Free Resources For Children’s Education In Lockdown

So here we are in lockdown. Again. And with schools likely to be closed for the next 5 or 6 weeks you may be finding yourself back in the daunting role of home schooling once more. Now lots of schools may be sending work out to pupils. The word on the street (i.e. what my teacher OH has been asked to do) is that children will be required to go online for streamed lessons for part of each school day. But what if you cannot access this or need help? Are you stuck in this situation? Well here are some FREE resources for Children’s education that are worth checking out. A lot of these don’t require you to sign up. Just enjoy!

Free Resources For Children’s Education In Lockdown

Most of these resources are online, so you may need to negotiate if you have limited computers or wifi at home. Which can be an issue. it also may be worth talking to your school if you do not have resources, as they may be able to help.

In the news today it has been discussed that parents can still send their children to school if they are key workers. However schools will still be trying to limit the numbers within classrooms, as obviously that was the whole point of closing schools – to limit the spread of the virus. 

It is looking like parents are going to be required to ensure that more school work is done at home. Which is not good news if you are having to work from home too. All of the family trying to work and learn at the same time may be an almost herculean task in many homes.  

The good news this time is that the BBC have just announced that they will be providing some schooling on Freeview and terrestrial channels, which will hopefully help if you as a family cannot all access a computer or the internet at the same time. 

However, if you can get online, here is a huge list of sites and places where some great learning resources can be found.

Oak National Academy

This website was set up for teaching staff. But you can access it to run lessons for your own child, whether they be primary, secondary or special needs. There are almost 10,000 free lessons on there.

The Oak Academy Website is here

The BBC

The Beeb announced that they would be running schools programmes through their terrestrial TV channels this lockdown.

Find primary content BBC Live Lessons on CBBC – 9-12pm on weekdays.

Find secondary content on BBC2 daily, with at least 2 hours of programming designed to support the GCSE curriculum.

The BBC website has some great resources all the time with BBC bitesize. And the BBC Teach website has thousands of free curriculum mapped videos for each age and subject.

Seneca

Seneca has free resources for children of all ages, but they do specialise in study and revision for GCSE and A Levels. Find their free content here

Twinkl

Twinkl are a great resource for me as a mum to a 5 year old. They have a host of printouts and great resources for early tyears, but they do have resources up to age 16 too. 

They have announced that they making all their GO! interactive resources free throughout January 2021 as well as their home learning hub resources, which are updated daily.

Find them at Twinkl.co.uk

PhonicsPlay

Also currently making their service free is PhonicsPlay, which is a great resource for parents and children just starting out learning phonics. Not sure how phonics is currently taught in primary schools? Check out their resources at PhonicsPlay.co.uk

Oxford Owl

This website has lots of free games and activities for primary school children. A host of free e-books and resources can be found at OxfordOwl.co.uk

Khan Academy

The Khan Academy has lots of instructional videos, practical exercises and a personalised learning dashboard that helps learners study at their own pace. They tackle all different subjects, from history to maths and science. 

Find their free content here.

National Geographic Kids

There are a host of curriculum led teaching materials and resources aligned with the national curriculum on the National Geographic Kids site. They support the core subjects of Maths, English and Science, but you can also find plenty of Geography, History and Art resources on there too.

Look at the site here.

ChatterPack Uk

Chatter Pack has a great set of free resources for SEND and special disability needs children. They are also a great place to look for practical advice, education and support.

Find their website here.

Love My Books

Love My Books has extensive free book based resources created by literacy experts for children up to the age of 11. Their site supports the development of reading for pleasure and has a tonne of great resources to enjoy.

The Love My Books site is here.

Teach Your Monster To Read

This fun online phonics game is great for teaching early reading for EYFS and KS1. Find it here.

Toy Theatre

Toy Theatre has a load of free interactive education games, perfect for preschoolers and primary age children. Check out their site here.

Duolingo

Duolingo is a free way to learn a language. Always fun to try out new things whilst on lockdown. Go to their site here.

Mystery Science (free trial)

Mystery Science have free video science lessons. Each video starts with a mystery that intrigues the student. Then the mystery is solved using scientific explanation and discussion. Finally the lesson concludes with a simple takeaway experiment designed to use simple ingredients and supplies you might have around the home.

The free trial is limited, but find it here at MysteryScience.com

FutureLearn

On the FutureLearn website you can find 100s of free to access university courses. They offer a wide selection of courses from leading universities around the world. Each course is delivered one step at a time and accessible on mobile, table and desktop, so you can take your learning with you wherever you are.

Fit learning around your life by visiting their website.

Ted Ed

Find all sorts of engaging educational videos on this site.

Book Of Beasties

Book of Beasties has a free home learning kit available to download. And with it’s focus on mental health and wellbeing it may be a useful way to get your child talking about how they are feeling during this pandemic too. 

How To Discuss Covid With Your Child

Get access to evidence-based, award winning mental wellness games and national curriculum resources for 7-12 year olds here at BookOfBeasties.com

World Geography Games

A great way to learn about the geography of the planet. Quizzes and interactive games for all ages. See themhere.

DK Find Out

DK Find Out has information, fun quizzes and interactive section on topics for all ages and development stages. Go take a look at the website here.

