Parents everywhere have quickly added another job title to their resume: homeschool teacher. For the littlest learners, finding activities that are engaging, high-quality, and educational can be challenging. Their attention spans are short. They require loads of supervision and help. Frustration mounts at any given moment and household patience is already thin. I offer you a parental time out you can feel good about: let children’s authors homeschool your kids. I’ve sourced the ten best children’s authors offering online homeschool content while the classroom is set up at the kitchen table.
Authors Read to Your Kids
Mac Barnett is the author of more than 40 children’s books including the Jack Book series. Mac’s Book Club Show features him reading one of his children’s books during the day followed by some fun activities. For your older learners, he hosts “Chapter Books After Dark” where he reads one chapter from one of his longer books at night. You can catch all of the episodes on the IGTV portion of his Instagram.
Dan Gutman is the author of a slew of children’s books including the My Weird School series. He hosts a read aloud series titled “My Weird-Read-A-Loud” every day at 2 p.m. Eastern time on his Facebook page and on his website.
Oliver Jeffers is author to some modern classics such as The Day the Crayons Quit. Jeffers is using his time at home to be “bored together” by reading one of his books to kids every day. He also discusses what went into making the books. Live readings happen on his Instagram page every day at 2 p.m. Eastern time. Videos of previous episodes can be binge watched on his website as well.
Melinda Long is the author of How I Became A Pirate and several more books for children. She’s providing great activities to go along with her books on her website paired with a read aloud video. As an added bonus, she has a series of tips for young and aspiring writers.
Laura Numeroff is the author of the beloved If You Give a Mouse a Cookie series and so many other children’s books. She is posting fun story times of her books and other educational experiences on her website.
Illustrators Teach Art
James Dean is the famed author of the Pete the Cat series. His Instagram page hosts The Pete the Cat Club each weekday at 1 p.m. Eastern time in stories. Dean reads from his books and also teaches kids how to draw the characters. The live shows are featured on stories for 24 hours, and some shortened episodes can be found on IGTV.
Peter H. Reynolds is the author and illustrator of The Dot and Ish. He has turned his Facebook page into a happy place for kids to learn about his writing and drawing processes. Also, be sure to check out his website for some more fun information about what it’s like being an author.
Mo Willems is the creative mind behind Elephant and Piggie and a slew of other wonderful children’s books. Willems produced three weeks’ worth of Lunch Doodle shows through the Kennedy Center website. He teaches how to draw his most popular characters, to be creative, and all about his process for writing a new book.
A Well-Rounded Education
Kate Messner is a former teacher and author of more than three dozen children’s books. She’s organized a ton of educational resources, including picture book read alouds, on her website for kids of all ages.
Dav Pilkey has an entire portion of the Scholastic website set aside for kids to learn with Captain Underpants and Dog Man. Each week features things to read, draw, and create from the author’s desk. There are even some fun, themed activities to bust boredom.
