The internet offers a range of engaging educational websites to help children strengthen and consolidate their literacy, numeracy, science, SOSE and other knowledge.
Parents can work with their children to extend their understanding of concepts or simply spend time completing fun, interactive activities with them.
Apart from the resources available through the Learning Place (Education Queensland's eLearning environment) below is a list of independent websites you may wish to explore to support your child's learning.
Web address: http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/words/ 
Area: ENGLISH - general
Age group: Middle and upper primary and lower secondary
Synopsis: This site was developed to help adults improve their reading, writing skills but is also useful for middle to upper primary and lower secondary students. It provides fact sheets, worksheets, quizzes and games in: grammar, spelling, reading, writing, listening and vocabulary.
Web address: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize/english/
Area: ENGLISH - general
Age group: lower and middle primary
Synopsis: This website provides games and activities in: reading, writing, spelling and grammar.
Web address: http://www.readwritethink.org/parent-afterschool-resources/
Area: ENGLISH - reading and writing
Age group: Prep-12
Synopsis: Engaging ways to introduce children to reading or to encourage them to write. Provides age-appropriate book suggestions and rainy day activities. The site is fun, educational, and easy to use outside of school. Published by the International Reading Association.
Web address: http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/literacy/index.htm
Area: ENGLISH - general
Age group: primary
Synopsis: This site provides activities and games in: words and spelling, grammar, punctuation and writing.
Web address: http://www.spellingcity.com/
Area: ENGLISH - Spelling
Age group: All ages
Synopsis: This partly-commercial site allows you to enter your child's spelling words to help them enjoy their spelling homework and achieve a perfect score in spelling test. With spelling and word games to play online, SpellingCity.com makes practicing for spelling tests fun and exciting for kids. Children can practice their weekly spelling and take their spelling tests online. They can also play spelling and vocabulary games.
Web address: http://www.abc.net.au/dustechoes
Area: ENGLISH
Age group: Years 5-9
Synopsis: These superbly animated Dreaming stories have been collected from the Wugularr (Beswick) Community in Arnhem Land. Visually stunning, the stories illustrate and explain the origins of Aboriginal laws and customs, teach respect and morality and entertain. Activities and study guides can be downloaded. Some of the stories are more suited to secondary students.
Web address: http://cbca.org.au/awards.htm
Area: ENGLISH
Age group: Years P-12
Synopsis: Award-winning books from Australian authors and illustrators are listed here. Reviews can be obtained from their published guides such as Notable Australian Children's Books 2010.
Web address: http://www.cmlibrary.org/bookhive
Area: ENGLISH
Age group: Years P-12
Synopsis: This guide to children's literature, from a public library in the USA, contains hundreds of reviews and recommended reads.
Web address: http://www.dawcl.com/
Area: ENGLISH
Age group: Years P-12
Synopsis: This database enables the generation of simply-annotated reading lists of award-winning books. Users can request lists by age, genre, historical period, year of publication, multicultural emphasis, language or gender. Brief reviews are provided.
Web address: http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/carnegie/
Area: ENGLISH
Age group: Years P-12
Synopsis: Both the Carnegie Medal and the Kate Greenaway Medal winners and shortlisted titles are reviewed on this extremely useful site. The Carnegie Medal is awarded by children's librarians for an outstanding book for children and young people.
Web address: http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/caldecottmedal/caldecottmedal.cfm
Area: ENGLISH
Age group: Years P-5
Synopsis: The Caldecott Medal is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children. Winning books are reviewed.
Web address: http://www.science.org.au/pi/goodbooks/
Area: ENGLISH
Age group: Years P-7
Synopsis: This annotated list of select book titles provides a broad framework for catching children s imaginations and developing their interest in science topics.
Web address: http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/newberymedal/newberymedal.cfm
Area: ENGLISH
Age group: Years P-12
Synopsis: The Newbery Medal is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. Winner's books are reviewed.
Web address: http://education.qld.gov.au/library/resource/eresources/vbook/rosie-wallace.html
Area: ENGLISH
Age group: Years 1-3
Synopsis: This series of 30 virtual books contains many frequently used sight words and is sequenced from simple text and repetitive sentence patterns to longer stories with more complex sentence structures. The books contain recounts and stories of Rosie the rosella and her best friend Wallace the wallaby. The books have been written to encourage and support students' use of picture and context clues and letter-sound knowledge.
Web address: http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/numbers
Area: MATHS
Age group: middle to upper primary and lower secondary
Synopsis: This site was developed to help adults improve their numeracy; however, it is also useful for middle to upper primary and lower secondary students. It includes fact sheets, worksheets, quizzes and games in the areas of: whole numbers, measures, shape and space, fractions, decimals and percentages and handling data.
Web address: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize/maths/
Area: MATHS - general
Age group: lower and middle primary
Synopsis: This website provides games and activities in: numbers, shape, space and measures and handling data.
Web address: http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/maths/index.html
Area: MATHS - general
Age group: Primary
Synopsis: This site provides activities and games in: numbers, space and shape, data and probability, measure skills and maths investigations.
