Online courses and home learning for children and teens

If your children are learning at home for an extended period, being temporarily home-schooled or revising, this list of home learning ideas should help you – as a parent or teacher – find interesting and stimulating online teaching ideas.  There is a mix of free and paid online courses for children and teens, including short and long courses, blended learning, revision, and research-based activities – all of which can be accessed and completed at home and independently.

Online home learning courses for primary school children

All primary subjects

• The School of Life has provided a fantastic series of free resources for parents and teachers which can help with home learning – Tools for Young Minds. These downloadables include indoor activities to promote exercise and curiosity, a pack to encourage ‘a love of wisdom, an emotional learning pack to help children manage and communicate their emotions, an art therapy pack that includes a mini scheme of work, and a relationship skills course (based on Happy, Healthy Minds) that will help to develop interpersonal skills. Highly recommended.
• EdPlace – a full range of school content courses for English, maths, and science for children aged 5-11 are covered with up-to-date, engaging and interactive videos, animations and quizzes. Ideal for short-medium-term learning at home.
• BBC Bitesize Primary – all UK curriculum areas are covered for children aged 3-11.
• PBS Kids – A free, and vast, website that is full of animated and fun educational games.
• National Geographic Kids primary resources – Lots of online and downloadable resources linked to primary (especially KS2) curriculum areas, including English, maths, science, art, STEM, history, and geography.
• The Children’s University, Manchester – a great selection of free interactive resources and fun activities for KS2 children. All subjects are covered.
• Good ideas by Michael Rosen – the ultimate guide to creative homeschooling for parents, and a useful insight for teachers creating resources.
• Bogglesox TV – a YouTube channel for 0-8-year-olds, featuring activities, songs, counting animations, crafts, drawing tutorials, and spelling fun.
• Dorling Kindersley has put together a collection of home-learning activities, videos, and interactive games.
• Book Life has collated a series of free downloadable resources including books for topic work, posters and activities sheets to complete.
• If you are looking for a suitable book to help discuss the effects of Coronavirus / Covid-19 with small children, a number of publishers have released useful free eBooks dealing with this subject, including Nosy Crow, Oxford University Press, and here, Andersen Press, and Bloomsbury Publishing.

Primary maths

• Khan Academy – a free, non-profit, website that is very strong on maths, STEM, and science; but also offers literacy, arts, and humanities content. Video-based teaching is supplemented by frequent quizzes and multiple-choice assessments.
• Mathletics – online maths learning, games, and quizzes.
• Sumdog – this website includes a free section offering highly engaging animated maths games.

Primary literacy / English / Drama

• Storybooks online –  our selection of free-to-view storytime online read-alouds on YouTube and Vimeo.
• We highly recommend Touch Type Read and Spell, a multi-sensory program that teaches touch typing and spelling using phonics and repetition. It provides a step-by-step and confidence-building structure for less confident writers and spellers.
• Teaching and home learning resources from the Poetry Society – includes downloadable and interactive activities for KS1 through to further education. The videos by Joseph Coelho are ideal for primary-aged children.
• Free books, audiobooks, resources and eBooks from the National Literacy Trust. Split into helpful age groups for 0-4, 5-8 and 9-12
• Collins is offering free online access to Big Cat eBooks (a popular KS1 reading scheme) for parents to use at home.
• Dav Pilkey, author of Dog Man and Captain Underpants, in association with Scholastic,  has created a page of activities to ignite a love of reading. Perfect for reluctant readers aged 6-11.
• Digital Library –  Free stories for younger children, with illustrations and animations.
• Michael Rosen’s poetry for children video channel. A great collection of poems to listen to, read, join in with, and perform aloud.
• Spellodrome – spelling practice and games, with animated videos.
• Chicken House has put together a great collection of video author interviews and book readings from top children’s authors and poets – entitled #coopedupkids.
• There’s also a great range of free audiobooks from the World of Stories team at World Book Day, including books read by Julian Clary and Steven Butler.
• Puffin Schools also has a growing collection of author-read extracts which are great for primary-age children and ideal to emulate classroom storytime at home.
• Storyberries –  free stories and audiobooks for preschool and EYFS children. Great to share and read aloud.
• LearnEnglishKids – Literacy-based activities and research. Ideal for reluctant readers and writers.
• Scholastic home learning – a large selection of home-based revision materials, some of which are downloadable.
• A wide-ranging set of free resources for literacy and English lessons from NATE (National Association for the Teaching of English). Very thorough and detailed.
• The Show Must Go On! – Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musicals, streamed for free each week on YouTube one at a time, starting with Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat.
• Marvel is offering free comics via its website.
• Children’s Poetry Archive has collected a number of poetry readings from top children’s poets and offers a range of suggested activities.
• Free audiobooks from BBC Sounds
  • Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame.
  • The Call of the Wild by Jack London.
  • Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson.
  • Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.

