As an ex-teacher I have witnessed many different ways that children learn and have used many teaching tools to assist with learning. I believe that we continue to learn throughout our lives, regardless of our age. As a worldschooling family we balance the ways we teach our children, but recognise that digital learning is an important part of society and our children’s future. Learning to use computers and ipads is a life skill like any other. Here are our top picks for online educational resources.
Reading Eggs
This Australian based program covers the Australian Curriculum and offers Literacy and Numeracy content designed in a very engaging manner. Our kids love it! It helps with learning letters/sounds to assist with early reading, developing reading skills, comprehension and much more. The Maths section offers a range of activities such as number skills, measurement, data and much more. The subscription includes worksheets to print out linked to the level your child is completing in the program. There are online or physical books you can purchase to reinforce the program. It’s such a fun program and very comprehensive (coming from an ex-teacher…I love it!) There is often a free trial offer, follow the link for more info.
We loved CodeSpark when first learning coding. It’s a great plaform for learning the basics, taking your child through a range of classes to learn various coding skills and practice them by creating their own games. It’s really user-friendly and recommended for ages 5 to 10. Your child can see what other kids have created to get ideas and inspiration too! From the fundamentals this app covered, our kids have gained the knowledge and coding skills to progress to more challenging platforms.
Duolingo
This app is great for both children and adults! There are multiple language options (for adults) and a few for children. It contains levelled activities that you work through, building upon each lesson as you go. There’s reading, typing and speaking exercises. It’s fun and interactive for kids to learn their first language, and supports and celebrates their achievements also. I love that it can be done anywhere, even having the option for no sound if you are out and about.
Cut The Rope
This is another great app for the whole family! The goal is to collect stars and get your character (Om Nom) to eat discs by manipulating objects in certain ways, including cutting a rope! The physics-based app is fantastic for problem solving, building your child’s capacity to think outside the square, explore cause and effect, and perserverance.
Inventioneers
This fun app combines a physics-based game with creating your own inventions. Every level has a goal to complete using various elements such as wind, fire, magnetism and gravity. I love the fact you can test your inventions and make changes as you go. It’s great for chidren to improve their strategic thinking and learning by trial and error.
Twinkl
Twinkl creates teaching resources for teachers (and parents) linked to the curriculum of your country. It covers an extensive range of subjects and offers downloads of original eBooks, teaching printables, organisation tools and interactive powerpoints. They offer free downloads so you can trial their products.
We’d love to know what online resources you use for your children!