Tag: home schooling

From classroom to the living room

The five best mobile apps to help parents with home schooling

 With a stark rise in the amount of time kids are now spending at home with the national lockdown, many parents are feeling the strain of having to play teacher whilst balancing their work life.  

To help parents swat up on subjects they might have forgotten from their school days, or give their children easy-to-access educational resources, online smartphone retailer, e2save, has curated the best educational apps you can start using in seconds.  


  1. BBC Bit    esize (available for iOS, Android) 

The popular GCSE BBC learning tool is packed full of resources across a large variety of core subjects within the school curriculum. With a variety of learning methods, such as flashcards and videos, there’s plenty to keep children engaged in their studies and the interface is easy to navigate on mobile or tablet.

By using this free app, you have all the exam specific learning material available at your fingertips, with exam level interactive quizzes to help parents keep their year 10 and 11 students on track whilst they’re unable to attend school.  


  1. Photomath     (available for iOS, Android) 

Maths is often the Achilles heel of students and adults alike, especially when it comes to getting your head around complex equations and theory. To aid any parent struggling to help their children with maths lessons or homework, the simple to use Photomath app is free and allows you to scan in live images of your maths problems using your phone camera to help solve them. 

The app comes with a step-by-step tutorial of how to upload the images and then offers a number of logical solutions for the maths problem for you to work through. Whether it’s addition and subtraction, multiplication, fractions or even trigonometry, this app will help you find easy to understand solutions for maths at every level, and understand the theory behind it, with no internet access or data usage required. 


  1. Duolingo     (available for iOS, Android) 

Learning a new language is difficult enough, but without the help of teachers and official learning material, the process becomes much harder for parents to replicate at home. Duolingo is a free app that allows students access to bite sized lessons to practice speaking, reading and writing in more than 35 languages. 

Duolingo is suitable for any ability, starting from as young as primary school age, right through to teaching adults for business and travel purposes. The app allows you to log and track your progress each session, making organising learning around other subjects effortless.  


  1. TED-ed     (available for iOS, Android) 

TED-ed has been developed to allow educators and teachers around the world to submit succinct, easy to follow lessons on virtually any subject at the touch of a button. All videos uploaded have been refined to make sure they are less than 10 minutes long and are combined with high quality, fun animations to ensure children are kept engaged throughout. 

This app is available for free and parents can use it to replicate virtual lessons on subjects and specific topics. If your child is struggling with a particular problem in English for example, which you may not be equipped to solve, you can find the solution on TED-ed, providing a virtual teacher in the absence of the classroom environment.  


  1. Epic!     (available for iOS, Android) 

Epic! gives you access to a digital library of 40,000 high quality e-books and audiobooks, as well as learning videos and interactive quizzes suitable for children as young as nursery level, right through to start of secondary school. 

The app is designed to be as easy to navigate as possible, allowing parents to set their children up with easy access to their favourite stories and new books to help them develop their reading and literacy skills. Epic! also hands out progress badges to keep children engaged and excited to read. The app is free for school teachers and librarians but will be free on a one-month trial for parents too, paying just £5.85 a month thereafter.  

Karl Middleton, mobile expert at e2save, commented: “Schools being closed nationwide has resulted in many parents having to balance working from home with their children’s studies, which can be an incredibly stressful time. 

“While parents may have studied many of the subjects their children do whilst they were at school, being suddenly relied on to help with maths, English literature or even modern languages can be a daunting prospect. 

“However, these handy apps are readily available for anyone with access to a smartphone or tablet and will certainly be a real help to parents to organise and support their children’s studies, creating a virtual classroom at home in lockdown.”  


All these apps are available to download on the latest smartphones. Find great SIM-free and contract deals right here at e2save.com. 

Amazon offering free resources to help families with home learning

As the country remains in lockdown with millions of parents, carers and students facing weeks of remote learning, Amazon is offering free and inspirational learning essentials to help while schools are closed. 

Below we have listed a range of educational resources freely available from today across Science, Mathematics, English and Physical Education.

More information can be here: https://blog.aboutamazon.co.uk/in-the-community/home-schooling-resources-for-parents-carers-and-children-during-lockdown 

What is Amazon offering?