Primary Science, STEM and DT

• A great range of free science resources for primary-aged children, from STEM learning – arranged by topic area.
• STEM: James Dyson Challenges – a great series of daily science and engineering challenges to complete at home. Ideal for practical science, teamwork and mixed-age siblings working together. Highly recommended.
• Little inventors – a series of STEM challenges, ideas, making projects and resources. Ideal for primary and early secondary-aged children.
• Free activities and resources from the Science Museum in London.
• Wildlife with Steve Backshall. Live-streamed on Youtube, TV wildlife presenter answers children’s questions at 9:30 each day.
• Science with Maddie Moate – daily science lessons streamed on Youtube by Maddie Moate – CBBC presenter.
• A fun DT activity to make an origami paper horse that seemingly walks by itself.
• Education consultant & DT teacher Darrell Wakelam has published a series of exciting paper automata and sculpture ideas on his Twitter profile. We really like the chameleon.
• Transport for Wales train activities – a great series of challenges including creating a set of ‘Train Trumps’, designing your own livery (we had great fun with this one!), and designing your own train network. Tweet your creations to @transport_wales!

Primary modern languages

• Muzzy (from the BBC) language courses for children, including French and Spanish.
• Lingobus – a visually appealing video package to teach Mandarin Chinese to primary-aged pupils. Very thorough.

Independent study, revision, extended tasks and video content for 5-11s

• Pupil Prime Minister – A KS2 literacy extended project focusing on creating a political party – a fun introduction to the political process that includes planning, persuasive writing, speech writing, and presentation skills.
• PE with Joe – Joe Wicks is your new PE teacher and is in your living room! Full details here.
• Dance with Oti Mabuse – dance in front of the computer or TV with Strictly Come Dancing’s Oti Mabuse.
• Breathe – an engaging mindfulness project for KS2. Includes writing, meditation performing and explanation presenting skills for literacy.
• Take a Stand – an Eco-related project for KS2, inspired by Greta Thunberg. Literacy-based, this task includes letter writing, persuasive writing and creating a short video.
• This is Us – a fun personal writing exercise for KS1 and KS2, using the poetry of Joseph Coelho as an impetus.
• Magazine, newspaper, and activity book subscriptions are a great way to inspire children and keep up with daily reading for pleasure. This page has a thorough list of magazines for children and teens – with both physical subscriptions and online.

Virtual tours of exciting places – ideal to use as a stimulus for personal projects in literacy, humanities or PSHE

• The Louvre has put up its entire collection for viewing online – a treasure trove of art and antiquities, and ideal for home learning projects.
• Geoguessr – is an addictive game that drops you into a random place on the planet. You have to work out where you are based on geographical clues, language, intuition, and deduction. The closer your guess, the more points you score. It can be played individually or with more than one player. Think of it as a visual comprehension exercise. It’s also a great starting point for creative writing – for all age groups. This game is particularly good viewed on an IWB or large-screen TV.
• The Monterey Bay Aquarium – fish and sea life everywhere. Ideal for children interested in undersea life.
• The Houston Zoo – see what the gorilla and giraffe are getting up to – in real time.
• The Atlanta Zoo – has a great page about pandas that includes a live webcam of a giant panda.
• Discovery Education Tundra Connections – a detailed mini-site about polar bears in the tundra. The pages include videos, virtual tours and an immense amount of information.
• A virtual tour of the White House, with the President of the United States as your tour guide. (That’s Obama, not Trump).
• Explore The Vatican – with spectacular 360-degree visuals of many of the rooms.
• Get on a Rover and explore the surface of Mars. Travel in any direction and see what extraterrestrial marvels you can discover.
• Perhaps the ideal spot to get away from people – it’s the Moon! This 4K tour by NASA looks great on a widescreen TV and the site includes links and information for further research.