Blockly Computer Programming

Lots of free, fun games. The perfect introduction to computer programming.

Blockly Games website

Scratch 

Scratch is also a brilliant way to teach children to code. It is a block-based visual programming language and website targeted at children 8-16. Users of the site can create projects on the web using a block-like interface

The Scratch Website

Tynker

Tynker also is a site dedicated to teaching children how to code. It is a brilliant way of children learning problem solving and critical thinking skills that will serve them so well in other areas of their development too!

Find the website here.

Udemy

You can also learn how to code on the Udemy site. And there you can find a range of paid and free courses. Some of the free courses include children’s versions. Find them here.

Thoughtbox

Thoughtbox has a free membership for parents and teachers. Which includes free resources and a 30 day learning from home project for 5-18 year olds, a guide to home schooling and lots of other activities. 

Go to their website.

BrainPop (not quite free – and do cancel the trial)

BrainPop is an American site, which features animated videos to help children learn. A month’s trial cost $1, so it is not totally free. And do remember to cancel your trial before it ends!

Go to BrainPop here.

Creative Bug (free – but again remember to cancel the trial)

Another American site worth mentioning is Creative Bug. On this site you will find a whole load of craft, hobby, art and creative ideas that may help you get a few other hobby ideas for over the long winter lockdown hours. Again, it is a 2 month free trial, but again do remember to cancel before the trial ends.

Creative Bug subscriber page here

Reading Eggs (again – 30 day trial – remember to cancel)

Reading Eggs make learning to read exciting and engaging for children. And they have a 30 day free trial, perfect for during this lockdown period. However, don’t forget to cancel it before the trial is up or you will be charged.

Find their website here.

EYFS Home

Whilst nurseries and other groups are still open for now, there are also sites that are specific for early years and foundation stage learning. EYFShome has hundreds of helpful resources and videos to help support parent of younger children and to help support their education and development.

Find them here.

Various Education Blogs

There are also a myriad of education sites and bloggers out there that provide some excellent FREE resources for Children’s education and brilliant content all year round. Here are several of our favourites.

• RedTed Art – which has some lovely craft and art activities
• Pobble365 – which gives children a picture a day and invites them to discuss and think creatively about what they see.
• Ark Curriculum / English Mastery – this online teacher site also has several free resources for parents as Covid support. Scroll down the link to see more.
• Positive Parent Project – has some great blog posts on how to cope as a parent in these interesting times!
• TheArtfulParent – has tonnes of ideas on art and creativity with children of all ages.

Brilliant Educational YouTubers

There are so many amazing youtube videos out there to help educate children, but here are a few of our favourites.

• Cosmic Kids – some of our favourite videos to get moving to, Jaime makes yoga and exercise fun. Try out Washing Machine Samba, or the Trolls video!
• Maddie Moate – Maddie is already a firm favourite in our house thanks to her CBeebies show “Do You Know” – but watch her YouTube channel for more great videos on why things work, how they are made, and how the world works around us.
• Koo Koo Kangaroo – also popular for helping us to get moving in our house, Koo Too Kangaroo have some very catchy tunes and exciting dance videos. My own personal favourite will always be “Milkshake”!
• Go Noodle – are also popular for their dance videos, but not so much for us.
• Joe Wicks – the Body Coach – is bringing back his workouts 3 days a week this time. Monday Wednesday and Friday at 9am GMT for the live feeds, or watch after at any time.
• Numberblocks and Alphablocks for younger children. 
• Vicky O English – has some excellent tips on essay structure, literacy and literature for GCSE and A Level students.

And I know that there are so many other great FREE resources for children’s education out there to find. But you do also need to think about how you are going to deal with the whole issue of everyone being at home and trying to work at the same time. 

It can be very stressful for everyone to be on top of each other. And let’s face it, it isn’t totally conducive to a harmonious house and stress free life!

So what tips could help us get through this home schooling time once more? Here are some good tricks to remember.

Good Lockdown Home Learning Tips To Remember

• Do have some structure in the day. Think up a good timetable.
• Try to start on time every school day at the normal time. Children like routine, so getting everyone up and dressed as normal is a good way to start the day.
• Keep a line between being at ‘school’ and home life. If you can, try and keep learning to the same room.
• Schedule in healthy meals and breaks – and don’t forget to get some exercise or play in there too!
• Remember, in a normal school day your child won’t be tied to their desk all day, so make some time for creative and fun activities – or maybe watching a age appropriate documentary or educational film. 3 hours of school a day is more than enough for a child of 10.
• Make sure that as a parent who is working and home educating that you look after your own wellbeing too. Make some time for your own self-care, with exercise and maybe a lovely bedtime routine. And do get some sleep.
• Try to remember that this is not forever. And that you are not alone if you are struggling. Do tell the school if it is becoming too much of an issue, as they may be able to provide alternatives.
• Children will be fine, they will bounce back and will get over this. It will not affect them long term. So do not worry.

How do you think that you will fare during the lockdown? Do you know of any other FREE resources for Children’s education that you think I should add to my list?

I would love to hear your thoughts. Comment below, or find me on my social media channels.

And please do pin this post to read later.