Web address: http://www.arcademicskillbuilders.com/
Area: MATHS - general
Age group: primary
Synopsis: Arcademic offers free educational maths and language arts games to engage, motivate, and help teach students. Children can play free multi-player and single-player games covering: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, integers and fractions and ratios.
Web address: http://www.xpmath.com/
Area: MATHS - general
Age group: primary
Synopsis: XP Math is a good place to find maths games, maths videos, maths worksheets, and maths e-books. The games section of XP Math offers games for basic arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and probability. Create an account on XP Math and you can keep track of your scores.
Web address: http://www.smartkiddies.com.au/
Area: MATHS - general
Age group: lower and middle primary
Synopsis: This site is free for teachers and students, however parents pay a subscription fee. There is a free trial period of 30 days on registration. Smart Kiddies is based on the Australian Curriculum, aiming to make maths fun and challenging.
Web address: http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/revision/Science/index.html
Area: SCIENCE - general
Age group: primary
Synopsis: This site provides activities and games in: living and life processes, physical processes, materials, earth and space and water.
Web address: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize/science/
Area: SCIENCE - general
Age group:lower and middle primary
Synopsis: This website provides games and activities about: living things, materials and physical processes.
Web address: http://www.southbank.qm.qld.gov.au/sciencentre/
Area: SCIENCE
Age group: Years 4-8
Synopsis: This self-funding branch of the Queensland Museum offers interactive science and technology programs for children 'of all ages'. The website provides an overview of the activities that participants (there are no 'visitors' at the Sciencentre - everyone is a 'participant') can enjoy. Divided into Body Zone, Earth Space and Action Stations, the Sciencentre provides activities for people to explore anatomy, forces, electricity, air and other aspects of scientific enquiry. Information is provided on the activities available, but no online activities are presented.
Web address: http://www.mtq.qm.qld.gov.au/
Area: SCIENCE
Age group: Years 3-12
Synopsis: This Museum houses the Maritime Archaeology section of the Queensland Museum and has links to the field excavation site of the Royal Navy warship, 'Pandora', which was sent to the South Pacific to capture the men who had 'pirated' the Bounty.
Web address: http://www.britishmuseum.org/learning/schools_and_teachers/resources/home_educators.aspx
Area: SCIENCE
Age group: Years 4-12
Synopsis: The British Museum has a wealth of resources to assist with home learning.
Web address: http://www.qm.qld.gov.au/learningresources/
Area: SCIENCE
Age group: Years 5-12
Synopsis: This collaboration between the Museum and seconded Education Queensland teachers has produced exciting innovative and interactive resources on topics such as dinosaurs, biodiversity, sustainable living, backyards and the Great Barrier Reef.
Web address: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/kids-only/
Area: SCIENCE
Age group: Years 1-3
Synopsis: For younger children, this site has games, quizzes and explorations on dinosaurs, animal adaptations and insect life.
Web address: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/index.html
Area: SCIENCE
Age group: Years 8-12
Synopsis: This is a gateway to the Museum s vast wealth of natural history resources, providing information, videos and activities based on its collections of specimens and research. Topics range from evolution and geology to biodiversity and Antarctica.
Web address: http://www.csiro.au/
Area: SCIENCE
Age group: Years 9-12
Synopsis: The CSIRO home page links to material regarding many issues confronting the Australian environment. For example, it features National Challenges links to 'Indigenous knowledge and science', 'Murray-Darling basin research', 'Solar power; a future energy source' and 'Understanding climate change' (February 2011). Media releases often relate to issues confronting the Australian environment.
Web address: http://www.abc.net.au/btn/stories.htm
Area: SOSE - Current affairs
Age group: Grades 4-9
Synopsis: ABC News videos based on current affair issues and events happening around the world. Watch online videos of weekly TV episodes on the ABC channel. Introduces young people to the world of news.
Web address: http://www.peo.gov.au/kidsview/menu.html
Area: SOSE - parliament
Age group: middle and upper primary
Synopsis: A useable, interactive and informative website with resources for all ages and levels of knowledge to teach children how parliament works through experiential learning programs and games.
Web address: http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/mapping/kd/?ar_a=3
Area: SOSE - mapping
Age group:middle and upper primary
Synopsis:A great site about mapping. It includes games and easy-to-understand explanations.
Web address: http://www.catchmentdetox.net.au/
Area: SOSE
Age group: middle and upper primary
Synopsis: Play Catchment Detox to see if you can successfully manage a river catchment and create a sustainable and thriving economy. It's an online game where you're in charge of the whole catchment. You get to decide what activities you undertake - whether to plant crops, log forests, build factories or set up national parks. The aim is to avoid environmental problems and provide food and wealth for the population.
Web address: http://cyberschoolbus.un.org/
Area: SOSE
Age group: Years 5-12
Synopsis: This United Nations resource is available in several languages and contains a large number of links to information on the work of the United Nations, plus activities and projects to teach students about world issues in an interactive and engaging way. 'Curriculum' includes information and support material for teachers and students on twenty current world issues such as: world hunger, human rights and racial discrimination.
Web address: http://www.theworkshops.qm.qld.gov.au/Learning+resources/Kids+and+Families
Area: SOSE
Age group: Years P-8
Synopsis: Free fact and activity sheets are available on a range of topics connected with railways.
