Great online educational resources to

support parents during homeschooling

It’s our third lockdown here in the UK in less than a year.

As parents this is both frustrating and difficult emotionally as

well as managing logistical issues. We might need to juggle

our own work along with planning, teaching and managing multiple

education levels as part of homeschooling. On one hand we might

feel it’s the best thing to keep our kids safe but also feel

sad for our little ones to be missing their friends and routine.

February half term may feel a long way away but we have done

this before, we will get through it and will hopefully look

back surprised at how we ever managed all the kids at

home along with teaching re-learning the times tables. 

In the meantime, here are some great online educational

resources that enable students to do solo-learning.

Ideal for those moments where you may need to

jump on a work call, respond to emails or hide from your

children in the bathroom for 10 minutes, parent life eh!?

1) P.E. with Joe 

If you hadn’t heard of The Body Coach or Joe Wicks before last Summer,

I’d bet my bottom dollar you have now. A Surrey-based PT who now

has an MBE as a result, threw himself head first in adopting the role of

the Nation’s P.E. teacher. He will once again be donning the

metaphorical whistle and restarting P.E. with Joe from

Monday 11th January 2021. Streaming live at 9am on

Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at The Body coach TV on youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAxW1XT0iEJo0TYlRfn6rYQ

An energetic and healthy way to start the morning off with movement,

dancing and music that the whole family can get involved in. 

2) NASA at home

I’m not sure science gets much cooler than NASA!? The pioneers of air

and space technology are offering a series of great videos that include

broken down theories, hands-on tasks, posters to colour in and

everything in between free for kids ordered by age level. Can you

add ‘studied at NASA’ on your child’s CV? Probably not.

But a great chance for them to learn more about science

and space from the world’s experts.

https://www.nasa.gov/nasa-at-home-for-kids-and-families

Perfect for injecting fun and wonder into science sessions with

hands-on sessions, print outs or youtube that can be played through a tv. 

3) Carol Vorderman’s The Maths Factor

The maths factor is an interactive subscription service offering

daily sessions, games & targets aimed specifically at children

to improve numerical skills. While this has a cost attached they

offer a 21 free day trial. I’m a big fan of setting up trials and

putting a calendar reminder (with an alert!) on my phone a couple of days

before the end of the trial. This gives you an opportunity to weigh

up whether the subscription is worth continuing before you’re

committed to their minimum subscription period.The Maths Factor

made their subscription free during the first lockdown so it may

be worth following them on Facebook for updates in case

they offer this again.

https://www.themathsfactor.com

This could be a saving grace when trying to teach long division and

realise that’s not how they teach it in school anymore. How can

even maths progress so quickly!?

4) BBC Bitesize

Where would an educational resource checklist be without Bitesize!?

It helped me through GCSEs (many years ago) and continues to grow

and evolve as a free offering for students. Most subjects are covered

on bitesize and it covers the span of educational years from

reception to 6th form. It’s really clued up to schools current

curriculum & from the BBC so is reliable. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize

Great for exploring topics in greater depth but also offers quizzes

ideal for revising or checking progress. 

5) National Geographic Kids

The National Geographic classroom resources are accessible to

everyone through the web link below or the National Geographic website.

While the classroom level filtering is US focused, a quick google search

of the age of your child to the american school grade equivalence

will help you know what to search for. Alternatively look for

great science topics that will capture your child’s interest. 

https://www.nationalgeographic.org/education/classroom-resources/

Find school supplies for students here:

Tannas.co.uk

@tannasoffice

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