Online home learning courses for secondary school children

Online GCSE courses

We’ve hand-picked a selection of courses that can provide a complete solution for GCSE home learning if physically attending school is not possible. All of the courses below are available to enrol without an exam component and associate entry fee – which can be useful in the event that exams are cancelled and your child’s school is relying on teacher assessment.

• EdPlace – a full-service offering online teaching, learning, revision and assessment for KS3 (maths, English, and science), and GCSE (AQA, OCR, Eduqas & Edexcel boards) English literature & language, Maths, Chemistry, Biology, and Physics. This website is very thorough and is a great short-medium-term substitute for classroom learning.
• Dr David Boyce, the Physics teacher, has put together a comprehensive YouTube channel with free video lessons covering the entire AQA GCSE physics syllabus. This is ideal for exam revision and homework help.
• GCSE Astronomy. (Edexcel)
• iGCSE Biology. (Edexcel)
• GCSE Business. (AQA)
• GCSE Chemistry. (AQA)
• iGCSE English Language. (Cambridge)
• iGCSE English Literature. (Edexcel)
• iGCSE English. (Edexcel)
• iGCSE French. (Edexcel)
• iGCSE Geography. (Cambridge)
• GCSE Geography. (Edexcel)
• iGCSE History. (Edexcel)
• GCSE Mathematics. (AQA)
• GCSE Physics. (AQA)
• GCSE Psychology. (AQA)
• iGCSE Science. (Edexcel)
• GCSE Sociology. (AQA)
• GCSE Sociology. (CIE)
• iGCSE Spanish. (Edexcel)
• Mr Bruff’s online English Literature podcasts.

Independent study, revision, extended tasks and video content for 11-16s

All subjects

• BBC Bitesize Secondary – a complete collection of curriculum resources for all KS3 and KS4 school subjects, presented using videos, infographics, quizzes, and short assessments.
• Tutorful – hire an online tutor. Subjects covered include English, maths, science, history, geography, French, Spanish, German, business and law.
• S-Cool – a one-stop shop for GCSE and A-level revision material.
• Labxchange –  A fascinating collection of video material collated from top academic institutions and aimed at secondary-aged teens. Every school subject area is covered.
• Scholastic ‘Learn at Home’ – free daily activities aimed at 11-15-year-olds (grades 6-9 are the equivalent of UK school years 7-10)

Secondary maths

• Khan Academy – recommended for maths and science. A great site for KS3 and KS4 students to browse independently and seek out gaps in their knowledge.
• Free KS3 maths revision exercises and video explanations – a complete collection of maths curricular resources for KS3 and Common Entrance (Year 8) maths revision. Video-based.
• Mindspark – a comprehensive online maths learning platform. Very thorough, and ideal for stretching the most able. Suitable for KS3-KS5.

Secondary English and drama

• Barrington Stoke, a publisher that specialises in highly engaging books for reluctant and dyslexic readers, has produced a great home learning help pack for parents. Their website also includes lots of interesting ideas for responding to reading and inspiring creative writing.
• Teaching and home learning resources from the Poetry Society – these include downloadable and interactive activities for KS1 through to further education. The Foyle Young Poets of the Year resources are ideal for secondary-aged pupils.
• A wide-ranging set of free resources for literacy and English lessons from NATE (National Association for the Teaching of English). Very thorough and detailed.
• The National Theatre is offering its collection of filmed world-class productions for free to schools and pupils at home. Performances include Jane Eyre, Twelfth Night, Treasure Island and Frankenstein. Great for home learning and GCSE revision.
• LitFilmFest is producing daily live-streamed literacy and writing activities aimed at upper KS2 and lower KS3 (Years 5-8). Authors featured so far include Ross Montgomery, Peter Bunzl and Dashe Roberts.
• BBC Teach has produced a fantastic series of free movies that set essential passages from texts to funky music to help students remember them. There are nine of the most popular GCSE set texts included.
• BBC Sounds has a superb collection of free GCSE English Literature revision podcasts that cover several of the most studied set texts, such as Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Blood Brothers, Jane Eyre, and An Inspector Calls.
• Free BBC Sounds audiobooks:
  • A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.
  • Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.
  • Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.
  • The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle.
  • The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson.
  • The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan.
  • The Turn of the Screw by Henry James.
  • The War of the Worlds by HG Wells.
  • Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte.
  • Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift.
  • Silas Marner by George Elliot.

