Looking for activities to support learning at home for those in primary? Activities that support and enhance the curriculum? Develop knowledge and understanding not just in Mathematics and English, but in topic areas too?
During this difficult time, with schools closed in the UK and around the world, we have compiled a list of some great websites (scroll to the bottom) that we hope you will find useful. Some of them are also suitable for Early Years and others that include Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 (GCSE).
For young learners and lower primary, I highly recommend Starfall. It consolidates all key skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing). They have online and printable activities for the different levels (e.g Learn to Read, short vowel 'a', Zac the Rat) and a range of themes and other activities to engage your child. The site is ideal for non-native speakers and those with SEN, too. It is visual, interactive and develops fine motor skills. It uses American English as opposed to British English, but still a great site to develop early learning skills.
Primary Resources has many core and foundation subject material for you to print that supports the curriculum from Reception through to Key Stage One and Two - great for English and Mathematics.
TES (Times Educational Supplement) is one of the top websites for professional teachers. It provides access to curricula material (all subject matter) for Early Years, Primary and Secondary with many free materials provided to support learning.
BBC Bitesize is also great source of information that supports the British curricula taught in schools through to GCSE. However, accessing the website from outside the UK may not be available.
There are so many great websites from National Geographic to NASA to a host of charitable websites that teaches children about global issues, such as saving our planet, the effect of global warming, the Amazon Rainforest and deforestation, animal extinction, to how children live around the world.
Make learning fun. Work on something together with your child or children. Let them choose a topic (suggest some if they are stuck for ideas), research it, pick out some interesting facts, write an essay, create a poster, a newspaper article or a leaflet. Get creative! It is something you can work together on and will keep your child engaged, as well as foster their love of learning whilst enhancing their knowledge and understanding of the world around us.
The links have been provided through our own research and some which we have used during our career to help parents find suitable activities to support learning during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. STAY SAFE! WE CAN BEAT THIS TOGETHER!
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List of websites:
https://www.mesotheliomahope.com
This organisation based in America reached out to us at Bel-Rose International. Visit their website to learn more about mesothelioma and how they can support you or loved ones affected by this specific type of cancer. Telling children that a loved one has cancer is never easy. They provide a resource here that may help you - how best to go about this. Click here: "Talking to Children About Cancer"
https://www.sparklebox.co.uk Great printable resources for Literacy, Maths, Topics and more for Early Years, Primary and Special Educational Needs (SEN)
https://classroomsecrets.co.uk Early Years Foundation Stage and Primary (Years 1 to 6)
https://www.emile-education.com/schools-corona-virus/Â UK curriculum for Numeracy, SPaG (spelling and grammar) and some phonics suitable for the 4-12 age range
https://www.century.tech/explore-century/parents/Â English, Mathematics and Science Age group 6-16
https://tpet.co.uk Teachers Pet provides resources for curricula subjects in Early Years and Primary Key Stage One and Two
https://www.freesciencelessons.co.uk/Â GCSE Science with excellent videos and printouts
https://www.natgeokids.com/uk/Â Â Register to access free primary resources.
http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/Â Â Primary | ESL | SEN
https://www.twinkl.co.uk/resources  EYFS | KS1 | KS2 | KS3 | KS4 | SEND | EAL| go to the TES website for a CODE giving you one month of free access
https://new.phonicsplay.co.uk/Â Early Years | Go to the site and it will provide you with a username and code to input allowing you to access the sites resources
https://www.duolingo.com/Â A fantastic site for learning languages with many levels, and once you start you won't want to stop
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/teacher-essentials/home-learning Early Years to KS4 (GCSE)
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/hub/early-years 3-5 YEARS
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/hub/primary KS1 | KS2
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/hub/secondary KS3 | KS4
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/topical-and-themed-collections
https://www.teachitprimary.co.uk/  British Curriculum for English  KS3 | KS4 | GCSE and A Level
https://www.teachwire.net/Â Early Years | Primary KS1 and KS2 | Secondary KS3 and KS4
https://www.stem.org.uk/resources  Primary | Secondary | A-Level (Science,Technology, Engineering, Mathematics)
https://www.redcross.org.uk/get-involved/teaching-resources/primary-teaching-resources
https://www.interactive-resources.co.uk Primary | Mathematics | interactive and worksheets with curriculum objectives for each year group | the website provides a free trial
https://primarygames.co.uk  Primary | online interactive games, videos and colouring
https://www.everyschool.co.uk  KS1 and KS2 | lesson plans, printouts, interactive and games Â
https://www.starfall.com  Early Years and Lower Primary | phonics, reading and mathematics activities, for example, games, videos, books online and printable material
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize  Covers a range of subjects to support homework and aid learning for Early Years (3+), Primary (5-11) Secondary (11-16) and 16 plus
https://www.nasa.gov/kidsclub  Primary | for budding astronauts who love to learn about space, the solar system and much more
https://www.spaceplace.nasa.gov  Primary | suited to Year 3/4 in upper KS2 with option to view the page in Spanish
https://www.3dgeography.co.uk Primary | learn about volcanoes, weather, coasts and more
https://www.enchantedlearning.com/Â Primary and Secondary | American site with great topics and themes with printouts; the animal section has a broad range of printable animals including dinosaurs that would be suitable for young learners (3-5 years) who love colouring and to learn simple facts relating to the animal | the site offers Free Temporary Access
If you want to learn more about what your child should be covering in school for each subject and key stage/year group, you can go to the government website for programmes of study. It will be in pdf or word format. For Year 1 in Science, as just one example, one of the topic areas taught is Animals including humans. It will state what the statutory requirements are and what children are taught (e.g identify and name a variety of fish, reptiles, birds etc.). In school, each topic area is taught over a few weeks, so that by the end of the year, they would have covered (hopefully) all elements (there are several) at that level for their age group. Work increases in difficulty as they go through the year groups to extend their knowledge and understanding, as well as skills. If you are able, you could try and cover the work with appropriate activities; and prepare your child for the next school year. If you do, put in the National Curriculum for England and click on the government website. Browse at your leisure, or go straight to Programmes of Study as mentioned.
Please note, the content above has been provided in good faith to assist families at this difficult time and we can't therefore, guarantee it is without errors.