Maths 

·       Amazon Maths4All now offers hundreds of free maths games, apps and challenges on Alexa, worksheets for Kindle and Fire Tablets, and caters for a range of ages across primary and secondary school, learning styles and abilities.

·       Students can tune into a maths lesson from Rachel Riley, Countdown presenter and the nation’s favourite mathematician, who joined our Very Important Breakfast Clubs to play the numbers game and show that maths is ‘easy as Pi’.

·       You can even involve Alexa in learning from home. Get started by saying, “Alexa, ask the Maths Coach to start a test”, or “Alexa, ask the Maths Coach for a hard addition test”.

·       Amazon has injected some fun into times tables lessons with free games available to download on Amazon Fire Tablets. Older students can try out Timestables Rockstars while younger learners can play ‘Meet the Numberblocks!’.

Science

  • The Hour of Code Dance Party is the perfect feel-good Friday finish after a long week of remote learning. This interactive dance-themed online coding tutorial gives students the opportunity to build their computer science skills while have some fun coding characters to dance to songs from leading artists. 
  • Dr Ranj Singh, the NHS doctor and BAFTA award-winning TV presenter, is providing a short brain-busting lesson in biology. Children in years 1 -7 can learn about the growing brain and how to keep your brain healthy.
  • Amazon Future Engineer is our comprehensive childhood-to-career programme designed to inspire, educate and enable children and young adults from lower-income backgrounds to try computer science. Earlier this year, Amazon Future Engineer launched free virtual coding programmes to help young people build computer science skills while learning at home.
  • Those aged 11-16 can enter the Amazon Longitude Explorer Prize, which challenges students to develop technological innovations to help solve some of the world’s biggest issues (entries close 12th February 2021)

English

·       Young people and parents can listen to stories at Stories.Audible.com, with specially curated categories such as ‘Littlest Listeners’ and ‘Elementary’ offering free audio books. Get whisked away to Alice In Wonderland (read by Scarlett Johansson), Jane Eyre (read by Thandie Newton), Anne of Green Gables (Read by Rachel McAdams) and Frankenstein (read by Dan Stevens). 

Physical Education

·       As breaktime moves from the playground to indoors, students can practise their football freestyle flair with Lia Lewis, British freestyle footballer and TikTok superstar, who will teach neck stalls, knee blocks and how to do a cross catch in her lesson.

10 expert tips on how to homeschool children while working from home

With almost half of English secondary schools sending children home to self-isolate last month[1], many parents will once again have to balance homeschooling while still doing their own work.

So how do you balance home education and working from home? Oxford Home Schooling, one of the UK’s leading home education providers, has given its ten top tips on how to do just that.

1. Don’t worry about recreating the full school day

When they’re at school, children aren’t learning from the second they arrive until the hometime bell – they walk between lessons, have breaks and spend time settling into classrooms. So don’t worry about making them work non-stop from 9 to 3:30. One-to-one teaching is more efficient than normal group lessons anyway, so even a couple of hours can be really valuable, and these can fit in around your work.

2. Make use of online resources

A great way to keep your child engaged is to utilise the amazing variety of resources available online. Too much screen time is unhealthy, but technology definitely has a place. The BBC, for example, has recently launched an incredible array of educational content on BBC Bitesize and your child can work through the exercises on their own.

3. Encourage independent learning

This is most relevant for older children, but you simply won’t be able to get your own work done if you are supervising your child all day. Whether you invest in workbooks or make use of content their school sent home with them, find some tasks that your child can complete independently. Check-in occasionally, but trust them to get on with it. This helps with self-sufficiency and time management, while also giving you the opportunity to work.

4. Be in the moment

Quality not quantity is the way forward. When helping your child, you need to be completely focused and in the moment, not answering emails at the same time or checking your phone. Give your child your undivided attention and then you’ll both get the most out of that time. Otherwise you’ll spend longer having to re-explain tasks and answering questions.

5. Help them communicate with their friends

There’s more to school than just work and your child will undoubtedly be missing their friends and the social side of normal life. So help them reconnect by setting up video calls. They can catch up, have a laugh and chat about how they’re finding everything, all while you’re being productive.

