Together Time. On and offline.
Creative experiences to motivate children to be lifelong learners, express their creativity, think critically, spread positivity, be well, and just plain have fun!
OVERVIEW
Fun, free, mini-courses and content for kids
We have created this site with parents, educators, preschoolers, and elementary school students in mind. We have posted some of our successful courses, such as the free ABC Signs Program (ASL), and expanded the original, free Mathlibs content. We’re also regularly posting more fun free stuff in our Fun Feed.
Founded in the 1990s, kidCourses started as a New York-based initiative offering live courses exclusively within the state. Our standout program, the ABC Signs Program, brought the joys of sign language to preschoolers on Long Island at no cost. Interestingly, when we sought to volunteer our services at a local library, we were told "We don't accept volunteers, we need to pay you."
For Jessika, the experience was doubly rewarding. As a mom, she could earn while involving her young children in a positive educational setting. Our core mission has been consistent—to motivate children toward lifelong learning, cultivate creativity, and emphasize the importance of positivity and enjoyment in the education process.
In the intervening years, life happened. The kids grew up, and a move to the West Coast initiated a hiatus from live courses. However, we've adapted by digitizing our content and are pleased to introduce the new kidCourses.com. Here, we continue to offer quality resources like MathLibs®, which has gained recognition from esteemed organizations such as PBSTeachers and the NCTM.
We invite your feedback and are open to suggestions for future offerings.
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Healthy, happy kids!
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A New Favorite: Pyramid Sum Puzzles
I love any activity in math, but what do I love more? Trying out a NEW activity! It adds to the activity toolkit and keeps things fresh for not only students, but for the teacher as well. My students were always fond of my Math Libs, coloring activities, scavenger hunts, task cards […]
Lessons on the Principles of Design
Check out our lessons on Principles of Design for kids. Each of these has a suggested activity. Unity Balance Emphasis Hierarchy Scale and Proportion (also see Rule of Thirds) Similarity & Contrast Lessons on Principles of Design Activities List: Emphasis with Color Kaleidoscope - Symmetry and Balance Pieces of Your Heart - […]
Alternative End of Year Review Activities
How do you review at the end of the year? I typically use review packets with mini-quizzes to help my students prepare for testing. I find that this helps chunk the material and gives students a chance to master each a set of topics before moving on to the next. […]
Euphemisms and Dysphemisms
People use euphemisms and dysphemisms to enhance what they really mean or to avoid directly saying something nasty about a person, place or idea. These terms give you an easier way to talk about something you find very scary or very embarrassing and let you lighten discussions that are disturbing […]
Color Coding with Rational Expressions
Rational expressions is the very last unit that I used to teach after the state assessment in June. It was a great unit because it tied together so many concepts taught throughout the year. And, any time you can insert more practice with factoring is a win! The first few […]
Visual Rhetoric
Visual rhetoric communicates themes and ideas through images, color and text style. Art, display ads and web pages can all convey visual rhetoric. It is similar to spoken or written rhetoric in its use of specific conventions to communicate, convince, caution or critique. It can be: • Informational to educate […]
Group and Individual Writing Game to Encourage Creativity
One of the things that many parents struggle with is teaching their children to love writing and to associate it with fun rather than being something that they are forced to do. The best way to do this is to create an atmosphere in which writing is a game, and […]
Absolute Inequalities “KISS” Method
There are certain topics that some students REALLY struggle with, and for me, that was absolute value inequalities. I tried teaching my students the standard method of setting up greater than or greater than or equal to as "or" problems and less than or less than or equal problems as "and" problems, […]
Addressing Bullying With Children
by freelancer Gemma Bond Statistics show that 3.2 million American students are victims of bullying each year. While for some it will be a mild or isolated incident, for others it can be a prolonged period of fear and anxiety that can dent their confidence and leave them with permanent […]
Coding for Kids
Have you ever thought about getting your kids into coding? It may sound impossible, but the truth is coding is like anything else in life: you don’t have to be an expert at it to learn something. In this day and age, many children are being exposed to multiple hours […]
