As some of you might already know, I homeschool our kids, and I frequently get questions about my favorite resources for homeschooling. Our setup changes each year as the kids grow, and with kids ranging from toddlers to middle schoolers, I’ve found several online tools that they enjoy and that streamline my life.
Even if you don’t homeschool, these tools might make schoolwork lighter and help speed up your kids’ learning and homework. Thanks to the internet, there are now so many options to learn just about anything online—this goes for parents too! Most of what I’ve needed to know about starting a business, I learned online.
While these resources aren’t necessarily full homeschool curriculums, they teach essential skills that I believe all kids should learn. Plus, they’re fantastic for adults wanting to pick up these skills too! Most of these resources are free, but the paid ones are definitely worth it.
I’ve mentioned before that I learned to speed read in middle school, and it remains one of the most valuable skills I’ve acquired. It’s something I’m keen to teach my kids because it makes learning everything else easier. I initially struggled to teach them efficiently until I found a program called Spreeder. This tool corrects bad reading habits and trains you to read quickly. Though there’s a free version, I highly recommend the affordable premium version that lets you speed-read almost anything. We’ve got the paid version, and it’s been totally worth it.
Spreeder allows you to paste various text formats into the program, helping you breeze through reading. You can load e-books, articles, and even blog posts into it and start speed reading at 300 words per minute when you begin! My kids enjoy it since it’s on the computer and feels like a fun game where they can somewhat compete on how fast they can read.
The same company behind Spreeder offers other fantastic learning programs. When our favorite piano teacher retired, I struggled to find a new one. A friend mentioned Hoffman Academy, which teaches piano basics online for free. I was skeptical at first, but it turned out to be easy to follow and learn from. The kids love it, and while our house often echoes with the Star Wars theme, they are genuinely enjoying learning piano. To keep things quieter when the baby is napping, we got a keyboard with headphones for practice.
For languages, in school, I learned Greek and Latin, which were great for SATs but less so in daily life. I picked up some Spanish while traveling but never became fluent. Now, as we homeschool, the kids, and I are learning Spanish and French using DuoLingo, a free online tool that gamifies language learning. It’s much more engaging than bookwork, and it sticks better.
What’s especially handy is the app for phones and tablets, so while out, the kids can do a lesson in the car or during sibling sports practice. I’m always amazed at how entire courses are now available online. After checking out many programs, I found a few high-quality ones that meet my standards. Some are free, though my favorites aren’t, but they’re much cheaper than private school and make a great supplement.
The Ron Paul Curriculum, though not free, has been a game-changer for us. It offers classes in all core subjects like math, reading, and history. My kids particularly like the history classes, and I appreciate that it doesn’t require textbooks. College professors deliver the content through video lectures, focusing on writing skills by requiring essays from fourth grade onwards. They also emphasize critical thinking and original sources.
Khan Academy is another excellent all-in-one online curriculum. We use some courses as supplements. Their interactive math, coding, and computer animation programs are favorites with my kids. They even offer advanced classes up to calculus and major test prep—all for free!
Academic Earth offers free advanced classes from various colleges. While it doesn’t provide college credit, it’s an amazing way to learn. You can even find free classes from top universities like Harvard and MIT on their platform.
iTunes U is a fantastic free app that offers over 350,000 lectures and courses from top universities, including Harvard and Stanford. Since it’s audio-based, my kids and I can listen to lectures on the go, like having a degree from an Ivy League school without the hefty tuition!
In our tech-centric world, computer science skills are incredibly valuable. I’ve seen high school students use coding to save for college. We turn to Codecademy for easy-to-understand, interactive coding lessons. It accommodates many coding languages and is accessible to young learners.
One tool I frequently mention is helping my kids learn practical kitchen skills online. Besides knowing how to whip up healthy meals, it also teaches them about measuring, fractions, and following instructions.
For more age-specific resources, you can find recommendations from The Pioneer Woman, which offers a great list of free homeschooling tools.
I’m also experimenting with critical thinking resources recommended by Tom Woods in a recent podcast, and I’ll update you on any new finds.
Do you use online tools for your kids’ learning? What are your favorite homeschooling resources? Feel free to share your best tips!
