Hi there! After years of homeschooling my kids when they were tiny, transferring them to public school, and now needing to do distance learning due to COVID-19, I’ve found some excellent resources for teaching kids at home! I’m sharing my favorite free homeschooling resources for kids from elementary to high school level that my family have used for years.
You might be interested in this tutorial on making a homeschool binder with free printables!
My Favorite Free Homeschool Resources
Libby
Libby is a library app! If you have a local or state library available to you, it most likely has the Libby app. You can apply for a library card online if you don’t have one, and find your library on the app. It will then connect you to all of the online resources available at your library, including a ton of fiction and non-fiction books. I actually read nearly all my books on Libby, and so does my 11 year old. You can access it on a phone, tablet, or desktop. Some books you have to put on hold and wait for them to become available, but there are usually thousands of books available.
Youtube
Yep, I had to include Youtube! It’s one of my favorite resources because you can learn just about anything. I highly recommend constant adult supervision, but at the same time you can find tutorials on everything from science lessons to cooking to drawing to repairing your clothes dryer. My daughter uses Youtube to improve her anime drawing, and my husband has been using it to learn new recipes.
Khan Academy
Oh, how do I love Khan Academy… let me count the ways! This is one of the BEST resources if you have kids in middle and high school. Khan Academy is fantastic for math lessons, as well as a whole variety of topics. The videos explain every concept clearly in a way that makes sense. Plus, if you have a kid who is a self-motivated learner, there are thousands of lessons on anything they might be interested in learning!
Duolingo
Learning a new language is a great way to spend your extra time. Two of my kids are learning a new language, and they use Duolingo to practice and improve their skills. While it’s not perfect for learning all the grammatical details of a new language, it’s a great way to get started and they have a huge variety of languages to learn.
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Typing.com
Typing skills are still considered one of the most important skills you can have. The earlier your child becomes fast and accurate at typing, the easier their life will be at school and in their future work. My kids started having to type out their papers at school in second grade, and now have to communicate with their teachers completely through email. We love this typing website because it’s free, simple, and helps improve their skills quickly.
Prodigy Game
Prodigy is a really fun, free math game for kids. It’s designed kind of like a little character RPG, with the kids having to solve math problems to get new upgrades. It’s great for elementary and middle school, and keeps my kids occupied for hours.
Code
Coding is a skill that can open so many doors, from app creation to website building to making games. This website teaches kids how to code in easy lessons, from beginning games to showing older kids how to design websites in HTML and CSS.
Ted Ed
I’d sure you’re familiar with Ted Ex, and the amazing series of speakers they feature on nearly every subject you can imagine. Did you know they also have Ted Ed? It’s an educational website with hundreds of videos for kids on a huge variety of subjects, from preschool to high school.
National Geographic Kids
National Geographic Kids is a great resource for kids who love animals and the world around them! This is a fun website to explore with lots of information and activities.
NASA.gov
The NASA website is full of information on science and space, and has so many activities and videos for kids to enjoy. They added even more information recently to help with distance learning!
WooJr.com
Of course I had to include this very website you’re on right now! We have thousands of printables, lessons, crafts, and projects for parents, teachers, and kids from birth to college. If this is your first visit here, take some time to poke around and see what you find!
Other Sites
I also highly recommend checking out the websites and Facebook pages of your local and national zoos, and art and history museums. Many of them are doing live video updates on the animals, and a lot of museums have virtual tours right now. How cool is it to check up on a snow leopard cub or see a famous painting close up from your living room? Another fun thing to do is show your kids the house you grew up in, or even check out what the streets of Paris look like on Google Earth!
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I hope you all enjoy checking out my favorite free homeschooling resources and find them helpful!