6. Share responsibilities

This might not be possible in all households, but if there is more than one person capable of overseeing the homeschooling, take it in turns. Split the day up between you so you each have a few dedicated hours where you can get your own work done.

7. Be flexible

One of the benefits of homeschooling is that there’s no strict time schedule, so there’s nothing forcing you to teach your child during normal school hours. If you work 9-5, maybe teach them for an hour at 8am and then do a couple of hours after you’ve finished. Or perhaps do a couple of hours at lunch and push your work back slightly if possible.

8. Talk to other parents

There are millions of parents in the same boat as you so chat to each other and compare notes. See what’s working for them and share tips on how to make the most out of the situation. They may even be able to virtually supervise your child for a while, before you repay the favour.

9. Make lists

Make a to-do list every day of the things you want to achieve before you go to bed, both homeschooling tasks and your own work. This helps you prioritise throughout the day and ensures you at least get the most important things done for both you and your child.

10. Play to your child’s strengths

Your child is more likely to keep themselves entertained if they are good at the task they are doing. So when setting independent activities, tailor them to their strengths, whether that’s reading, writing or drawing.

Dr Nick Smith, Director at Oxford Home Schooling, said: “Homeschooling is still a relatively new experience for many families and, while the routine will certainly take some getting used to, there are lots of benefits and hopefully our tips show that parents don’t need to sacrifice their own work to help their children learn.”

For more advice on how to get the most out of homeschooling, visit: 

https://www.oxfordhomeschooling.co.uk/revision-techniques/improve-memory-concentration/

Home Schooling: Parents worry that children will fall behind

  • Two thirds of parents say their child’s education is more important than their job during lockdown
  • Average parent can only commit 3 hours a day to home schooling
  • A third of parents worried their children will fall behind in modern subjects they don’t feel comfortable teaching

A new study has revealed that 1 in 5 UK parents will only be able to spend up to two hours each day on home schooling their children during the current school closures, leaving them worried that youngsters will miss out on learning certain subjects.

In research commissioned by BT to launch its Code a Cake online experience, it was found that on average parents of children aged 5-11 would be able to dedicate three hours a day to home schooling, despite 66% saying that their children’s education takes priority over their job.

As parents across the country find themselves thrust into juggling full time work with full time teaching for the foreseeable future, more than a third (32%) are worried that their children will fall behind in certain subjects as no one in their household is confident enough to teach them.

Of the subjects to be cut from the domestic curricula, subjects such as computer sciences – including coding – are most likely to be scrapped first as parents weren’t taught them at school: just 24% of those questioned feel comfortable teaching IT and computer science, while coding is the subject parents feel least comfortable with (only 8% do). In comparison, the subjects parents feel most comfortable teaching at home are maths (62%), English (58%) and P.E. (43%).

BT Code a Cake is a new online experience which introduces children aged 6-11 to the art of coding through a simple baking analogy, allowing parents to teach their children coding in a simple and fun way.

Kerensa Jennings, Digital Impact Director, BT, said: “With the UK facing such extraordinary hardship, BT wants Code a Cake to play a small, yet important role in inspiring and supporting parents and children at this challenging time.

“Families need more help than ever as they try to keep their kids educated and entertained at home. Our Skills for Tomorrow initiative is here to help people make the most of technology, and we want to do our bit to help children have fun and keep on learning.”

Presenter and father, Joe Swash, who has been using BT’s Code a Cake to teach his kids coding, added: “Code a Cake has been amazing for helping me keep the boys occupied at home, it’s an even bigger bonus that they’re learning a new skill, particularly something so important such as coding.

“I am quite out of my depth when it comes to teaching digital skills, so anything that can help is invaluable. It is simple, fun, and I’m sure will come in handy for lots of parents over the coming weeks.”

More on BT’s Skills for Tomorrow initiative can be found here: bt.com/skillsfortomorrow

Code a Cake is available here: bt.com/codeacake

Support for BBFC initiative to help homeschooling families keep children safe

  • Free educational resources available on the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) website to help parents with homeschooling
  • Initiative supported by Government and leading charities, including Barnardo’s, PSHE Association and Childnet
  • Check the age rating and accompanying ratings info of BBFC rated films or episodic content on the BBFC’s website and free app

Coronavirus is changing daily lives, and in facing the current crisis parents are finding themselves faced with the task of homeschooling their children to keep them safely indoors.