Spicing up the Secondary Math Classroom: #5 – Math Libs
This is the fifth post in a series I created called “Spicing up the Secondary Classroom.” The focus of this post is my very popular Math Libs! But these Math Libs are very different than the sweet ones you find here on KidCourses. They are designed for upper level students (grades […]
Introducing the Secondary Mathletes
Ever notice that the internet is flooded with elementary math ideas, but that finding quality secondary materials is virtually impossible.... LOOK NO FURTHER! I'd love to introduce you to the Secondary Mathletes! Live.Love.Math - Danielle Krantz (Grades 5 - 9) TpT Store / Blog / Facebook Lindsay Perro (Grades 6 - 9) TpT Store / Blog / Facebook […]
Principles of Design: Similarity and Contrast
Similarity and contrast are two tools that a designer uses to attract viewers and shape how they their perceive the design. By using similar colors, shapes and sizes of objects, the artist suggests they are alike. This similarity gives cohesion and a sense of completeness to the design. Elements that […]
Graph Paper as a Math Accommodation
My name is Nicole Chavanne and I am a 5th grade special education teacher in an inclusion classroom. I also run a store on Teachers Pay Teachers and a teacher blog. As a special education teacher, I work with a lot of kiddos with tracking issues that impact their reading, […]
Holiday Freebie FUN!
Who doesn't love the holidays AND freebies? Now that Thanksgiving is over and there are just a few short weeks left before winter break, keeping students engaged can be a giant struggle. I've found that short stations or centers activities really work well to keep students on-task and learning because of […]
Pop Art – The Perfect At-Home Art Project!
I collaborate quite a bit with my friend Jenny from Art by Jenny K and am OBSESSED with her pop art designs! Not only do I use them for math activities in my classroom, but I've also found that they work perfect for home projects with my own boys. Especially around […]
Hands-On Typography Intro
Typography: The Art of Letters If you enjoy experimenting with type styles, you are probably interested in typography. A centuries-old creative art, typography is the arrangement of lettering on a page and includes: Selecting typefaces, fonts or lettering styles Choosing lettering sizes Line spacing Letter spacing Color Typefaces, Fonts […]
7 Step Positive & Negative Space Art Project
Positive and Negative Space Art Lesson Today we'll turn to Pixlr to create a cool and easy digital Positive & Negative Space project. You can use the same image we did, or you can use your own. 1. Choose Your Image Right-click and save this image if you would like to […]
Put a “Spin” on Centers!
My name is Nicole Chavanne and I am a 5th grade special education teacher in an inclusion classroom. I also run a store on Teachers Pay Teachers and a teacher blog. As a special education teacher, I am always working with groups with varying needs. I set out to create a […]
9 Examples of Rhetorical Slanters
Slanters are the bells and whistles, the devices that praise, censure, downplay, obscure, or distract. They are words that are used to convince on an emotional, rather than logical, level. Words like good, tasty, and vibrant are positive slanters while words such as bad, sour, and dull are negative slanters. Using […]
Positive and Negative Space
What is Positive and Negative Space? As an element of art, space includes the background, foreground and middle ground. It also refers to the areas around, between and within the forms, shapes, colors and lines that compose the work. Positive and negative space in arts and crafts can be tricky, or they can be (truly) […]
How to Fact Check
Wondering how to Fact Check? For works that are purportedly “non-fiction,” how do we know what we are reading, hearing, or seeing is true? Fact checkers have the job of conducting quick and accurate research to weigh in on the truthfulness of a work. Do journalists always fact check? How […]
How to Deal with Eating Disorders in Children
by freelancer Gemma Bond How to Deal with Eating Disorders in Children Childhood should be a happy time of every person’s life, an age when the trials and tribulations of the real world are far away, a time when the daily concerns that plague many adults have yet to present […]
Spicing up the Secondary Math Classroom: #3 – Triples Activities
This is the third post in a series I created called “Spicing up the Secondary Classroom.” The focus of this post is a task card activity I created called "Triples." I am a huge fan of task cards because they are so versatile and really help divide up the material for the […]
TpT Back to School eBooks
If you're not already back to school, chances are, you're about to start! This past summer, I collaborated with a few other sellers on TpT to compile these Back to School eBooks. Sellers designed pages and submitted them to be included in the book. Chock-full of tips, freebies, and many other resources, they […]
When am I ever going to use this?