Science and STEM

• STEM learning has produced an excellent range of activities suitable for home learning and extension work away from the classroom. Split into helpful physics, chemistry and biology topics, there are packs for KS3 and KS4 and A level.
• Tassomai – smart learning and study techniques for curriculum content, delivered in punchy short online lessons. Good for teens who hate revision and struggle with science and maths.
• The Naked Scientists – a series of podcasts on topical science themes produced by the University of Cambridge. Great to provoke further reading and exploration.

Humanities

• History Hit Live with Dan Snow – a daily live video YouTube broadcast by TV presenter and historian Dan Snow.

Economics, Politics & Business Studies

• The Financial Times (FT) hosts a site for schools offering free teaching materials, free FT articles and features for students aged 16-19 and collaborative events and calls for entries. The site is mainly aimed at economics and business studies post-16 students but also includes many pages relevant to geography, politics, ethics, climate change, consumerism and international development. Highly recommended.

Creative and practical activities

• Podcasting is a great activity for older teens, or for parents to organise and supervise with younger children. It allows pupils an opportunity to articulate their thoughts on a subject and to plan and deliver content to an audience. Buzzsprout offers a free package, that includes a hosting package and all the distribution tools needed to start a podcast and get it going. All that’s needed is a mobile phone or computer, (optionally a podcasting microphone kit for the more ambitious), subject knowledge, imagination and an internet connection.
• Animation courses for children and teens – a very detailed course that examines every aspect of computer animation. Ideal for children with time, precision, patience and an interest in computer graphics and photography.
• The Smithsonian Museum has opened up a treasure trove of millions of images, artwork and media clips for open access. These can be used for pupils’ work, research, or to create new and exciting artworks in photo editing software.
• PE with Joe – Joe Wicks is your new PE teacher and is in your living room! Full details here.
• If you want to turn cardboard boxes into serious geometric architecture, have a look at this inventive home educator’s blog post.

Virtual tours – take an online trip to an art gallery or museum

• The Anne Frank Secret Annex – a stunning realisation of Anne Frank’s house in Amsterdam, featuring every room, historical detail, archive material, videos, and timelines. An excellent resource for extended project work.
• Visit the Louvre – virtual tours include Egyptian antiquities and The Galerie d’Apollo.
• The Van Gogh Museum – with virtual tours of the gallery via Google.
• Google Places has a vast library of places around the world that can be visited virtually on your laptop, tablet or PC.
• A spectacular travel guide and virtual tour of the Great Wall of China. Ideal for home learning projects.
• A mind-blowing and immersive interactive tour of the Kenai Fjords National Park in Alaska. A truly wild place. There are more multimedia tours of US national parks here. These sites are a great resource for geography projects or extended research projects for literacy.
• Visit the International Space Station online and drop in on occasional live broadcasts from Astronauts and NASA.
• Explore the Taj Mahal‘s interactive graphic map – inside and outside.
• Go inside the Space Shuttle Discovery in this 360-degree look-around YouTube video from NASA.
• Once Upon a Try – an inspirational STEM-themed site from Google that looks at key innovations in science and technology over the last 3000 years.

Online home learning courses for sixth-formers

Online A level courses

These online cloud-based courses come with an optional exam fee – useful if the government has decided that there will be no exams for that cohort.

