How do you keep a child busy at home? How do you make sure that one continues his education?

These are some of the most common questions parents are dealing with in this pandemic.

Thankfully, there are many websites offering activity pages you can download and print for a fee, but there are resources that are free, too.

We’re listing down some places where you can get learning materials for children ages 3 to 14.

Facebook groups offer great leads. Commons PH, formerly DepEd Commons, provides leads on where to get free learning materials. The group is managed by volunteer educators.

The group was “designed as direct solution to give access to online review materials and Open Educational Resources (OER) during class suspensions and other similar circumstances.”

Commons’ feed can be a little noisy. The group has over 1.2 million members, and parents are constantly asking other parents for materials. It’s become so loud that the page’s moderator disabled the “Write Post” option for members.

However, the group’s files are accessible—a treasure trove of worksheets, short stories and activity materials for grade schoolers.

The page will also lead you to other groups that can help you with your needs. Commons PH also manages the “Learning Materials and Print Services” Group, where people can find printing services in their area.

The going rate for black and white printing is P1-2 per page, and P3 per colored paper. A full color page is P5. Some online shops deliver for free if you live near them.

There are also FB groups for different grade levels, from kindergarten to grade 6. You can find those groups through Commons PH Tambayan online. Download different materials from DepEd Tambayan (https://depedtambayan.org) for free.

But if you want more than that, register and share your email address so the Google links for free resources can be sent to you. Some materials shared range from children’s audio books to typed short stories. There are PDF versions of books, and titles range from the classics such as “Don Quixote” to Filipino plays and short stories.

You can also download from the DepEd Tambayan website diagnostics, periodical and summative exams grouped according to grade levels. Exams at home? Why not? Lesson plans and study guides for parents and teachers are available.

Customized worksheets

For customized name worksheets, name-tracing worksheets are among the most requested printables by parents. You can visit the Create Printables (www.createprintables.com) website that allows you to customize name-tracing worksheets and download them as PDF for free.

Parents can choose between block and cursive print, and the number of times it can be repeated. The landscape orientation can fit really long names perfectly.

Free Montessori manuals are also online. Montessori Tube Academy’s Curriculum Manuals for Early Childhood and Elementary is free (originally priced at $100). They gave away their materials in response to the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Look for “6 Montessori Curriculum Manuals Bundle” (https://www.montessoritubeacademy.com/product-page/6-montessori-curriculum-manuals-bundle), cart it and at the checkout, use the coupon code: TOGETHER. The bundle will be sent to your email. You can get more free teaching materials if you register your email with them.

The bundle will ask you to use Montessori materials such as wooden cylinders and blocks, but they can be replaced with common household items. When counting, we replaced blocks with plastic eggs which our family has an abundance of. Don’t hesitate to improvise or make your materials.

The manuals require hands-on involvement from parents, but the instructions are clear and easy to follow. You just need the time to do it with them.

Finally, you can’t go out but you can still make your weekends special by going to virtual museums. The best virtual museums include the Van Gogh Museum, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Center and Nasa virtual tours.

There are local museums you can visit too like the Presidential Museum and Library, Ayala Museum and the Martial Law Museum. INQ