Many of us have now just completed our first two weeks of home schooling due to school closures because of the coronavirus outbreak.

We’ve had lots of people ask us for recommendations of resources to help support their child’s homeschooling so we’ve compiled our favourite homeschool resources for primary aged children below.

If you’re looking for daily free activities to do with your primary aged kids why not also watch our free home learning videos on YouTube here. Each day we are providing you with a fun activity to do together covering phonics, numeracy, science and creativity!

Our favourite resources are listed below. You can also find many recommendations on our list on amazon here.

Think we’ve missed some? Get in touch here Cheshiresentutor@gmail.com

Maths

• Number Stacks  using it’s clever combination of online video tutorials and physical pack of resources, ensures that all parents, regardless of teaching or maths experience, can successfully support their child’s primary school maths learning at home.

• Orchard Toys Mammoth Maths Game A fun family game that helps children learn and practise basic sums.
  
• Learning Resources Mathlink Cubes Activity Set We love these little cubes that connect together. Fantastic way of helping children understand maths through play.

•  Arty Numbers Flash Cards by  Imagine That, is a brilliant example of a top quality resource for learning to form the numbers up to 20. Not only are the flash cards colourful, fun and engaging but they are also wipe clean, enabling them to be reused over and over. Have a look at more ways to learn how to form numbers correctly here.

Science

• Science Experiments at Home  As a qualified science teacher, my kids are always wanting to do ‘experiments’ at home, but trying to find ones that we have the equipment for (and that are safe!) can be a minefield. We love this book by B Small Publishers, perfect to pop on the book shelf and dip into on a rainy day when you fancy inspiring your little scientists!



• Oaka Books– We are huge fans of Oaka Books who create fantastic workbooks and revision packs for KS1, KS2, KS3 and Common Entrance Exams- designed with children with Special Educational Needs in mind. They have now even launched Oaka Books Digital which means you can access all their KS3 Topic Books online, as well as interactive activities and quizzes. We’ve had a go and it’s absolutely brilliant.

• Learning Resources EI-5261 Kidnoculars Extreme-GeoSafari I don’t know about your kids, but I’ve noticed kids REALLY like binoculars…there’s something about them that draws children to them. The only problem is binoculars are usually expensive, delicate…and belong to grown ups! And don’t get me started on the strap that dangerously goes round their necks!! That’s why I was over the moon to discover these kid friendly ‘Kidnoculars’ by Learning Resources UK.

•  Primary Science Lab Set by Learning Resources UK. Designed for children aged 3 and up, this Lab Set enables them to try out a whole range of fun science experiments at home or school (with adult support).

• The New Children’s Encyclopaedia– We bought this brilliant childrens encyclopaedia at Christmas and it’s been used more than ever the last two weeks. So nice when they have questions to look it up in a book rather than ‘googling’ it every time. They can learn lots of skills from looking up topics in the index too.

PE

• Joe Wicks PE- we’ve been loving these fun, daily workouts on YouTube designed for kids (but let’s face it, we do them too!)

• Cosmic Yoga Kids– wonderful story based free online yoga classes for kids on YouTube.

• Little Tikes Trampoline – This indoor trampoline is wonderful for helping young children burn off their energy! The handle bar provides stability and it has a large area to jump on!

• Foam Pogo Jumper– Anyone else just a tiny bit excited that a version of the Pogo Stick is making a comeback?! Have a look at these foam pogo jumpers!! They come in a range of colours!

Literacy

Our favourite phonics resources can be found here

• DK Reader Books-  I’ll be honest, I’m becoming a little bit obsessed with these books for teaching reading! They are fab. And what makes them stand out is the array of topics and stories they cover. They aren’t ‘baby ish’ books and kids (in my experience) don’t see them as ‘reading books’ that they have been told to read but as books they’d actually like to read. This is mainly down to the vast range of topics they cover and how they are also non-fiction books too. Have a look at their range here. They cover everything from Star Wars to Dinosaurs!

Dinosaurs! 

• Orchard Toys Match and Spell Game A fun family game that teaches kids how to spell simple words.

• Carter’s Yard Phonics Flash Cards– Augmented reality, ‘talking’ flash cards – the future of learning phonics perhaps? Find out more about these clever phonics flash cards and see how they work in our detailed review here

General

There’s some brilliant downloadable worksheets available online and various workbooks to buy to support your child’s learning.

• Twinkl, who’s website is a treasure trove of wonderful downloadable activities and worksheets, are offering one month (in the first instance) free membership due to school closures. Find out more here.

• Early Years Resources, who sell wonderful toys and learning resources for homes and early years settings, have free downloadable resources which can be found here

• Orchard Toys- in addition to their wonderful workbooks like this one below. They also have a fantastic section on their site called ‘things to do’ with printable activities, colouring sheets and craft ideas here.

*please note we were sent some sample for review. All thoughts and opinions are our own and the post contains some amazon affiliate links. For more info please see our About Me section of our website