In my last post I mentioned how a National Curriculum can’t ever hope to keep up with the current rapid advances in technology, the workplace (AND LIFE!)
Left to their own ‘devices’ (no pun intended 🙂 ) the Little FUs will spend 24 hours a day plugged into one type or another, so it’s only natural to look to computer/tablet-based apps and websites for learning, too.
As life has gravitated online even we as adults waste while away many a rainy afternoon clicking from one interesting YouTube video to another, and children can whizz through a whole year’s worth of science videos in a couple of hours in just the same way.
But online learning needn’t be expensive. It needn’t cost anything, in fact.
The sites and links I’ve listed below are free to access and we have no affiliation or link with any of the companies or websites mentioned – they’re merely a collection of things we use and find useful, or have had recommended to us.
As well as the free ones we’ve taken advantage of some of the amazing discounts that companies do for HE families by subscribing to sites like Mystery Science and Squaducation History videos. Both are firm favourites with my boys, and have sparked a real interest in learning. So while my still-schooled 11-year-old merely grunts when I ask him what he’s been learning at school today, the younger two (who’ve spent the afternoon exploring whatever they found interesting) are brimming over with amazing facts and discoveries to tell me about.
I’d love to hear your views on my post and also any brilliant websites I’ve missed. What learning sites have you used with your own children that they love to learn from?
Pre-School
English and Reading
Reading Bear Free phonics work.
Oxford Owl Free e-books featuring Biff, Chip and Kipper.
Progressive Phonics A completely free phonics site from early years to age 10 approx
Teach Your Monster to Read This free reading game is very popular among HE parents and children
Skoolbo online game-based learning
Cookie American site with worksheets, too.
Pre-Kinders Theme-based American website with printables. Suitable for very small children.
Reading Eggs Free trial only. Reading Eggs will help your child learn to read using fun online reading games, lessons, phonics and more.
Galactic Phonics phonics, spelling and literacy worksheets and resources
Maths
Snappy Maths free worksheets, interactive activities and other resources
Skoolbo online game-based learning
Education.com Worksheets and activities
Cookie American site with worksheets, too.
Science
Teach Pre-School Science Lesson ideas and printables
Peep & the Big Wide World Hands-on learning for pre-school age children
Small Science Club Hands-on experiments and learning
Education Worksheets and activities
Magic School Bus reading-based science learning but some experiments, etc.
Butterfly Addition (Apple App) do the sum to catch the butterfly
Other
Salsa Spanish game Spanish activities online – colours, numbers, etc.
KinderART lots of ideas for art and craft activities
Incredible Art lots of ideas and activities for pre-school age children
Activity Village colouring pages, crafts, educational resources, puzzles, printables and worksheets
PE Central Lots of activities and ideas to develop physical skills
Cosmic Kids Yoga Yoga made especially for kids – YouTube-based
Woodland Trust Nature-based activities
Dave Conservatoire Music lots of videos including the history of music
Primary Age+
English and Reading
Johnny Grammar my boys love this free app for their iPad to help with their spelling and grammar.
Spelling City Great for on the go on tablets this is a great way to learn spellings. My boys like the games. Desktop, too.
Children’s University, Manchester a great unit on words, such as idioms and matching pairs.
Reading Bear Free phonics and spelling help.
Oxford Owl Free e-books featuring Biff, Chip and Kipper.
Look Cover Write Check A brilliant version of the spelling site where you can test yourself on high frequency words or enter your own words easily to test your knowledge. Age 4+
Progressive Phonics A completely free phonics site from early years to age 10 approx
Teach Your Monster to Read This free reading game is very popular among HE parents and children
Poetry Zone If you are between 4 and 18 you can send in your poems to be published. There are ideas for teachers on how to teach poetry. Read interviews with poets, too.
Children’s Poetry Archive A superb selection of poems arranged by themes, style or author. You can listen to an audio track of each poem being read by the author.