• A level Biology. (Edexcel)
• A level Biology. (AQA)
• A level Business. (AQA)
• A level Business Studies. (Edexcel)
• A level Chemistry. (Edexcel)
• A level Chemistry. (AQA)
• A level Classical Civilisation. (OCR)
• A level Economics. (Edexcel)
• A level English Language and Literature. (Edexcel)
• A level English Language. (AQA)
• A level English Literature. (AQA)
• A level English Literature. (Edxecel)
• A level French. (AQA)
• A level Further Maths. (Edexcel)
• A level History. (Edexcel)
• A level Law. (AQA)
• A level Maths. (Edexcel)
• A level Maths. (AQA)
• A level Philosophy. (AQA)
• A level Physics. (Edexcel)
• A level Physics. (AQA)
• A level Politics. (Edexcel)
• A level Psychology. (AQA)
• A level Religious Studies. (Edexcel)
• A level Sociology. (AQA)
• A level Spanish. (AQA)

Independent study, revision, extended tasks and video content for 16-18s

• Northeastern University London offers a series of free virtual taster lectures for students who are thinking about going to university. A wide variety of academic subjects and disciplines are covered.
• A Beginner’s Guide to Writing in English for University Study – run by the University of Reading, this course develops grammar, vocabulary, and style in preparation for the first year at university.
• How to Succeed in Your Welsh Bacc: the Individual Project Essentials – ideal for sixth-formers in Welsh schools and further education.
• How to Succeed in Your EPQ: the Nuts and Bolts of Completing Your Project – ideal for sixth-formers in English schools and further education.
• Preparing for University – run by the University of East Anglia, this course focuses on useful study skills.
• Improving Study Techniques – a study skills method using three steps, developed based on research, by the University of Groningen.
• English for Academic Study – run by the University of Coventry, this course will be useful to sixth-formers planning on studying for an arts degree at university.
• Prepare for Career Success at University – an interesting and informative course, run by Goldsmiths University, that shows students how to spot which aspects of a university course will be useful for the skill set required in their intended career.
• BBC Bitesize post 16 – aimed at consolidating literacy and maths skills for the workplace.
• If you are interested in studying physics or applied mathematics at University – take the time to read the renowned Feynman lectures – which are now all freely available from Caltech. The videos are available here.

Home learning educational activities and ideas for all mixed-aged children, teens and families

• Have a look at our page of writing competitions for children and teens – all of which can be entered online.
• We also have a 100-question book quiz based on popular books for children which can test the family!
• Winchester College’s ‘Catalyst’ online programme offers courses for 10-17-year-olds, including children preparing for secondary school and students preparing for university. The creative thinking and problem-solving approach focuses on important skills in critical thinking, communication, teamwork, and confidence. Note – these are paid courses.
• The Economist Educational Foundation offers a superb range of free resources for teachers, parents and children on their website and via an emailed weekly resource bulletin. Highly newsworthy and relatable topics include issues such as dealing with the pandemic, Black Lives Matter, extreme weather, fake news, freedom of speech and Brexit.
• STEM: James Dyson Challenges – a great series of daily science and engineering challenges to complete at home. Ideal for practical science, teamwork and mixed-age siblings working together. Highly recommended.
• An engaging and informative life skills site from NatWest to teach children and teens about money. Split into age groups suitable for KS1, KS2, KS3, KS4, and KS5.
• Here’s a highly rated online Lego engineering challenge for children aged 8-12; and Lego contests suitable for older children here.
• Audible audiobooks are an excellent way to expand a child’s reading, and for older children, catch up on reading for coursework or exam revision.
• Kindle eBooks are an effective way to access books cheaply, and Kindle apps and readers also feature text-to-voice facilities that can read text aloud.
• Epals – is a well-established online pen pal website for children and teens around the world. Teachers or parents can moderate every aspect of the process.
• Investigate your local library online portal. Many offer eBook and audiobook loans and some offer free access to Pressreader.

Guidance, advice, and resources for home-educators

• A massive list of online learning resources and topics from the Smithsonian Institute, aimed at school children aged 5-16 in the United States. Ideal if you run out of ideas!
• 14 tips to improve your online teaching and delivery, from The Conversation. Great for teachers who are new to distance learning or not confident with style or delivery.
• ‘A Parents Guide to Elective Home Education‘ – this excellent free course for home educator parents covers Special Educational Needs, ECHPs, dealing with the LEA, and provides resources and support.

Other pages on this site that you might be interested in:

Online courses and CPD for teachers How to deliver online lesson broadcasts Magazine subscriptions for kids and teens Writing competitions for children and teens

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