Once again, we find ourselves in another national lockdown which means that primary and secondary schools have been closed at least until mid-February. We as parents are faced with homeschooling along with juggling our own work once more.
We've listed some of our staff's favourite sites and content to help keep the kids entertained and healthy till things get back to 'normal'.
Joe Wicks
Why not kick start the day with an active PE lesson. Joe Wicks was hugely popular during the first lockdown and once more he has brought back his exercise sessions 3 times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 9 am. “They will be 20 minutes long and designed for children,” said Joe Wicks in his Instagram post. #PEwithjoe
It is completely free and all you need is yourself and some energy!
Twinkl
Twinkl is an online learning hub where they have created a website full of lesson ideas, activities, and videos for Key Stage 1 to 4. Definitely a big help if you have a wide age range of kids with different learning abilities. There is also a free taster pack to download with activity cards, games, and quizzes. Designed to make each day of the week as easy as possible during a school lockdown.
Rob Biddulph
#DrawWithRob Add a bit of art to the day with Rob Biddulph. He is a Children’s book author and illustrator. Every Saturday at 10 am your kids can follow Rob in a guided draw. This leaves you to get some of your own work done. He also has pre-recorded guided draws too so you can use these throughout the week as well. A fun way to feel a part of the online community, Rob also encourages sharing your finished piece on social media using the hashtag above.
Oxford Owl eBook Library
With school closures, your child’s progress with their school reading scheme may have slowed down slightly. You can get them back on track with the brilliant ebooks from leading educational publisher Oxford University Press. The virtual library is stocked with books for primary school children of all reading levels.
BBC Bitesize Daily
BBC Bitesize is brilliant for daily lessons as it has a huge range of online lessons in English and Maths tailored to your child’s key stage. You can use these to supplement what your child is learning at school or even just to keep them busy when you're trying to get the ironing done!
There are now also three hours of educational programs for primary school children on BBC2. Starts at 9 am, hosted by some faces you may recognise like Karim Zeroual and Oti Mabuse.
If you are looking for some more inspiration, take a look at the following list from The Independents Indy Best: 9 best home-schooling books to educate kids during the lockdown.
Let us know if there are any other resources that parents should know about.
Title image credit: HconQ/Shutterstock
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