Scott Foreman Free pdf workbooks
Skoolbo online game-based learning
Core Knowledge Language and Literature parent-led activities
Cookie American site with worksheets, too.
Reading Eggs Free trial only. Reading Eggs will help your child learn to read using fun online reading games, lessons, phonics and more.
Galactic Phonics phonics, spelling and literacy worksheets and resources
Treasures Workbooks American workbooks
Drama
Drama Notebook Drama monologues for children and teens
Teach with Movies Questions-based learning using movies
Into Film We love the free film festival in Autumn each year, too
Maths
DoodleMaths Free – extremely popular with children and parents. Subscription available for extra features.
Prodigy Maths Free – Game-based, very popular with home edders.
Khan Academy Online videos & worksheets, very popular with home edders.
Corbett Maths Online from basics up to GCSE level, with videos and 5-a-day activities.
Corbett Maths Primary – my children enjoy the 5 a day feature
MathsBot has a wide range of manipulative features, such as bar modelling, counters and fraction walls.
NRich brilliant for problem solving – these really get children thinking
Snappy Maths free worksheets, interactive activities and other resources
Skoolbo online game-based learning
Education.com Worksheets and activities
Cookie American site with worksheets, too.
LearnZillion Free parent-led site (lesson plans and worksheets) American site.
SumDog Free game-based site
AAA Maths Free – worksheet based. American site.
Sushi Monster (Apple App) fun game where the aim is to complete correct sums to feed the sushi monster
Zap Zap Fractions (Apple App) fun visual learning app – teaches fractions
Mathland (Apple App) More than Maths this app teaches logic, critical thinking and problem solving.
DK Find Out online encyclopaedia – facts, quizzes, videos etc
Science
Children’s University, Manchester some great units on teeth, medicine and the brain and sense among others.
Bill Nye Science Guy a great list of science experiments that can be done at home
DK Find Out online encyclopaedia – facts, quizzes, videos etc
OUM of Natural History Designed especially for children by Oxford University Museum of Natural History, there are lots of fun things to do and learn here. Sections include: Animals, Insects, Rocks, Fossils, Minerals & fun stuff.
Easy Science for Kids Free. Parent-led – textbook
Education.com Worksheets and activities
Love My Science Free. Parent-led – activity based
E-Learning for Kids – Science Story based Science. American site.
Core Knowledge Science parent-led activities
Kids Astronomy kids’ astronomy – games, activities, facts and resources
Great Grub Club A colourful website that uses cartoon characters to encourage children to make healthy eating choices, as well as to take plenty of exercise.
Coding
Scratch Jnr and Scratch excellent free coding in Scratch
GameStar Mechanic Learn how to design video games
Kano coding Make apps, hack hardware, create games or code works of art
Unplugged Parent-led coding etc – hands-on
CodeCombat game based coding
Kodable coding
Tynker coding for kids. Tynker is a complete learning system that enables everyone from beginners to advanced programmers to code with intuitive, interest-based activities.
Typing Club Interactive online typing course
DK Find Out online encyclopaedia – facts, quizzes, videos etc
History/Geography
Children’s University, Manchester some great units on Ancient Greece and Egypt and Black History.
BBC Primary History Online and interactive content
DK Find Out online encyclopaedia – facts, quizzes, videos etc
Woodlands Primary School History textbook and information online
National Archives Excellent online textbook and resources. Lots of primary sources.
Core Knowledge parent-led, question-based resources linking history and geography
BBC Geography Free online and interactive geography content
Geography For Kids physical geography and earth science
Seterra Free map-based quiz game for Android or Apple devices – customise to suit your needs.
Core Knowledge History and Geography parent-led activities
Big History Project 13.8 billion years of history online for free
Mr Hinds History YouTube help with modern world history.
Languages
Salsa Spanish game Spanish activities online – colours, numbers, etc.
