Kids Home Schooling or need something to do during the pandemic?

If you need to keep the kids learning, or just entertained while waiting for the virus to sweep though the population, maybe a few of these open source tools can help to keep them off your back while you try to do your job from home? 🙂 You can tell them it’s my fault so they won’t hate you…

MATH

SpeedCrunch https://www.speedcrunch.org/

SpeedCrunch is a high-precision scientific calculator featuring a fast, keyboard-driven user interface. It is free and open-source software, licensed under the GPL.

Windows, OS X, Linux

Kig https://kde.org/applications/education/org.kde.kig

Kig is an interactive mathematics software for learning and teaching geometry. It allows to explore mathematical figures and concepts using the computer and also can serve as a drawing tool for mathematical figures. Constructions can be made with points, vectors, lines, and polygons and all elements can be modified directly by using the mouse. Kig helps teachers and students to make conjectures and to understand how to prove geometric theorems.

Linux

KBruch https://kde.org/applications/education/org.kde.kbruch

KBruch is a small program to practice calculating with fractions and percentages. Different exercises are provided for this purpose and you can use the learning mode to practice with fractions. The program checks the user’s input and gives feedback.

Linux

LANGUAGE

Parley https://kde.org/applications/education/org.kde.parley

Parley is a vocabulary trainer. It helps you to memorize your vocabulary, for example when you are trying to learn a foreign language. It supports many language specific features, but can be used for other learning tasks as well. It uses the spaced repetition learning method, which makes learning optimal. Vocabulary collections can be downloaded by “Get Hot New Stuff” or created with the built-in editor.

Linux

GEOGRAPHY

KGeography https://edu.kde.org/kgeography/

KGeography is a geography learning tool, which allows you to learn about the political divisions of some countries (divisions, capitals of those divisions and their associated flags if there are some).

Linux

CHEMISTRY

Kalzium https://kde.org/applications/education/org.kde.kalzium

Kalzium is a program that shows you the Periodic Table of Elements. You can use Kalzium to search for information about the elements or to learn facts about the periodic table. It provides an overview of the important data (like melting points, electron affinity, electron negativity, electron configuration, radii, mass, ionisation energy), an isotope table, and different colored views of the periodic table (separation of the different blocks, year simulator, temperature simulator). It contains tools to visualize the spectral lines of each element, a molecular weight calculator, a 3D molecule editor, and an equation solver for stoichiometric problems.

Linux

MUSIC

Minuet https://minuet.kde.org/

Music education Free Software, thoughtfully designed to push your musical skills to the next level. Enhance your ability to recognize intervals, chords, rhythms, and scales while enjoying all the power of Free Software.

Linux

PROGRAMMING

PLM https://people.irisa.fr/Martin.Quinson/Teaching/PLM/

The Programmer’s Learning Machine (PLM) is a free cross-platform programming exerciser. It lets you explore various concepts of programming through interactive challenges, that you can solve in either Java, Python or Scala (support for the C language is experimental).

Windows, OS X, Linux

ASTRONOMY

KStars https://kde.org/applications/education/org.kde.kstars

KStars is freely licensed, open source, cross-platform Astronomy Software by KDE. KStars provides an accurate graphical simulation of the night sky, from any location on Earth, at any date and time. The display includes up to 100 million stars, 13,000 deep-sky objects,all 8 planets, the Sun and Moon, and thousands of comets, asteroids, supernovae, and satellites.

Windows, Linux, Chrome\Android

Stellarium https://stellarium.org/en_GB/

Stellarium is a free open source planetarium for your computer. It shows a realistic sky in 3D, just like what you see with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope.

Windows, OS X, Linux

BRAIN TRAINING

gbrainy https://wiki.gnome.org/action/show/Apps/gbrainy?action=show&redirect=gbrainy

gbrainy is a brain teaser game and trainer to have fun and to keep your brain trained.

Linux

COMBINED ACTIVITIES

JClic https://clic.xtec.cat/legacy/en/jclic/

JClic is a platform for the creation, playing and evaluation of multimedia educational activities, developed in the Java platform.

Windows, OS X, Linux

GCompris https://gcompris.net/index-en.html

GCompris is a high quality educational software suite, including a large number of activities for children aged 2 to 10.

Windows, OS X & iOS, Linux, Android

Childsplay http://www.schoolsplay.org/

Childsplay is a fun and safe way to let young children use the computer and at the same time teach them a little math, letters of the alphabet, spelling, eye-hand coordination, etc. Childsplay can be used at home, kindergartens and pre-schools.

Windows, Linux