Last Updated on March 20, 2020 by Suzy McCullough

Homeschooling. What us? I have always wanted to home school our son at primary level. My husband has never been up for it though. But hey it looks like we’ve been thrown in at the deep end. While I’m not overly concerned he will be missing out on a formal education as he’s already doing really well I would like to take this opportunity to give him some real one on one time.

There are quite a few things I’d like to concentrate on such as basic maths, his handwriting and also his general knowledge. For now that is going to be my main focus.

He was supposed to be doing his SATS this year so I have bought him some exercise books that focus on that. Amazon and The Works are great places to purchase this kind of resources. I’ve also bought in other fun activity books with crosswords, dot to dots and other puzzles. These are in a box in the lounge so that he can pick them up whenever he fancies.

I have shared our daily timetable in this post – Home School Diary Week 1 We aren’t always going to stick by it. We certainly haven’t for the past 2 days as he has seemed tired and more keen to chill out and just play. So we’ve gone with that for now and we will focus on projects and more learning again next week.

Our Favourite Home Schooling Resources

One week into homeschooling and the following are the resources that we’ve been enjoying the most. They are the ones that are certainly worth seeing if your child likes them and enjoys them. I will add to this list whenever there is something that we have enjoyed or have found to be of interest. I am also hoping to start a post about easy ideas at home that don’t involve too many resources.

Twinkl

Online printables – learning resources up to GCSEs. There is a HUGE number of activities to print out. Some are sitting down at the table type activities others get you up and about around the house. Year group-related projects can be easily found via specific links in their Facebook group. They are currently offering one month free for yearly subscriptions.

Bitesize

Online – From primary right through to 16+. Plenty of learning-based activities including language videos, maths videos and more

Primary Homework help

Online – There are all sorts of free resources on this website. Including online tests and more.

Phonics Play

Online – A site packed with interactive phonics games, phonics planning, assessment ideas and many teaching ideas and resources to help children learn – been made FREE for now. username: march20 password: home Online interactive resources.

Prodigy Maths

Online – Free maths exercises from 6+ (they have this at my son’s school)

Times Table rock stars

App – Our school is subscribed to this so it’s free for us. But it’s only £6 for a year. For 6+

Khan Academy

Online – FREE resources from 4-18 years

Wake-up and Shake-up – GoNoodle

YouTube – Just search for it and there are lots of fun videos for kids (and you) to join in with to start the day. Our favourite is GoNoodle.

Cosmic Yoga

Youtube – Yoga for kids. I’ve seen this recommended a lot today. We will be giving it a go soon

Earn Blue Peter Badges

A project for you to work on and then hopefully when normality returns your child will be able to visit certain attractions for free.

FREE virtual tours of museums and more

 Online – Plenty of interesting things to watch including Opera and more

Reading Eggs

App – They are currently offering 30 days for free which is worth doing as it’s a great resource. For ages 2-13. My son loves this and you can start them off on a level that suits them by doing an easy test.

Activity Village

Online printables – They have FREE packs available to download such as packs for Easter and colouring packs for older kids and they plan on adding more

DuoLingo

Online or App – You can spend just a few minutes a day learning 30+ languages online with bite-size lessons. We are working our way through the French course. My son is 6 and without my understanding of French, I think he would struggle. But together we are working our way through it and he’s already learnt a lot.

CITV Free games including Nightfall

Online – These online games aren’t all educational but they are free and our son loves them especially Danger Mouse and Nightfall (they can play with their friends). They also have quizzes and puzzles.

Top Marks Maths

Online – This is a range of free educational games for children from KS1 through to higher education. Most online activities are tablet-friendly.

Oxford Owl

Online – Free resources to support learning at home online and in the form of printables. Advice and support for parents, educational activities and games. Plus free eBook library for 3- to 11-year-olds.

NatGeoKids

Online – Including games (mostly quiz-based) and primary resources via printables. Find engaging and curriculum-led teaching ideas and accompanying resource sheets aligned with the National Curriculum and the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence. You just need to register (it’s free) to access their resources.

Epic

Online or AppEpic! is the #1 children’s digital library for kids 12 and under, offering access to over 35,000 high-quality books for kids, learning videos, reading quizzes and more. We are lucky that his school has signed up for a subscription. If your school can’t do this the first 30 days are currently free and $7.99 after.

Google – Bring an animal to life

Google App on Android – Did you know if you google certain animals using the Google app you can view the animal on your phone in your home (or garden). They move about a little and make realistic noises. We had so much fun posing for selfies and then looking at our photos. Click here for more info.

White Rose Maths

Online Printables – The White Rose Maths Team has prepared a series of five maths lessons for each year group from Years 1-8. They will be adding five more each week for the next few weeks. Every lesson comes with a short video showing you clearly and simply how to help your child complete the activity successfully.

TTS Group

Online Printables – The TTS Group has created a curriculum-focused independent learning resource with over 40 home learning activities all planned and all prepared. (There’s almost 100 pages of activities in the KS1 activity pack alone)

IMG 20200323 131358 1
IMG 20200320 111401
Spread the love

Comments

Leave a Reply

Sign In

Register

Reset Password

Please enter your username or email address, you will receive a link to create a new password via email.