Free tools and resources to help parents with homeschooling during lockdown.
Discover the best free resources to help parents homeschool during lockdown three.
With a new lockdown upon us and homeschooling back on the agenda we know that life juggling the kids schooling and your own work is not easy.
To give you a helping hand we have put together a list of free resources and tools which will help with some of the homeschool stress. From online lessons and TV shows to keep the kids busy for half an hour to scanning tools to help the process quicker and lots more.
BBC Bitesize – Free Homeschooling Lessons and TV programmes
During the first lockdown, the BBC put together a range of daily lessons for both primary and secondary school children. Although the daily lessons no longer seem to be updated, there is still a whole host of lessons for all age groups and subjects available for the kids to work through. See here.
For this third lockdown, realising that not all family have access to the internet the BBC have put together a whole of fun educational TV programmes aimed at both primary and secondary school children. The programmes can be watched on the CBBC and CBeebies each weekday or you can search by age and subject on BBC iplayer here.
Twinkl – free worksheets and lessons
Twinkl is a website which offers resources such as lesson plans and worksheets for teachers and schools. During the first lockdown, they offered free access to all their resources to help parents with homeschooling.
This time they had added a dedicated School Closure Help section to their website offering parents a whole host of resources to help supplement the work set by schools. To access the resources you simply need to sign up for a free account here.
Free Scanner For Lockdown School Work
Once you have managed to get the kids to sit down and do their work you then have the issue of getting it back to their teacher. Of course, you can take a picture of the work but it is not always easy to email. However, if you have an iPhone or an iPad you have actually have a scanner at your disposal via the ‘Notes App’.
Simply open the Notes App, open a new note, press the camera button and the option to scan will pop up. Once it is scanned you can add notes and it is much easier to email.
Free Access To Children’s Books During Lockdown
All teachers agree that children reading every day is the most important aspect of homeschooling. With most schools not able to provide physical books and libraries closed you may be running out of books for your kids to read. However, there are lots of websites offering free access to books for children to help with their reading. Here are our favourties:
Oak Academy free Virtual School Library
Oak Academy in partnership with the National Literary Trust has launched a virtual library to allow pupils to read books from popular children’s authors. There will be a new book each week from different authors along with information about those authors.
To check out the Oak Academy Free Virtual School Library see here.
Oxford Owl Free eBook Library
The creators of the Oxford Reading Tree and Read Write Inc (which most primary use to teach phonics) are offering access to their free ebooks. As well as much loved characters such as Biff, Chip and Kipper you will also find some great non-fiction ebooks. The books are separated into different ages and reading levels making it easier for you and your children to select suitable books.
To access the free eBook Library from the Oxford Owl see here.
Local Public Libraries eBooks
If you have a library card for your local public library you will have access to lots of ebooks for both children and adults. Head to your local library’s website to access this great free resource.