Yup, that's right. The dreaded question that math teachers will face a countless number of times in their teaching career. Especially secondary math teachers like myself! And I can't tell you how many times I've seen this image come up on my Facebook or Pinterest feed: So not only are […]
Warm-Ups: Can’t Live without Them!
I recently got a question on my TpT page asking about some of my classroom routines. One thing she asked about specifically was warm-ups. After responding, I thought this was a terrific topic to share here, especially because it's the summer and this is the time I reflect on […]
Social Emotional Learning – Moving Past “Difficult”
I haven't intentionally been keeping a secret, but I feel as though am imparting one to you now. I can't tell you how many times I've offered guidance that ended in the proclamation "You're a genius" or saw a panel of interviewers' eyes light up when they heard my answer […]
Who Doesn’t Love a good Graphic Organizer?
I know I do! Whenever I'm feeling like I am covering lots of material with my students and see them struggle to see the connections, I know a graphic organizer will help them immensely. I use graphic organizers in almost every unit. I mainly use a chart or web design, and […]
Summer = Pinterest Time!
The school year is winding down for me with only 10 school days remaining. But for some of you, you may already be done and sitting poolside! As you should- we all know how hard teachers work and how well deserved the summer break is. With 10 weeks off, I find […]
Creative Writing Activity: Fish Out of Water
A plot based on the fish out of water scenario follows a character who steps into a situation, community or lifestyle that is totally different from his or her customary environment. The move may be voluntary, as in the story of Orpheus, who deliberately journeys to Hades to rescue his […]
TpT ♥’s Teachers Sale!
As some of you may know, I have been a seller on TeachersPayTeachers.com for about a year and a half. A good friend of mine showed me the site and said I should really check it out. It has turned out to be one of the best experiences of my teaching career. […]
Mother’s Day Card Creation – Heart Stampede
For this Card Craft, Heart Stampede, we will use the center of a paper towel roll to stampede a piece of card stock with colorful hearts! Mother's Day Link Up
Your Character’s Internal Need Versus External Goals
When you write a story, creating three-dimensional characters can be a challenge. You may choose unique, evocative names for your characters and provide detailed physical descriptions of each, but you must instill them with human qualities to truly bring them to life. Your readers identify with characters that have human […]
Spicing up the Secondary Math Classroom: #1 – Find Someone Who!
First, thank you to the crew at kidCourses.com for my warm welcome last week! I'm super excited to be a regular contributor, and hope to share some ideas to spice up your math class, especially at the secondary level. After teaching 8th graders for the past 8 years, I know […]
Introducing Gina Wilson of All Things Algebra
...I've found if you really engage students and motivate them to succeed, little successes turn into big successes. All students need to know that they can and will succeed. We have some exciting news to share: Gina Wilson of All Things Algebra will be teaming up with us and joining us as […]
Creative Writing for Kids: The Seven Basic Plots
In 2004, Christopher Booker published The Seven Basic Plots—Why We Tell Stories, an iconic book that was 34 years in the making. In it, Booker identifies seven common story lines that he believes encompass the plots of virtually all of the stories ever written. Conventional stories share an underlying structure […]
The 5 Canons of Rhetoric
The Five Canons of Rhetoric In classical rhetoric, five basic principles form the bones of rhetorical speech, and encompass a system for crafting powerful speeches. Note that most of these canons apply to the written word as well. 1. Invention (develop and define your arguments) 2. Disposition (organize your arguments) 3. Style (determine your figures […]
Math and Art: Sun Triangle – Did You Know?
Please remember that you should not look directly at the sun! (Wiki Answer as to why this is) I was a New Yorker for a long time before I found out this fun fact! The sunken courtyard of the McGraw Hill building in NYC contains a large metal triangle which […]
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