Useful Online Resources For Home Schooling

If you pop over here regularly then you know we home school our children. We have been doing so for almost 5 years and was the best decision we ever made. Now that school children are being temporarily home schooled I thought now was the perfect time to share some resources that will hopefully come in useful for your children!

So in no particular order –

Twinkl

If you are currently having to homeschool your child then chances are you have already discovered Twinkl! We use Twinkl for lots for our home ed learning. They have some fantastic resources and activities that you can print straight off and use. They are currently offering their services for free while we are all staying safe at home.

60 Second Histories

60 Second Histories is a paid resource. That said, There are 50 free to view videos and they also offer a two-week free trial if you wanted to see more. Although at just £25 per year for a parent or home educator, I feel that it is really good value. There are over 300 videos on the site. All of the videos are broken down int bitesize chunks so learning is never boring. The videos are fun and are easily absorbed by all ages. The site covers all ages from KS1 up to KS4.  I find it great for introducing new eras in our history lessons or for recapping at the end.

TES

There are tons of good resources on TES, although some are chargeable, you can still find free bits and bobs. TES is resources made and published by teachers for other teachers and home educators. Most of the resources closely follow the national curriculum so it is good if you are looking for something that is course-specific. They currently have a home learning section that includes lesson plans, workbooks, activities and worksheets for all levels from early years through to G.C.S.E and all of these resources are free to use.

Reading Eggs & Mathseeds

Reading Eggs, along with Mathseeds are another paid resource. The plans currently run from £6.99 per month or £47.95 for a 12 month period. There is however a free trial to see if you like it before you have to pay. Reading Eggs helps children learn literacy skills through online lessons, activities and accompanying books. Mathseeds is the same service but for maths. Our children love how the lessons are presented and really look forward to learning with

BBC Terrific Scientific

Terrific Scientific is a free to use service from the BBC.  It is obviously based around the sciences and has online games, investigations, activities and quizzes to support the national curriculum. There are loads of experiment plans and the equipment that you need is usually things that you will have lying around the house.

Duolingo

Duolingo is a free to use language platform that allows you to take 94 courses n 23 different languages. There is an app for iOS and Android and the service is completely free to use. There are adverts placed throughout the courses and you can pay to remove these adverts through Duolingo plus, but this is entirely up to you. The lessons are all bite-sized and the little quiz at the end of each course gives instant answers.

BBC Bitesize

Bitesize is BBC’s free to use study companion. There are games, videos and various other well-written resources. Up until recently, it has been archived with many resources not being updated. However, in light of the school closures, they are adding more and more each day. From April 2020 they will be hosting a daily lesson in core subjects such as maths and English.

Tutor House

Tutor House offers personalised tutoring. You can find the perfect tutor by browsing their online database of education experts. You can filter results by subject, level, location and price by using the navigation bar. This is not only perfect for homeschooling but for students who are studying for exams and would benefit from that little extra support.

Literacy Shed

This is a free to use resource that is aimed at creative writing. There are a wealth of videos on the platform that can be used for stimulus or to form a complete literacy unit. The Literacy Shed is primarily aimed at KS1 and KS2, there are however some resources for KS2+ and KS3.

Home & Garden!

When it comes to learning, it doesn’t all happen at a desk! Children can learn in lots of wonderful ways at home and in the garden, they can pick up valuable life skills just by having fun. Take baking for instance, children can learn all of the following skills without even realising it!

• Following recipes (reading skills)
• Measurements and weights (maths)
• Decorating a cake (art)
• Mixing ingredients (science)
• Where do the ingredients come from? (geography)

The same goes for in the garden. There are lots of things you can do, scavenger hunts, study the cycle of a flower, bug hunts, bark rubbing, collecting pieces to make a collage, bird spotting, identifying trees by their leaves, take some paint/pencils outside and draw something from the garden, document the weather each morning and make a chart and so on!

My kids are at their most happiest when they are outdoors exploring. They are developing, they are learning and having lots of fun while they do it!

I hope this little round-up has helped you in some way. If you need any help please do drop me a message! We are all in it together.

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