Thursday Thirteen #2

Thirteen Free Educational Web Sites Kids Love

As homeschoolers, we are always on the look out for free and educational things. Here are some websites, in no particular order. Of course, you certainly don't have to be a homeschooler to enjoy them!

1. Hands down this is Lydia's favorite web site. It teaches ABC's, phonics and reading. It says it is designed with first graders in mind, but is useful for pre-K to second grade. Lydia started playing this at four and Nolan, at two and a half, loves to watch her play. He isn't able to operate the mouse yet, but is trying.

2. Millsberry is one of Kellen's (8) favorite places to be. There are tons of things to do in Millsberry, some of them just fun, many of them educational. Games in the arcade are organized by category:

Fitness

Civics

Intelligence

Reward

3. Fun Brain also has a variety of games. Choose by grade level or by subject. Math baseball was always one of my students favorites when I was teaching in middle school.

4. Lemonade Larry is a good one for math involving money.

5. Who wants to be a Mathionaire? Get those multiplication facts down by playing Mathionaire, based on the popular game show.

6. Game Goo. I love their motto: Learning that sticks. They have a nice parent section which explains the games and the concepts that are taught. The site is geared to preschoolers to early readers. As you might imagine the games have silly names, such as "Paw Park Sassy Seals"

7. Had to get a history one in. Jamestown Online Adventure for Kids. Students become the Captain of the Jamestown colony and make decisions to ensure the survival of the colony.


8. It has been awhile since I've played this one, but it was popular with my students. Amazon Interactive. There are informational pages and an Ecotoursim simulation game.

9. It is amazing how many people don't know how to type. Kellen is working on learning the key board. A free site to help is goodtyping.com.

10. Have a budding young entrepreneur? Have them play the Lemonade Game.

11. Learning with Dora, Blue's Clues and Diego? Can you beat it? Really, the Nick Jr. games are educational, and, of course, the kids are more than happy to see their favorite characters.

12. The Great Plant Escape. Learn all about plants.

13. The mother of all educational websites. Internet4Classrooms. The site is geared toward teachers, but it is a great resource for parents too. Pick the grade level and subject you want to work on. There are 100's of sites listed. Once you pick the subject and grade level, you can look for a particular skill. This is where I go when I need something new to teach a concept or when reinforcement is needed. For grades K-8.

What are your favorite educational websites? We are always looking for more free and educational!

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