The Best Homeschooling Resources Online
Parents all over the UK are starting to worry about how they will tackle the daily task of homeschooling. Many schools will be hurriedly trying to get organised and ready to deliver their curriculum virtually, but in the meantime, here are some the very best online resources available to help your little ones.
1. Twinkle
Twinkle is the trusted home of teacher-created planning and assessment materials, interactive activities, resource packs, power points and teaching resources! Perfect for inside and outside the classroom.
Covering all subjects from English, Maths, Geography, Science, Design and Technology, Art and History, Twinkle offers a broad variety of resources to help home school your children.
There are also programmes to help with Phonics, Handwriting, PE and more to offer a fully comprehensive range of lessons.
There are over 525,000 resources and new content gets added every day. You'll find we've normally got what you need before you even know you want it. Try their FREE taster packs to see what they are about or subscribe via the website.
2. Mathletics
Mathletics is designed to support maths learning for the entire duration of a child’s school journey.
Mathletics offers activities, challenges and programmes digitally that align with the national curriculum from reception level through to Key stage 4.
Students have the option to create their own avatar, play games, take part in live maths challenges and collect certificates to recognise achievement.
Subscriptions begin at £11.95 for a month for families.
Mathletics can also produce reports to school and home educators with deep insights into how individual learners are progressing. These reports can be used to find where students are excelling, where they’re being challenged, and how to shape future activities and games to suit all learning needs.
3. Miss Spell’s Class
Miss Spell’s Class is an original word game that lets players test their spelling skills against the most commonly misspelled words on Dictionary.com. This clever game requires players to quickly decide whether each of 20 words is spelled correctly or incorrectly, as speed and accuracy count to get to the top of the class!
A 10 second penalty is added to your time for each incorrect answer. Miss Spell’s Class also includes over 10,000 words, word definitions, customizable text fonts, and an online scoreboard support.
Download the app on iphone or android.
4. Draw with Rob
Illustrator Rob Biddulph is providing free drawing lessons to inspire kids stuck at home. A draw-along video every Tuesday and Thursday at 10am GMT will be available that parents can watch with their kids and, hopefully, make some nice pictures. Feel free to watch and share them with anybody and everybody. Just share your child’s creations with Rob on #DrawWithRob. I am @RobBiddulph on Twitter, @rbiddulph on Instagram and robbiddulphauthor on Facebook.
You can find the video on YouTube here too.
www.robbiddulph.com/draw-with-rob
Don’t forget to share your creations on our community journal ‘Life in Isolation’ too.
5. Squad Education
Squad education is a unique online learning platform offering 60 second histories. You're teaching history all about delivering EPIC history in a simple and engaging format.
Their fantastic range of 60 second histories are available online for you and your children to view both in the classroom and at home.
Created by Kevin Hicks A veteran soldier and policeman, Kevin set up the History Squad over 20 years ago to deliver live workshops and castle tours and has now created Squaducation to deliver creative 60 second histories in a unique and digestible way for children. You can sign up today and take advantage of a two-week trial on their website:
www.squaducation.com/60second-histories
6. BBC Bitesize
One of the UK’s long-standing resources, BBC Bitsize is still going, offering a host of resources for home schooling and learning support online. There's a host of materials for kids of all ages, from reception all the way through to A-levels. It covers every subject your kids are currently studying, and is all presented in small, easily digestible chunks.
The activities and videos on the Bitsized channel are all tailored to support the National Curriculum, so you can be confident that your kids are covering the same material they would in class, with different content tailored for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Once they've completed a particular section, they can test their knowledge with an interactive quiz to make sure it's stuck.
It's all available free. There's even careers advice hub available if your children are in their final year, and a support hub with advice from students and teacher for every stage.
7. BBC Teach
BBC Teach offers free classroom resources to schools throughout the UK via its YouTube channel, and through its comprehensive clips archive, which sits within BBC Bitesize.
BBC Teach covers 22 subjects, ranging from early years to GCSE/Nationals. It also cleverly collates information on key subjects and historical events from across the rest of the BBC websites so your children can learn in real time.
They also run their own Educational Campaigns, which by clicking on the link for any project, you will be able to find out more about it, sign up, and get your children and class involved. Their Super Movers campaign with the Premier League for example, is a campaign designed to encourage kids to move whilst learning to help energise, improve brain activity, memory and physical and mental health – a great thing to do at home each day quickly and easily.
Another example is their Comedy Classroom resources, which aims to get 6-15 year-olds engaged in literacy through comedy writing. It started in the summer of 2016 as a national competition for secondary students, and further developed in 2017, by bringing comedy writing to a primary school audience; in collaboration with Blue Peter and Comic Relief. There is no longer a competition element involved, but all of the comedy writing resources can still be accessed. The BBC believe that if children feel more engaged with the content they study; literacy rates can be boosted hence the use of comedy writing to inspire kids in a fun way. A brilliant idea to apply to home schooling in a time of stress and anxiety to make it fun.
There are many more resources available on the website and all complete FREE.
8. Duolingo
Duolingo is a fun, FREE online resource for learning new language, with lessons specially designed for school kids, which can really support their language classes. The app is fun and quite addictive and kids earn points for correct answers, and race against the clock to complete tasks. These bite-sized lessons are effective, and creators say proven to be effective thanks to their science-based approach.
Duolingo lessons also adapt to your child’s learning style, with exercises tailored to help the individual learn and review vocabulary effectively.
9. The Artful Parent
A brilliant online resource for anyone looking for lots of creative outlets for your children, The Artful Parent provides fun craft ideas to get your kids thinking creatively. From kids painting and drawing, printmaking to sculpture, there are a host of activities suited to younger children and perfect if you want to balance on screen time with a little creative play, or to calm their minds if they are bored or anxious.
10. Little Learners
If you feel like you need a bit more direct help, Little Learners is a local tutor support team launched in September 2019, with an aim to provide tailored tutoring and a supportive, friendly environment to all children and parents.
Their tutor Sam has experience teaching the National Curriculum across Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. She is a practicing teacher who works across Gloucestershire and provides private tutoring at our studio in Longlevens. Sam tutors all primary subjects and can provide support to children who are finding elements of the curriculum tricky, working towards a specific exam, or want to learn outside of their year group curriculum.
Sam focuses on creating a positive and happy learning environment where children are encouraged to ask questions and be themselves. She enables children to reach their full learning potential by building self-esteem and confidence while ensuring every session is full of fun.
Little Learners can provide everything your child needs to reach their potential, everything from stationery and resources to a big smile and a listening ear. If your child needs a little boost, get in touch with them today.
URL: www.facebook.com/hellolittlelearners/ Phone: 07971 136934