Online learning is here to stay but it can get expensive if you're not careful. We've compiled a list of websites that offer completely free learning options to help your kids study the subjects you feel they need.
Whether you're new to homeschooling or have been doing it for years, it's always helpful to have new options on hand to engage kids.
This list offers suggestions for pre-k, elementary, middle, and high school students. We've left out the most obvious sites, such as Khan Academy, in favor of offering you other unique, engaging options that include basics like reading, science and math but run the gamut from art history to music.
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Best for History and Art Fans: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
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What We Like
Extremely easy to navigate.
Turns art history into fun, simple lessons.
Multiple ways to engage kids of all ages.
What We Don't Like
We can't find one thing we don't like.
The Met is famous for fashion but a well-kept secret is its website for kids, #metkids. The site offers three different ways to engage kids in historical art facts: A clickable map that lets kids explore 5,000 years of art from around the world; a time machine lets them select different eras to explore; and a video section offers lessons on everything from making a stained glass window (kid-style) to learning about children who live in other parts of the world.
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Best Site for Elementary Ages: National Geographic Kids
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What We Like
A wide variety of learning formats.
Factual information presented in entertaining ways.
What We Don't Like
It can be a bit difficult to find a desired subject in a specific format.
National Geographic is known for its factual information and its site for kids is no different. What's great about this site is that it offers lessons in gaming, video, and photo formats. Kids of all ages appreciate the short written lessons that accompany the visuals and even the quizzes on the site are designed to engage minds with short attention spans.
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Best for High Schoolers: Open Culture
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What We Like
Thousands of available courses.
Easy to use alphabetical list of topics.
What We Don't Like
Ads. Ads. Ads.
You're not always sure where you'll end up online.
Open Culture compiles free upper level classes from universities all over the world and offers the links to users. Study archaeology from the University of Reading, public speaking from Missouri State, or psychiatry and mental health from the University of Sydney plus thousands of other topics. Classes are offered in both written and online formats (including audio books).
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Best for Finding Topics by Grade Level: Funbrain
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What We Like
Offers fun ways to problem-solve.
Is gated by grade level.
What We Don't Like
It's a little tricky to find certain subjects sometimes.
Lots of ads.
If you're looking for a site that offers math and reading options, plus offers games, videos and a general online playground, you've come to the right place. Funbrain is for kids from Pre-K through 8th grade and offers hundreds of free interactive games, books, videos, and printables.
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Best for Learning about Communities: Whyville
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What We Like
Lots of unique activities to engage young minds.
It's sponsored to avoid ads.
You can explore the site on a limited guest account.
What We Don't Like
It's fairly juvenile for most teens.
Created by scientists, Whyville is a site for kds from 3rd to 8th grades. It offers an online community that engages kids by letting them explore, create and solve problems. They can learn to protect coral reefs, use a Whyville currency, participate in the Whyville Senate, and more.
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Best for Pre-K & Early Elementary Ages: Toy Theater
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What We Like
Unique approach to educational games.
Works on computer, laptops, and mobile devices.
What We Don't Like
You can't search by age or grade.
Ads. (But they aren't terribly distracting.)
If you're looking for a site that has games that are out-of-the-box, try Toy Theater. These aren't racing games; they focus on teaching children about different topics such as learning time, the alphabet, measurement, numbers, and much more. The games are very easy to play and cover math, reading, art, and music using online manipulatives and other interactive options.
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Best for Learning about the World: The Old Farmer's Almanac for Kids
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What We Like
Lessons offered are hard to find elsewhere.
Uses history, earth, and animals to engage young minds.
What We Don't Like
It's hard to search for specific topics.
Kids should be able to read if parents can't assist.
This site is just as you'd imagine but updated for the 21st century. It has a daily calendar to help kids learn what happened in history on every day of the year, teaches them about the night sky, clouds, and daily weather, and uses history and animals to teach a variety of lessons. The site is visually friendly and offers information in short chunks, which is great for elementary ages.
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Best for Storytime: Storyline Online
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What We Like
You can search stories by author, reader, title or run time.
The videos and storytellers are excellent quality.
What We Don't Like
The selection is limited.
The filter option doesn't always return great results.
This site from the SAG-AFTRA Foundation features actors reading stories aloud. It's a great option to use when parents need a break; just turn up the volume or give your child headphones and let the storyteller take over in a short video. Captions are provided, which are great for helping younger kids start to read and for reinforcing reading for older children. The videos are well-illustrated and the audio is well-done, so it engages children for the entirety of the video.
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Best for Music Lovers: Chrome Music Lab
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What We Like
Encourages creativity.
Offers multiple, unique musical options.
No registration required.
What We Don't Like
It's a bit difficult to understand and use if you're not a music aficionado.
This site is all about tunes. Making them, practicing them, writing songs, and more. What's unique about this site is that it encourages kids to move, to make and practice patterns, compose their own music, and even pull in math and science at times. This Twitter feed gives you an idea of the many ways the lab is used by teachers.
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Best for Online Quizzes & Assessing Development: TurtleDiary
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What We Like
Online quizzes.