The BBFC has a range of free educational resources, case studies and tools available online, which can help children to access fun, interesting and age-appropriate material. The BBFC’s age ratings, ratings info and resources can also help families more generally choose content well, and avoid potentially distressing material.

  • CBBFC is the BBFC’s dedicated website for children, which parents can use as a tool to help their children understand what content is right for them, how their choices affect them and those around them, and how to choose films and TV shows well.
  • The BBFC’s Parents’ Guide to Age Ratings is designed to help parents and carers navigate content with their children. Films, TV shows and websites can make a huge difference in children’s lives, and for children’s healthy development and own sense of wellbeing staying safe online is crucial.
  • Families can check the age rating and long ratings info – which describes in detail the category defining issues – for BBFC rated content on the BBFC website and free app, keeping their children safe online.
  • Children can have a go at being a BBFC compliance officer, and rate a trailer themselves. Using the BBFC classification guidelines, children need to think critically about the content in the trailers, consider the audience, and can compare their answer with the actual age rating and ratings info.
  • Written in partnership with the PSHE Association, the BBFC’s PSHE free resources outline useful ways for parents to use films to talk about films with their children. Parents can download free worksheets, discussion points and lesson plans.
  • Parents can check out a round up of case studies on the BBFC website, which suggests films to watch and each gives insight into the classification process, as well as suggested discussion points so that parents can help their children begin to think critically about film.
  • The BBFC has published a list of educational films and TV shows that are available to stream now on video on demand platforms.

Faye Harcourt, Director of Marketing and Outreach at the BBFC, said: “We are here to help families and young people choose content well. In these difficult times, families are inevitably spending more time online — for homeschooling, entertainment or spending time together as a family.

“It is hard for parents to monitor closely what their children are watching online in normal times but now it is even more challenging.  For children’s healthy development and parents’ peace of mind, staying safe online and learning how to avoid content that might upset or disturb is crucial.

“Our dedicated children’s website, CBBFC, has the tools to help parents understand how to keep children safe online and how to teach them to view content that is appropriate to their age. But also it has some fun resources which are enjoyable as well as educational. Film is a great medium to start getting your children thinking critically, as well as giving them an understanding of how what we watch affects us and the people around us.”

This initiative and round up of free resources from the BBFC is welcomed by Government and children’s charities from across the UK.

Minister for Digital and Culture, Caroline Dinenage, said: “As we stay at home to protect the NHS and save lives, it is important that parents and children can access appropriate content for their age.

“The government is completely committed to internet safety and I am delighted to see initiatives like this support our work.”

Barnardo’s Chief Executive Javed Khan said: “The internet is a fantastic tool for parents who are homeschooling their children during the lockdown, and also for streaming their children’s favourite TV programmes at the end of the day. But with so much content available it can be difficult to know what is safe for children.

“The online world must be as safe as the offline world and we cannot expect children to protect themselves. It’s vital that parents have discussions with their children about what is safe for them to watch and why. The BBFC’s website is a useful resource for parents to help assess what’s safe for their children and to help them start conversations at home.”

Sally Martin, PSHE Association Subject Specialist said: “With growing technological developments surrounding film and video content, young people are increasingly required to manage their own viewing habits.

“This is especially true at the moment, where families are spending more time indoors — watching films and media content online is a popular leisure-time activity. These BBFC resources give pupils or children in Year 5-6 (aged 9-11) the opportunity to discuss relevant scenarios, rehearse the skills of decision making and managing peer influence, and understand how age ratings can support safer choices around the media they consume.”

Will Gardner, CEO of Childnet International, said: “In these unprecedented times, where families are finding themselves indoors much more, it’s more important than ever to give children the skills they need to stay safe online.

“We know it can be challenging for parents to keep an eye on their children’s online habits, but these resources from the BBFC can help children make informed decisions about the content they choose to watch.”

The BBFC will continue to highlight movies on their social media channels: their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram which are being broadcast that families in lockdown can watch together, with fun quizzes for children and parents alike.