Online Learning Sites

These are the top picks for online learning sites, as recommended on our group recently. There are, of course, many great sites for reference material and activities on the web, and we have a page of Subject Links where recommended sites are sorted by subject. This page, though, is more selective.

Structured Learning
These sites have some form of structure - most will take you through a course. All the sites listed on here have been strongly recommended by somebody - but different things suit different families, so take advantage of the free trials and see which work for you.

BBC Bitesize - free guides and activities, including many online games, for the whole of the UK National Curriculum, all ages.

Reading Eggs - complete game-based system for learning to read, for children any age between around 3 and 8, and a follow-on program called Reading Eggspress for roughly ages 7-13 which focuses on comprehension and grammar skills. Free 2-week trial. Special discounted rate for home educators of £25 per child, per year, which is nearly always less than any other discount on offer. To claim the home educators' rate, phone them on 0117 360 0248.

Teach Your Monster To Read - free program from Usborne which is getting rave reviews, aimed at children who are just learning to read, and those needing some reinforcement. They have committed to keeping the desktop version free.

Education City - program including maths, english, science and languages for primary-aged children. Discount for home educators via the link above.

Mathletics - game-style maths practice program with some instruction, for ages 4-18 although the style probably suits younger children better. To find the teaching element, if you click on the question mark it shows you worked examples. Includes National Curriculum maths by topic, games, and "live mathletics", where you can have live mental arithmetic battles with children in other parts of the world. There are many different levels to compete on, so you can always find something where you have a chance of winning. Discount for home educators - £25 per year (£39 for the general public). Register as a home educator during the sign-up process to be offered discount. No free trial as such, but a 10-day money-back guarantee.

Conquer Maths - well-established maths tutor program, for ages 4-18 although most popular with secondary-age students. Tailored to the UK National Curriculum, including full GCSE maths and some A-level modules. Substantial 40% discount for home educators - ask on the home-ed email groups for the discount code. Sometimes a group purchase is available through home-ed groups for only £31 a year.

CGP Maths Tutor - maths tutorial videos and practice, available as a DVD or online. Covers the whole GCSE curriculum - like a private lesson on each topic, which you can do before working through the section in a textbook or workbook. Cheap - under £10. There is also CGP Maths Buster, which is aimed at revision or for people who have some problems with maths - it gives you tests to identify areas which need more work, then gives you directed teaching and practice based on what you need.

Maths Whizz - aimed at 5-13 years. You can sign up for a free trial to see if it suits. Ask on online groups to see if there is a group deal on before signing up to the paid version.

BBC Dancemat Typing - free online typing tutor aimed at younger children.

Brainpop UK - Bite-sized short films on all sorts of interesting things. Some free resources, or subscribe for full access. Ask on the online home-ed groups for the latest home-ed discount code. This site is for roughly 10+, or there is Brainpop Jr for 6-11 year-olds.

Pearson Activelearn - GCSE-level online revision programs for maths, sciences, languages. Prices on the Pearson site are sky-high, but deals come up very regularly on Groupon and Amazon Local, usually £39 or £49 for 2 years' access to a bundle of subjects. Not a complete course, but useful for reinforcement or revision.

Distance Learning Course Providers at GCSE level or thereabouts - from the HE Exams Wiki.

Subject Links - don't forget our full list of sites recommended by home-edders, sorted by subject.

Recent Picks:
Tips from Sharon:

Some things my daughter has enjoyed. They are just games, though, not courses but probably come under the heading of ‘purposeful babysitting'!

http://www.coolmath-games.com - loads of maths games, including logic type stuff as well as practising numbers etc. It's not arranged in any particular order so requires a bit of a look around to find useful stuff,  but I tended to pick 3 or 4 and then leave DD to play them and she often found some she liked too. She much preferred this to mathletics.

http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/launchpad/launchball - Arrange blocks, mirrors, fans etc to get the ball to land in the square. Probably best for 10+ but that’s a bit of a guess. The science museum does other games too but this is our favourite.

http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/whoami/thingdom.aspx . DD also loves this - create baby things using the laws of genetics. Very cute!

We used this for touch-typing http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/z3c6tfr - if you can cope with the rather strange accents of the animals!