Best free online homeschooling resources: teach your kids at home with these helpful websites

Looking for free online homeschooling resources while schools are closed? The Covid-19 pandemic shut down all UK schools last Friday until further notice, and parents will be looking for resources that will ensure their child's education continues at home. Fortunately, there are tonnes of free resources online for all educational stages. Keep reading to find out which ones are best. 

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1. Best general resource hub: Home Education UK

Home Education UK provides lots of links to worksheets, lesson plans, online encyclopaedia, and subject-specific resources. It's the most time-saving resource we were able to find, because it has a huge number of resources in a  very simple-to-navigate table format. It also has links out to BBC learning materials, resources for special needs education, sex education, and adult education (in case you also feel like learning something new).

2. Best reading resource: Teach Your Monster To Read

If your focus is currently on teaching your kid how to read, then you'll find the fun and interactive help at Teach Your Monster To Read a joy to use. Colourful and cute, it will help you guide your child through the entire learning to read process, from learning vowels to reading whole sentences. 

3. Best curriculum-specific resource: Twinkl 

If you're worried about your kids missing out on their specific curriculum, Twinkl is letting parents register for free in a bid to help people with homeschooling. The strength of this resource is that it has school closure packs and interactive resources specifically tailored to your location and the school year. Use the code CVDTWINKLHELPS  to get free access.

4. Best free e-book library for younger children: Oxford Owl

The Oxford Owl is a fantastic resource for kids aged 3-11 designed to help them keep up with their reading. From activity books and picture books for the youngest readers to children's fiction, non-fiction, and dictionaries, this library of e-books is completely free. 

5. Best GCSE and A-level resource: Seneca

If your main concern is keeping in shape for GSCEs and A-levels (when exams finally go ahead), then Seneca is your best resource, with interactive materials available for free for KS3, KS4, GCSE & A-Level. What sets them apart is that their revision exercises are not repetitive: if you get a question wrong, they'll let you do it again, but in a slightly different format. 

6. BBC Bitesize

We're REALLY big fans of BBC Bitesize – for homework and now, of course, for homeschooling. Here's what they say today: 'Over the coming days and weeks we'll be changing to bring you daily content that supports you as schools close across the UK, to help you with your education and wellbeing.'

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