The third national lockdown has resulted in the closure of schools across the nation, leaving many remote workings with the responsibility of home-schooling their children. As mentioned in our previous blog (The Definitive Guide to Working From Home), it is a good idea to schedule a routine for your days in order to stay as productive as possible. However, as I'm sure we are all well aware, the task of home-schooling can throw your time management completely off schedule!
As a result of this, we here at Magpie, with the help of the wonderful Mrs Kelly, have assembled a list of free learning resources which will be of great use to you.
Websites
Maths Quizzes - Maths (KS2)
EdShed - Maths / Literacy / Spelling (KS1 - KS2)
Top Marks - Maths (KS1 - KS2)
Herts for Learning: ESSENTIALmaths - Maths (KS1 - KS2)
White Rose Maths - Maths (KS1 - KS3)
CorbetteMaths - Maths (KS1 - KS4)
Key Stage 2 Literacy - Literacy (KS2)
ICT Games - Maths / Literacy (KS1 - KS2)
BBC Bitesize - All Subjects (KS1 - KS2)
Twinkl - All Subjects (KS1 - KS4)
Oak National Academy: Online Classroom - All subjects (KS1 - KS4)
Online Bushcraft - Forrest Skills
1. KS2 Maths Quizzes - Maths (KS2)
This website has Maths material relevant for children in Year 3 - 6.
The quizzes cover a large number of topics including adding and subtracting, multiples, data handling, time and so on.
What makes the website to great is that it provides helpful explanations after each incorrect answer to let you know where you went wrong and to teach you how to get the answer right next time.
2. EdShed - Maths / Spelling / Literacy (KS1 - KS2)
Usually a paid subscription, EdShed are providing free subscriptions for children while schools are closed. These resources are for KS2 students
Spelling Shed - fun and interactive spelling games to help improve spelling skills
Maths Shed - More maths related games including number bonds, times tables, adding and subtraction and more.
Literacy Shed - Has a short paragraph to read (involving superheros, dinosoards etc) and fun questions to answer relating to the question.
Literacy Shed plus - More advanced paragraph to read with questions to answer relating to the question.
3. Top Marks - Maths (KS1 - KS2)
This website has great maths quizzes for children from ages 3 - 11. The fun nature and interactivity of the games are a great touch!
4. Herts for Learning: ESSENTIALmaths - Maths (KS1 - KS2)
Herts for Learning: ESSENTIALmaths is a great maths based youtube channel. She explains games that you can play at at home using things lying around the house.
These games are for primary school children.
Each game she posts is related to a different mathematical topic like multiplication, understanding time, addition and subtraction and so on. This is an excellent option for any parents that are trying to steer their children away from being glued to their screens all day!
5. White Rose Maths - Maths ( KS1 - KS3)
A very smart and sophisticated website ranging from material for children in Year 1 all the way to those in Year 9!
The material on the website covers every topic that your child will come accross in their mathematic learning.
Every lesson comes with a short video showing you clearly and simply how to help your child complete the activity successfully. We highly reccommend this one!
6. Corbettemaths - Maths (KS1 - KS4)
This website is very good for parents looking for maths questions & tasks that your child will be used to seeing in the classroom.
They provide videos of teaching along with practice textbook questions: an excellent resource for learning. With a more straightforward approach to their teaching, Corbettmaths provide hundreds of practice questions to give your child.
They are perfect for learning, testing and consolidating their knowledge in a specific topic. If your child has a test coming up or is behind in their learning, this website is the one for you!
7. Keystage2literacy - Literacy (KS2)
This website provides many different activities and ideas to expand your children's literacy knowledge.
On the site you will find a number of activities that will either have your kids up on their feet and jumping around, or sat down in peace, quiet and calm.
One issue with this website is that you, as a parent, will need to put some effort in to plan the activity for your child. Therefore, if time is costly for you, you may want to consider a different website.
8. ICT Games - Maths / Literacy (KS1 - KS2)
Here you'll find free to play educational games aimed at children between 5 and 8 years old; written by a UK teacher with 20 years experience.
The games are linked to the UK KS 1 and 2 curricula.
If you find your child getting easily distracted, these educational games will keep them occupied while learning!
9. BBC Bitesize- All Subjects (KS1 - KS4)
We are all well aware of BBC bitesize. Created and provided by the BBC, Bitesize is an incredibly reliable resource that covers all topics that your child may need to learn while away from school.
They provide interactive activities and valuable learning resources. As well as learning materials, they also provide clear and in-depth lessons!
It also supports children and young people’s wellbeing and career choices.
From April 20th Bitesize will be publishing daily lessons to help students across the UK with home schooling. This is a stand out website which we highly reccomend when considering learning resources!
10. Twinkl- All Subjects (KS1 - KS4)
If you find you are running out of resources, look no further. Twinkl has thousands of worksheets to go through. If you find your child getting easily distracted these may be a bit tricky to convince them to work on. However, they are a great resource to test your knowledge on.
The resources cover all subjects across the board, therefore you will never run out of things to give your children.
11. Oak National Academy: Online Classroom - All Subjects (KS1 - KS4)
This resource is one of my personal favourites. Oak National Academy has done an excellent job with uploading hundreds of videos teaching different topics.
Think of any subject that is taught. Now think of a topic within that subject. They have a video on it!
Every video is well delivered with clear explanations. It is perfect if there is a concept your child is stuck on.
12. Online Bushcraft- Forrest Skills
If you are sick and tired of seeing your child sitting infront of their games console / tablet / screens, these videos are great for encouraging them to get out of the house have some fun.
These videos will teach them some great survival tactics and forrest skills; a creative and healthy alternative to being glued to a screen.
Home-schooling lessons on T.V.
if you haven’t already seen, starting Monday 11th of Jan, each week day on CBBC will see a three-hour block of primary school programming from 9am, including BBC Live Lessons and BBC Bitesize Daily. Also there will be other educational programming such as Our School and Celebrity Supply Teacher, as well as favourites like Horrible Histories, Art Ninja and Operation Ouch.
BBC Two will cater for secondary school students to support those on the GCSE curriculum, with at least two hours of content each weekday.
And there you have it! A list of all of our stand out resources to help save you a bit of time with home-schooling.
If you have any questions about these resources, feel free to get in contact with us and we will put you in contact with Mrs Kelly, a teacher. francis@magpierecruitment.com
Additionally, if you are struggling to get into the swing of things while working from home, we have written a blog post to help out - The Definitive Guide to Working from Home.