I had seen from a very far distance in Arizona, but I did not have a photograph of it. I was glad to add these photos to my birding collection. I now have seen and identified more than ten percent of all birds that visit North America some time during the year according to the American Birding Association (ABA).

Check out the BirdForum if you have in interest in birds and/or birding.


Northern Harrier Hawk

To read more JBRish.com posts about birding, click 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 – 2018 — JBRish.com