We’re all adapting to the new reality of lockdown home schooling. Most schools are better equipped to run the current round of online learning, and the great news is that there are also more high-quality, free online resources to support our children’s education. Here are some of our favourites and we are likely to continue using them when life gets back to (new) normal.
UK National curriculum resources
CBBC is broadcasting three hours of primary school programmes from 9am every weekday. Secondary school students can watch two hours of programmes supporting the curriculum on BBC Two every weekday. Episodes for both primary and secondary lessons will be available on BBC Player. See the weekly schedule and details here.
In addition to daily lessons, BBC Bitesize offers a full range of online learning resources by year groups. It is structured by topics and has fun videos, practice activities and quizzes.
Amongst my favourites are the videos with Celebrity Supply Teacher such as PE with Marcus Rashford or Science with Tim Peake.
National Geographic Kids UK offers a wide range of primary school resources across various subjects with a good selection for history and geography. Downloads include posters, comics on historical topics as well as teachers’ notes (if you want to explain something to your child).
Maths and programming with Khan Academy
Khan Academy are pretty good at explaining maths from Early Years to Year 8 (though this site is US-based so all topics are classified by Grades). When I struggle to explain some maths concept to my older son, I always find here helpful videos organised by topic and with a good level of detail.
If your child shows an interest in programming, the computing lessons at Khan Academy offer an excellent selection.
Science with Mystery Science
The site offers a wide range of videos organised by year group (US Grades system) or mini-lessons (5 or 15 min). The videos cover various subjects such as volcanoes, earthquakes, etc. Users are typically required to pay for the service, but if you register now, you get a free trial until June 30, 2021. This site is my personal favourite for science videos which I enjoy watching with my 9-year old daughter.
Phonics, reading and comprehension
Oxford Owl offer phonics guides, spelling sheets and language game printables by age category. The team also runs a YouTube channel for read aloud books of 2 to 20 minutes long.
English for home schooling
Holly King-Mand runs daily live English lessons covering a wide range of topics for different ages. Her YouTube Channel, English with Holly, has over 12 thousand subscribers, and she was recognised with various rewards.
Art
Rob Biddulph broke the Guinness World Record for the largest online art lesson. Rob is an author and children’s book illustrator. His picture books include Blown Away and Odd Dog Out. The lessons are great for drawing cute illustration characters.
Last but not the least – P.E. in lockdown
It’s unlikely you haven’t heard about Joe Wicks’ daily P.E. lessons – he recently reached 80 million viewers worldwide! His classes are always a fun and energetic workout for children and adults alike.
What about YOU? How are you spending this lockdown with the children? Share your bright side and send us your photos, videos and stories. We can’t wait to hear from you!
Share your bright side!
Written by: Anya @3houseclub
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