Five Great Websites

Five Great Websites

May I just say, “I’m glad we live in the age of the internet”? I know the internet has its evils and let me add, right up front, that we should use this tool carefully and by all means, monitor your children’s use of it very carefully. And yet, with all this information at our fingertips, the internet really is a powerful tool that can greatly enhance our homeschooling.

For me the great discovery began a few years ago when my daughter, three at the time, was learning various animal sounds. It was easy to answer the first few; a cow says ‘Moo’ and so on. My attempts at elephant sounds were admittedly laughable. And then, “What sound does a giraffe make?” I was stumped. After a bit of searching (there are whole websites full of animal noises if you don’t want to try making the sounds yourself), we found the answer on the Riverbanks Zoo website. It turns out that giraffes make a sub-sonic “whooshing” noise using those long throats. Though humans cannot hear it, other giraffes can pick up these sounds up at quite a distance.

Since that first interesting discovery, we have found many other websites that answer many questions from science to math to geography and don’t forget coloring pages! So, without further ado, five of my favorite websites for homeschooling.


1. First-School. My kids are pretty young, and I often need an extra page to keep my preschooler busy during math, or a picture to help illustrate our science lesson. This site also has suggested activities and lesson plans based around various themes. The activities are appropriate for preschool to early elementary school. Not finding a picture of an object you need? Try searching “Kid’s coloring [insert the name of the object]” and you will find countless other sites offering free coloring pages.

2. National Zoo. Greenville has a great zoo, and the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia is really nice too, and isn’t too far to drive for a one day field trip. So why a zoo website? I really like all the information the National Zoo website has to offer. Not only do they have informational profiles on each type of animal, the website also has a lot of information about the day-to-day activities of the animals and their keepers. Located in Washington DC, the zoo is out of range for most of us, but through their numerous webcams and frequent updates we have gotten to know some of these animals better than the ones in our local zoo. The zoo is heavily involved in breeding many endangered species so there are usually baby animals on the webcams as well.

3. Math Drills. Some students may struggle with a certain concept more than others. In math especially it is important to master one concept before moving on to the next. Even the best math book may not provide enough practice for a student who is struggling to master a concept. This website has all kinds of printable math pages from simple addition to fractions and geometry. If you find that your student needs a little extra practice in an area check here for worksheets.

4. Google Earth. Available as a free download, Google Earth really isn’t a website, but it is one of my favorite online resources. After you complete the download, you can view satellite footage of anywhere on earth. In addition many places have pictures pinned to them so you can get an idea of the geography of a region and then see pictures taken from the ground. This was handy for our recent studies of Ancient Egypt. We took a bird’s-eye-view flight down the Nile and found the pyramids. Then we clicked into the pictures for a good look at the Sphinx and the Great Pyramid. What a great way to experience the world. Be sure to try the moon, sky and Mars options under the “View” tab.

5. YouTube. Okay, so this last one could get me in some trouble, but let me explain. This is one of those places that could either be a tool or trouble depending on how you use it. There are a lot of unsavory things posted on YouTube. BUT, there are also a lot of great educational videos there too. We’ve looked at footage of the moon landing, space shuttles launching and landing, time-lapse video of the midnight sun, and a lot more. My advice is to try searching specifically for what you are looking for, eg. “Apollo 11 moon landing”. The descriptions beside the videos should give you some indication of what you are about to view. I try to do my research after my kids have gone to bed and bookmark the videos to watch with them later. It saves time in the school day and keeps us from accidently stumbling upon videos I don’t want them to see.

I know there are a lot of other great websites out there. These are just a few of my favorites. Do you have a few of your own? Let us know. We are always looking for new ways to teach our kids.