Home learning resources compared - from Twinkl to White Rose and BBC Bitesize

Not all online teaching resources are created equal and some could be better suited to your child’s learning needs than others. 

So, now that lockdown has seen parents across the country become homeschool tutors, here is a comparison of the eight best online teaching resources, to help keep your home classroom going.

Hamilton Trust

Since Easter, this website has been offering free ‘Learning at Home Packs’ for parents with children between the ages of 4 and 11. 

Lesson plans and PowerPoints are included in the weekly downloads, while Hamilton Player offers free interactive educational games for English and Maths.

Education level: From Reception to Key Stage 3

Registration: Not required

Cost: Free for all science plans, English and maths plans from Reception to Year 6.

Classroom Secrets

This site offers free interactive resources and video learning clips, and home teaching packs. 

It also features an Easter Activity Timetable, which can be used even now that the Easter holidays are over to keep your child educated, but also entertained. 

This timetable offers ideas ranging from reading, building, and baking, as well as science experiments.

Education level: From Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) to Key Stage 2

Registration: Not required

Cost: Free

Phonics Play

As its name suggests, this website uses Phonics as a method for teaching reading and writing. This method helps develop children’s ability to hear, identify, and manipulate sounds found in the English language.

Additionally you can also use Phonics Play Comics, a set of short and silly comics which can help children apply the skills that they have learned in their daily phonics lessons.

Education level: From Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) to Key Stage 2

Registration: Required 

Cost: To help parents teach their kids during lockdown, Phonics Play has now made all of its resources free for this period.

Use the following details to access the resources for free: 

Username: march20

Password: home

Twinkl

This is a hub of teaching resources created by a school teacher and her husband, which gives you instant access to entertaining lesson plans, assessments, interactive studies, resource packs, PowerPoints, and other teaching ideas. 

The parents’ hub provides age-appropriate learning resources for parents from pregnancy all the way up to 11 year olds studying for year 6 SATS or 11 Plus exams.

The site covers subjects from Maths and English to RE and Geography, to name a few. 

It also directly addresses the school closures and home teaching tips for parents here. 

Educational level: From newborns, all the way up to 11 Plus exams

Registration: Required 

Cost: Free

White Rose Maths

White Rose Maths helps you prepare engaging maths lessons, supplying you with presentations as well as downloadable workbooks which are simple to use for both children and parents alike. 

With new material released each week you’ll easily be able to keep the subject fresh for your child.

Educational level: EYFS to Key stage 2

Registration: not required

Cost: Free

BBC Bitesize

This helpful website from the BBC provides interactive resources for the primary school and secondary school curriculum, covering a multitude of subjects such as Science, Maths, English, Art, Computing, French and Geography among many others. 

Additionally, on Monday 20 April, BBC Bitesize will launch daily online lessons for children of all ages, called Bitesize Daily. These educational videos will also be published on BBC iPlayer.

Educational level: Key Stage 1 to Key Stage 3

Registration: not required

Cost: Free

BookTrust

For English classes, you can use this site to find the most age appropriate fiction and non-fiction books for your child tailored to kids aged one to 12 years and over.

The site also recommends book lists to you, based on your chosen age and topic. 

A nice added bonus comes in the form of the Home Time hub where you’ll find family activities such as drawing, quizzes and competitions.

This free service will save you time and money that would otherwise be spent on buying books online.

Educational level: EYFS to Key Stage 2

Registration: Not required

Cost: Free

See.Touch.Learn

This app from Brain Parade is made for children with language development issues, autism and other special needs.

See.Touch.Learn is a visual learning and assessment app, which includes flash cards and picture-choosing games. 

There is also a much needed social element to this app, where users can access the Brain Parade Community to share lesson plans or ideas with others around the world. 

With 40 libraries available with more than 4,400 images and 2,000 exercises this will be sure to keep your child engaged whatever their education level.

Educational level: Individually tailored to children with special needs

Registration: Required with the app download. 

Cost: Free to download from App Store or Google Play, featuring in app purchases