Online assessments to help parents gauge progress.
Includes games, videos, printables and teaching tools.
What We Don't Like
It only goes to fifth grade level.
If you have a tough time getting your child to practice math, language arts, or science or if you struggle assessing their skill level, check out this site. It offers a lot of learning options but the online quizzes remove the need for printing out a ton of worksheets and the online assessments help parents better gauge where a child's strengths and weaknesses are. The site is simple and easy to use, so kids enjoy hanging out on it.
Best for Middle School Math: DeltaMath
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What We Like
Searchable by modules or common core standards.
Assignments teach children as they go along.
Hundreds of math topics provided.
What We Don't Like
It's free but you do need to set up an account to get in and see how the site works.
Only for sixth grade and up.
If you're a parent whose strong suit is anything other than math, this is the site you need to teach math to your kids. Simple create a teacher account, create assignments for your kids, and let the site do all the work. If the child answers a question incorrectly, the site will give them prompts or answers to help them see where the error was so they can correct it.
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Best for Activity & Movement: GoNoodle
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What We Like
It's designed to get kids moving.
Combines activities kids enjoy to encourage physical movement.
Focuses on happiness.
What We Don't Like
The site is difficult to navigate.
Activities are limited (although they are creative!)
Since kids love to play games and watch videos, why not combine both into an educational opportunity that encourages physical movement? That's the premise behind GoNoodle, a site that also offers activities involving tips and uses movement to help with subjects like math, too.
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Coding for Kids: Scratch
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What We Like
Teaches the basics of coding.
No internet connection required.
Completely free.
What We Don't Like
Website is a little cluttered.
Social networking feature isn't appropriate for all children.
Scratch is a programming language designed by MIT's Lifelong Kindergarten Lab to teach children how to code. Recommended for ages 8 to 16, Scratch visualizes code as building blocks to help kids understand the relationships between programming components. No internet connection is required, but users can share their projects online.
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Learning With Familiar Faces: PBS Kids Games
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What We Like
PBS Parents section has helpful tips for adults.
Kids can to browse by their favorite shows.
What We Don't Like
Some games might be too challenging for young kids.
Some games don't have descriptions, so you don't know what to expect.
PBS Kids caters to preschoolers with educational games featuring their favorite characters, such as Arthur, Curious George, and Bob the Builder. Games focus on fundamentals like letters, memory, math, and problem-solving. There are also games related to science, music, and more.
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L is for Learning: Sesame Street Games
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What We Like
Create an account for free.
Sort games by which characters are in them.
What We Don't Like
Account required to access all content.
Links to other websites like YouTube and iTunes.
If your child loves Sesame Street, this website will keep them laughing and learning for hours. Kids can easily navigate the site to find games featuring their favorite characters to learn about shapes, letters, numbers, and so much more. In addition, each game comes with a suggestion for an offline activity that parents can do along with their children to help reinforce the lesson.
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Books for Reading Comprehension: Epic
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What We Like
Thousands of books for children of all ages.
Colorful illustrations.
What We Don't Like
Monthly fee required.
If your little one loves to read, this subscription service is well worth the monthly fee. Users get unlimited access to an online library of books for kids of all ages from pre-schoolers to pre-teens. Books come with quizzes that kids can complete to earn badges.
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Read Along and Sing Along: ABCmouse
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What We Like
Includes games, videos, print outs, and other teaching tools.
Detailed assessments for parents to track progress.
What We Don't Like
Only goes to the fifth grade level.
A lot of elementary schools use ABCmouse because it has educational tools for teachers and parents. In addition to educational games and quizzes, the website features sing-alongs and read-along books for younger students. Get access to the mobile app for a monthly fee.
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Check Out Library Books Online: OverDrive
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What We Like
No late fees for overdue books.
Borrow audio books for free.
What We Don't Like
Requires a library card from your local library.
If your local library partners with OverDrive, your child can check out digital books at no extra cost. It works just like checking out a paper book, but you don't have to worry about late fees since books are automatically returned on the due date. Over 300,000 eBooks for children are sorted into sections, includingYoung Adult Fiction andYoung Adult Non-Fiction.
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Games for Edutainment: Treehouse Games
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What We Like
Games feature popular cartoon characters.
Topics covered include typing and coding.
What We Don't Like
Some games take a while to load.
Fewer games than similar sites.
Treehouse has a mix of casual and educational games featuring characters from popular kids' shows. Although the selection of games is limited, all of the content is high quality. Kids will recognize faces from popular franchises like Paw Patrol, Blues Clues, and Dora the Explorer.
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Safe Viewing for Children: YouTube Kids
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What We Like
Advanced parental controls.
Thousands of hours of kid-friendly content.
What We Don't Like
Some videos include ads.
Not all content is educational.
Not everything on YouTube is kid-friendly, which is why there's a separate version of the site for young children. Naturally, YouTube Kids has a ton of educational videos. Just like with regular YouTube, you can subscribe your child to educational channels and automatically get recommendations for similar content.
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