Some resources for homeschooling through the CoronaVirus crisis

With schools all across the UK shutting this week, for who knows how long, hundreds of thousands of families have unexpectedly found themselves home educating.

These times aren’t normal for any of us, us homeschoolers very rarely spend this much time at home, so we are out of our normal as well. I’ve had lots of messages from friends and acquaintances asking for advice.

My biggest piece of advice would be to don’t stress. Don’t try to recreate school at home. Don’t spend hours making elaborate timetables. Don’t worry about doing hour after hour of sit down lessons.

I know many schools are sending home packs of work, which is fantastic! There are also so many free resources on the internet, both for more formal work as well as art projects, science projects, nature time…

Make this into an adventure, be grateful for the extra time with your children. Play games together, read books, bake, watch movies, go for long walks, listen to what they have to say to you, take the time to just enjoy being together.

Of course, some children need routine, and if that’s the case, then work out something that works for you. Add in time each day for doing some school work, exercise, free time… only you know your child and your family, and can say what kind of routine would work best.

I thought I’d put together a list on here of some resources that may help you out.

http://scholastic.com/learnathome – with 20 days of free articles and stories, videos and fun learning activities

Open Culture – Free colouring books from 113 museums

Twinkl
https://www.twinkl.co.uk We love Twinkl! Fantastic printouts that cover all areas and ages of the curriculum. Use code ‘UKTWINKLHELPS at http://twinkl.com/offer for free access}

Khan Academy
https://www.khanacademy.org
Especially good for maths and computing for all ages but other subjects at Secondary level. My girls use this frequently.

BBC Learning
http://www.bbc.co.uk/learning/coursesearch/
This site is old and no longer updated and yet there’s so much still available, from language learning to BBC Bitesize for revision. No TV licence required except for content on BBC iPlayer.

Futurelearn
https://www.futurelearn.com
Free to access 100s of courses, only pay to upgrade if you need a certificate in your name (own account from age 14+ but younger learners can use a parent account).

Reading Eggs
https://www.readingeggs.com
Great site for learning to read, and practising comprehension skills.

Mmathseeds
https://www.mathseeds.com
fantastic for early learners to practice number skills.

Seneca
https://www.senecalearning.com
For those revising at GCSE or A level. Tons of free revision content. Paid access to higher level material.

Mystery Science
https://mysteryscience.com
Free science lessons – great for younger kids, videos to watch and experiments to conduct.

National Geographic Kids
https://www.natgeokids.com/uk/
Activities and quizzes for younger kids.

Openlearn
https://www.open.edu/openlearn/
Free taster courses aimed at those considering Open University but everyone can access it. Adult level, but some e.g. nature and environment courses could well be of interest to young people.

Crest Awards
https://www.crestawards.org
Science awards you can complete from home. – My 13, 10 and 5 years olds are working on awards with these.

Ted Ed
https://ed.ted.com
All sorts of engaging educational videos

Prodigy Maths
https://www.prodigygame.com
A maths based game, in U.S. grades, but good for UK Primary age.

Duolingo
https://www.duolingo.com
Learn languages for free. Web or app.

Blockly
https://blockly.games
Learn computer programming skills – fun and free.

The Kids Should See This
https://thekidshouldseethis.com
Wide range of cool educational videos

Crash Course
https://thecrashcourse.com
You Tube videos on many subjects

Crash Course Kids
https://m.youtube.com/user/crashcoursekids
As above for a younger audience

Scratch
https://scratch.mit.edu/explore/projects/games/
Creative computer programming

Paw Print Badges
https://www.pawprintbadges.co.uk
Free challenge packs and other downloads. Many activities can be completed indoors. Badges cost but are optional.

Tinkercad
https://www.tinkercad.com
All kinds of making.

Nature Detectives
https://naturedetectives.woodlandtrust.org.uk/naturedetect…/
A lot of these can be done in a garden, or if you can get to a remote forest location!

Oxford Owl for Home
https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/
Lots of free resources for Primary age

Big History Project
https://www.bighistoryproject.com/home
Aimed at Secondary age. Multi disciplinary activities.

Geography Games
https://world-geography-games.com/world.html
Geography gaming!

The Artful Parent
https://www.facebook.com/artfulparent/
Good, free art activities

Red Ted Art
https://www.redtedart.com
Easy arts and crafts for little ones

The Imagination Tree
https://theimaginationtree.com
Creative art and craft activities for the very youngest.

DK Find Out
https://www.dkfindout.com/uk/…
Activities and quizzes

PhonicsPlayhttps://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/ources. Looks fantastic for phonics learning and games. They are offering free access right now.

Above all, be guided by your children. These are unusual times, and many might be feeling anxious and worried. don’t expect them to sit down and do five hours of school at home. Make it fun, make it an adventure, show them learning can be fun and something you all do together.

If you have any other resources that you think should be added, please feel free to add them in the comments!