Web address: http://www.newint.org/
Area: SOSE
Age group: Years P-12
Synopsis: This is an excellent resource, with a 'leftist' alternative bias, that has information on many of today s issues such as climate change, economic development and globalisation and animal rights. It is an excellent site for research in the subject areas of SOSE, Geography, History, and Economics. Many of the articles could also be used in English as exemplars of persuasive texts and would also be useful for cross-curricula links and links to sustainability (both features of the National Curriculum for English).
Web address: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/
Area: SOSE
Age group: Years 6-12
Synopsis: This resource provides country profiles that cover background information on topics such as government, economy, geography, people, climate and environmental and transnational issues. Country profiles may be accessed using the array of flags of the world. Useful appendices include a guide to abbreviations and common terms (political and economic), a guide to international environment agreements and a cross-referenced list of geographic names. There is also a quick reference guide to different fields of information such as age statistics by country. There is a Kids' page which links to activities, interactive games and a section for parents and teachers with lesson plans for teacher use.
Web address: http://www.un.org/
Area: SOSE
Age group: Years 6-12
Synopsis: The site provides detailed and current information on specific aspects of UN operations: Peace and Security; International Law; Humanitarian Affairs; Human Rights; and Economic and Social Development.
Web address: http://www.cobbandco.qm.qld.gov.au/
Area: SOSE
Age group: Years P-10
Synopsis: This Museum, physically based in Toowoomba, focuses on historical and cultural aspects of Queensland and Australia.
Web address: http://www.britishmuseum.org/learning/schools_and_teachers/home_educators.aspx
Area: SOSE
Age group: Years 4-10
Synopsis: The British Museum has a wealth of resources to assist with home learning.
Web address: http://www.britishmuseum.org/learning/schools_and_teachers/web_resources.aspx
Area: SOSE
Age group: Years 4-10
Synopsis: This site of the British Museum contains links to their websites, for students and teachers, that deal particularly with ancient civilisations.
Web address: http://www.csiro.au/
Area: SOSE
Age group: Years 9-12
Synopsis: The CSIRO home page links to material regarding many issues confronting the Australian environment. For example, it features National Challenges links to 'Indigenous knowledge and science', 'Murray-Darling basin research', 'Solar power; a future energy source' and 'Understanding climate change' (February 2011). Media releases often relate to issues confronting the Australian environment.
Web address: http://www.daff.qld.gov.au/home.htm
Area: SOSE
Age group: Years 10-12
Synopsis: The site is divided into sections on business and trade, plants, animals, fisheries, environment, biosecurity and research. The Environment section covers issues such as drought and the Research tab leads to case studies on issues such as food technology. The home page features an 'alerts' link about current biosecurity threats, and 'From the Minister' highlights other current issues.
Web address: http://www.unfoundation.org/who-we-are/impact/engaging-youth/the-global-debates.html
Area: SOSE
Age group: Years 9-12
Synopsis: This United Nations Foundation site offers perspectives related to debate over global issues such as children's health, climate and energy, sustainable development, technology and women and population.
Web address: http://www.learningplace.com.au/deliver/content.asp?pid=49758
Area: Handwriting
Age group: Years 1-3
Synopsis: This site contains QCursive fonts, editor software (to process unjoined to joined characters) and style and joining rules. Handwriting and spelling activity resources for Years 1 to 3 students are also included.
Web address: http://www.abc.net.au/abcforkids/
Area: Multiple Areas
Age group: lower primary
Synopsis: The ABC for Kids website primarily appeals to pre-school children. It provides a gateway to online content relating to ABC for Kids TV programming, as well as providing other games and activities that will appeal to this age group.
Web address: http://www.khanacademy.org/
Area: MATHS, SCIENCE, HUMANITIES
Age group: middle, upper primary and secondary
Synopsis: The Khan Academy is a not-for-profit site with the mission of providing a world-class education to anyone, anywhere. Browse 1800+ videos which present You Tube video clips to explain topics and concepts.
Web address: http://www.howstuffworks.com/
Area: GENERAL KNOWLEDGE
Age group: upper primary and secondary
Synopsis: HowStuffWorks, a wholly owned subsidiary of Discovery Communications, is the award-winning source of credible, unbiased, and easy-to-understand explanations of how the world actually works. Founded by North Carolina State University Professor Marshall Brain in 1998, the site is now an online resource for millions of people of all ages. Helpful graphics and informative videos walk you through topics clearly, simply and objectively.
Web address: http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/
Area: ENGLISH AND MATHS
Age group: primary
Synopsis: Puzzlemaker is a puzzle generation tool useful for creating and printing customized word search, criss-cross, math puzzles and more, using your own word lists.
Web address: http://www.funbrain.com/kidscenter.html
Area: MATHS AND ENGLISH
Age group: primary
Synopsis: Provides a selection of interactive, fun games covering maths and English.
Web address: http://school.discoveryeducation.com/homeworkhelp/
Area: GENERAL
Age group: Primary
Synopsis: Resources to help students in maths, science, English, SOSE, and others.
This page was last reviewed on 19 Jul 2012
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