My Three Favourite Educational Websites
Photo courtesy of Annie Spratt (Unsplash)
Children can absorb knowledge like sponges absorb water so I like to maximise their learning as much as possible. Not only do I use fun games and activities to facilitate that learning, I also make use of the countless websites out there designed with children’s learning in mind. I could reel off page after page of websites designed to educate your child but time is something people rarely have a lot of so I have whittled it down to my three favourite ones. Whilst what follows is hardly an extensive review, these are my go-to websites when I want to focus children’s education on subjects such as maths, science or literacy.
1. Twinkl.com
This is probably my favourite website, and the one I use most often.
Launched in 2010 by a husband and wife team passionate about helping those who teach, this website is a rich source of information and resources, all of which is provided by those in the teaching profession. With over half a million individual resources, and growing as new material is added on a daily basis, you will never run out of things to teach your children.
The topics covered are broad and wide and all the key stages are covered, from EYFS through to 10th grade/key stage 4. It even covers SEN (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) and EAL (English as an Additional Language), so there really is something for everyone.
As well as providing a lot of information regarding curriculums, teacher planning and classroom management, the learning resources that are presented to you come in the form of worksheets and activities, and with the addition of online games, it means your child can still be learning while they are ‘playing’.
As with many of the good sites out there, there is a set number of worksheets you can download for free each month, but there is a fee payable if you want to have full access to all that is on offer. Whilst schools will undoubtedly pay more, an individual membership ranges from £4.49 a month (at the time of writing this article) to £8.49 a month, depending on the package you go for.
Of course, you can find free worksheets if you are willing to trawl the internet for them but do you really have the time for that, especially when you consider how restricted your choices will be? Also consider the cost of purchasing workbooks from retailers. Ranging anywhere from £2.99 upwards, they are certainly not cheap or extensive in their content, and once all the pages in the book have been completed, that’s all you’re going to get out of it, so it means purchasing another book as equally as expensive and as non re-useable. On top of that there is the number of children you are educating to think about. Even for one child, buying multiple workbooks is expensive but when there are more children to consider, the cost easily outweighs the price of an individual membership with Twinkle.com…but only if you are going to maximise your use of the site and all its features.
All things considered, and given the quality and variety of resources available as well as the range of levels catered for, I highly recommend subscribing to Twinkl.com for all your children’s educational needs, especially if it is something you plan to continue with long term or you have more than one child to cater to.
Photo courtesy of Priscilla Du Preez (Unsplash)
2. Superteacherworksheets.com
Also covering just about every subject you’d want is superteacherworksheets.com.
The level they cover ranges from pre-school to grade 5/key stage 2, and there are resources available for maths, literacy, phonics, reading, spelling, and much more. Some of the resources come in the form of worksheets or workbooks, others are games or activities you can do, but it is all presented in a clear, easy-to-understand way. You can also generate your own worksheets if you want to, though I have never used this function myself, and find other teaching resources such as lesson plans here.
The number of resources available are plentiful but, in order to have full, unlimited access, superteacherworksheets.com ask you to purchase an individual membership for an annual fee of $24.95 (at the time of writing this article). So if you like the look of what is on offer with a full membership, it really isn’t a price that you need to think twice about. It’s less than the price of one fancy coffee a month. Need I say more?
Admittedly, Twinkle.com offers more learning resources for a much greater variety of levels, but they are also more expensive to join, so you have to weigh up the pros and cons for yourself. If you have a wide range of ages to cater for, superteacherworksheets.com may not be for you, but if the level of your children match the level of resources made available to you here, $24.95 for full access is never going to be a waste of money.
3. Education.com
Another favourite website of mine, and one I also frequent quite often, is education.com.
Founded in 2006, and providing educational content and material in over 20 countries and six continents, education.com has racked up a very impressive 27,926,231 members, and the numbers continue to grow.
The level of education this website caters for ranges from pre-school to grade 5/key stage 2. As with the two websites above, it covers all the topics you would expect, delivering each lesson in the form of worksheets, workbooks (for an additional cost), activities, songs, stories and online games (the online games of which are nicely put together in a program called ‘Brainzy’, which many children should be able to navigate themselves once they are familiar with it). On top of all that, they also provide a variety of teaching materials such as lesson plans and worksheet generators, and tools to track your child’s progression. I have used the lesson plans many a time, which I have always found very helpful, but I have not used the worksheet generator or progress trackers.
As far as cost goes, well, you are allowed to download a few select items a month for free, but if you want to have unlimited access to everything you are going to have to pay a small fee. You can pay it monthly or annually but it is cheaper to go for the annual option - $8/month vs $60/annual (at the time of writing this article). That’s a saving of $3/month. Again, I feel this is a fair price for what you get in return - a good mix of educational resources and tools for a variety of ages - so if you are planning to use the website to educate your child, or many children, this too is a great website to use.
Final thoughts…
Photo courtesy of Felipe Furtado (Unsplash)
All these websites provide excellent resources to aid your child’s educational needs, but in the end the final website you choose should be the one that suits your child’s needs (and your wallet) the most. Whatever one you go for will not be money wasted as long as you utilise all the resources made available to you.