Are you new to homeschooling? Do you need free home education resources? This is a round up of some of the best freebies out there!
Grow Your Own Potatoes
The GYOP project was launched in 2005, and is still thriving today. Register for your free growing kit, which will be delivered around February. It arrives in a cardboard box, which you use as the chitting tray for your seed potatoes. You get 2 plastic grow bags, 2 varieties of potato, labels for the grow bags, reward stickers, and an instruction booklet (which has doubled up as a poster for the past couple of years). For the non-green fingered (like me) this is an easy way to teach Botany, as potatoes thrive even with minimal care. Get the kids to help plant, water, and observe the potatoes. Then, on harvest day, there’s all the fun of sifting through the soil to find their potato crop. Everything you need is supplied, except for compost.
Seed potatoes, in chitting tray, from GYOP 2014.
Into Film Festival
The Into Film Festival is held in November, and is open to all young students nationwide. It provides the opportunity to see interesting, thought-provoking films free of charge. Register for your free account, anytime. Bookings are usually open from the start of September, until the end of the festival. (So, if you really want to chance your luck, you can book right up till the day before a screening. However, popular films – particularly those geared towards primary school ages – will fill up fast.) The festival is targeted towards 5 to 19 year olds. Home educators can bring younger siblings, if necessary; just take common sense precautions like bringing quiet snacks, or being prepared to whisk a little one out of the room if they’re being noisy. There’s also supporting resources, on the Into Film website, to get the most out of your free film screenings.
Khan Academy
This is a free, online course provider. Many subjects are covered, from Maths to Chemistry, and World History to Computer Animation. Khan Academy is suitable for primary, secondary, and college aged students. However, the core subject, that’s actually geared up for YR upwards, is Maths. Hour of Code and Computer Programming are suitable for primary aged students, but some of the other subjects are a bit too advanced for the littlest learners. Register for your teacher account today, add your students, and track their progress. It’s completely free, with zero adverts, as it’s a non-profit organisation funded by donations.
Teacher’s Pet (Display Resources)
The Teacher’s Pet brand covers a number of websites but the Teacher’s Pet (Display Resources) website is entirely free, and has beautiful posters that you can print at home. If your homeschool budget is a bit stretched, this year, this is a good alternative to some of the lovely display resource websites that charge subscription fees.
Time to Read (Book Trust)
The Book Trust issues free books for Reception aged children, in England. There’s a new title, every year, so you won’t end up with duplicate copies unless you have twins or other multiples. The book packs are usually distributed via schools during September. However, homeschoolers can order Time to Read packs, directly from the Book Trust, for their 4 to 5 year old children. (Please note, the books are specially chosen for this age group so, please, only order if your child is the right age.)
Various Special Mentions
Special mentions go to: CIMT for their free Mathematics Enhancement Programme, First-School for their excellent selection of free preschool and kindergarten materials, Handwriting Worksheets for their free handwriting worksheet generator, and Math Salamanders for their free Maths worksheets.
The following resources are not entirely free, but do have some fantastically good freebies on offer: Have Fun Teaching generously shares lots of free worksheets, TeachersPayTeachers is an online marketplace for peer-to-peer sales and lots of lovely freebies, and Twinkl is always fabulous and offers many free resources (although you do need to browse for them).
What are your favourite free resources for British home educators? Please leave a comment, with your suggestions; I’d love to know what you recommend.
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