Wazzup Pilipinas!
Cost barriers shouldn’t prevent the children or students in your life from excelling and receiving the educational opportunities they deserve.
Many children struggle without access to supplemental learning opportunities like tutoring, educational software or more personal attention from working parents in terms of help with schoolwork.
Every child should have access to extra help and resources when they need it, and here are some ways they can find that help with no extra cost.
Free E-Books
Keeping up with reading can be pricey and cumbersome when having to buy or rent books. The library can fix the costly aspect and
e-books can fix the cumbersome aspect, but free e-books is a solution that can solve both.
Plenty of e-book platforms offer a variety of free options, many of these options including classics that can be beneficial both to overall reading comprehension and to academic achievement.
This resource, courtesy of Open Culture, makes it much easier to figure out which books are available and where you can find them. The list includes fiction, non-fiction and poetry, giving a well-rounded selection to choose from.
Supplemental reading can feel like a chore or an expense, but there is no reason that it shouldn’t be easy to access. Reading is excellent for personal development and educational opportunity, so making sure your child is well-read all the way through graduation is critical.
Educational Apps
Access to phone and computer apps has been one of the most time-saving innovations of the twenty-first century.
It probably comes as no surprise that there are
a number of educational apps available for phones, tablets and other devices your child may use.
The nature of an app is that it will seem fun and exciting to your child, so learning won’t feel like a chore or obligation. Resources like tutoring, libraries and extra help from teachers are excellent, but they could seem boring or tiring to your child in a way that games and digital programs do not.
One particularly great app from this list is Duolingo. Duolingo is one of the best free language resources out, teaching foreign languages in a manner that resembles genuine immersion.
There are tests to take before starting a language to determine what level your child or student is currently at, so this can help at any stage in the process of learning a language.
Educational apps can be found in virtually any subject your child may need help in. They can also serve as a way to keep your child’s interest in a subject they already love, helping to foster a positive environment for their passions.
Educational YouTube Channels
Many children are visual or auditory learners, so most students will benefit from educational
videos that can easily be found on YouTube.
These channels make their videos with children and learning in mind, breaking down even complex or detailed subjects and making them simpler, easier to understand and often even fun or entertaining.
An example of a well-known YouTube channel found on this list is Crash Course, a channel where brothers John and Hank Green make fun and easy-to-follow videos about a variety of subjects students may be struggling with.
They speak in a manner that is simplified, fun and easy to grasp, making topics that are usually accompanied by dry and serious lectures or documentaries much easier for kids to feel excited about and understand.
With a variety of different YouTubers to choose from, you can find the perfect type of video series for your child or student to help them better understand their lessons.
Free Language Lessons
Language is a critically important subject for any young student. It helps to prepare them for travel, communication with people from different backgrounds and so much more.
That said, foreign languages can be difficult for anyone to learn. It is much easier to pick up, however, if you start children with them early.
Whether your child is already learning a new language in school and could use supplemental help or they are ready to take on a new language independently, there are plenty of
free language lessons online for a variety of different languages.
By making sure a child is exposed to new languages early on, it is much easier to prepare them for high school, college and their adult life. Language lessons are an excellent resource for this reason!
Free Coding Websites
Though it isn’t a part of most traditional curriculums, coding is becoming an increasingly more important and relevant skill in the modern age.
Coding is a great way to not only expose your child to a very lucrative ability, but a great way to foster creativity, problem solving, communication and many other useful and common skills as well.
Since coding is not yet offered as a subject in most schools, this is something your child may need to look into outside of the classroom. Some coding classes and programs can be expensive, but there are many inexpensive and even
free coding websites and opportunities out there as well.
David Dodge of
CodaKid particularly stresses the importance of coding knowledge for any industry that may be in your child’s future:
"Computation is now such as big part of nearly every industry that it is mission critical that every student learns the language of computers as early as elementary school. Even students who don't end up as software developers will need to understand computational thinking and data science in order to function in most jobs in marketing, sales, customer service and operations. We need to do more."
In Summary
We all want to see our children and students thrive and reach their full potential, regardless of their socioeconomic status or ability to access to supplemental aid.
Free and flexible resources are perfect for students and parents who may be short on funds or free schedules. By using free e-books, apps, videos, lessons and websites to help your child get ahead, you can leave the stress behind.
For more great information and tips to help your child or student succeed, check out the
other useful resources on our website and
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A recent honors graduate of Florida State University with a degree in English, I have always been an avid and passionate writer. I have experience and skill in everything from creative writing to academic writing, with a particular love for poetry. My work has been published numerous times in places like the Tallahassee Democrat and USAToday. I worked as a freelance writer at a local student-run newspaper during college and received promotions to the positions of Arts & Culture Editor and Editor-in-Chief during my years there. Since graduating, I have been doing a great deal of freelance work as I search for a full-time position in PR, journalism, or stable content writing and editing positions.
- Tori Lutz
Ross is known as the Pambansang Blogger ng Pilipinas - An Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Professional by profession and a Social Media Evangelist by heart.