Hello World Online videos & immersive interactive language learning
Voyage Kids – German and German culture
Duolingo – learn a language for free
Memrise languages for beginners – also an app for Android and Apple devices
Mind Snacks games-based language learning
Art
Activity Village colouring pages, crafts, educational resources, puzzles, printables and worksheets
Draw Stuff Real Easy Shoo Rayner’s YouTube site – videos & hands on. New videos every Thursday.
Art UK Discover the nation’s art collections. Discover over 200,000 artworks from 3,000 venues
Drawing the Portrait – A fantastic site which covers how to draw each feature of the face in detail.
The Artist’s Toolkit Explore the tools like line, colour, shape, balance, space that artists use to create works of art in this great site. Each section has an animated demonstration and examples of the concepts in works of art. Then you can try your own composition.
Google Arts and Culture – Explore museums from around the world and zoom in on artworks at incredible zoom levels.
Core Knowledge Visual Arts Parent-led Activities
Young Rembrandts YouTube video & hands-on
Concordia Art lessons on famous artists parent-led (lesson plans etc)
How to draw it online textbook – step by step on how to draw lots of things
KinderART Parent-led – project-based art (lessons and ideas)
Cracking Ideas This website contains a wealth of educational resources to introduce students to the world of innovation and creativity
PE and Outdoors
BBC PE Online parent-led activities
PE Central Lots of activities and ideas to develop physical skills
Cosmic Kids Yoga Yoga made especially for kids – YouTube-based
Woodland Trust Nature-based activities
Motor Skills Learning Video-based skills and sports development
BBC PE free online ideas and content for parents
TrueSport PDF based parent-led information
Ace Fitness Free American fitness and sport programme for children
Core Exercises 20 Core Exercise for Kids to strengthen weak core muscles
Music
Dave Conservatoire music lots of videos including the history of music
Kids Guitar Zone Free online course for guitar
BeginnerGuitarHQ A completely free and comprehensive guide on how to approach playing guitar across different genres, such as rock, country, reggae, funk and metal.
JamZone online lessons from songwriting to guitar
Fiddlerman online free violin lessons and video tutorials
ZebraKeys Free online piano lessons
You Can Play It Piano and Vocal tutorials – video based
Core Knowledge Music parent-led activities
Classics For Kids This site is designed to help you introduce your child to classical music. It has audio files, information on composers and tips for parents on helping children get started with music lessons.
OTHER SUBJECTS, OLDER STUDENTS (and adults)
If you’ve taken your child out of school but still want to do exams there’s some fantastic information on the HE Exams Wiki website here, from where to find past exam papers to where to sit iGCSEs.
Future Learn online courses in a wide variety of subjects from coding to law and creative media.
KS3 Science Downloadable Science worksheets
Skills Workshop Functional skills and skills for life, all free.
MathsBot has a wide range of GCSE level revision material, example questions and grade boundaries.
Go Venture World Online – game-based business skills
Fist full of dollars online game-based business skills
Gazillionaire Online – game-based business skills – become a trade tycoon
Alison free online courses (with certificates) in everything from photography to business studies
Coursera Online courses n a variety of subjects.
TedEd full of educational videos on a variety of general education topics
Chop Chop Cooking Club American site but great to get children cooking
Brain Pop not a completely free site but there are freebies on there. Subjects include curricular ones but also health and social sciences.
Correspondence Courses some great links in this Wiki site for home ed learners for online courses and schools – not all free, of course, but I’ve had some enquiries about what comes next, and for many HE children this is where formal qualifications start from. Alternatively some colleges take students part time from aged 14 or GCSEs can be studied at home at sat at an exam centre (or a local school/college if they’ll allow it).
If you’ve enjoyed this post I’ve also compiled a list of free places to visit (mainly indoor) in the UK.
A great list of resources there! Another site I’d recommend for adult learning which offers free courses is https://www.futurelearn.com/ they did a great one on investing/saving/pensions a while ago. It might still be up there, if you sign up and hunt around for it.
Great addition, thank you. I’ll add it to the list.