Ever since the rollout of the Common Core program, many parents are facing the challenge of being ill-prepared to help their children out with their homework. But don’t worry: there are tons of homework help sites out there that are fun, informative, and can help parents learn how to help their kids with academic work in a more positive and engaging way.
Homework help sites are designed in such a way that your child is able to learn about their homework in a fun, engaging manner that motivates them to study. With the right amount of supervision from parents, these homework help sites can even be a way for parents and children to bond, not to mention allow the adults in the room to relearn key concepts from their school days!
We scoured the internet and found some of the most comprehensive, fun, and grade-appropriate homework help sites there are. Here’s what we found:
Fact Monster
Grade: K to 8th
Subjects: All
A reference site for students, teachers, parents, and everyone in between, Fact Monster is like a colorful and fun Wikipedia for children. Part of the Family Education Network, Fact Monster has resources for students from K to 8, whether it’s online math flashcards that teach basic arithmetic, easy-to-read encyclopedias that are comprehensive and written in an age-appropriate language, interactive atlases that let you explore countries, updated almanacs about various topics from history to geography to science, and many more. Fact Monster also has lessons on writing, whether it’s basic essay writing, autobiography, and even lessons on compiling bibliographies.
Website: http://www.factmonster.com/homework/
Wonderopolis
Grade: K to 8th
Subjects: All, but with a focus on Science and Social Studies
Kids can sometimes ask difficult questions: why is the sky blue, what are mountains made of, how many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop? (hint: it’s 364)
For all these questions, and more, Wonderopolis has the answers! Unique amongst homework help sites, Wonderopolis spends a majority of its content answering user-submitted questions, mostly from children in K to grade 8. The questions are answered via fun videos or informational articles. And there are thousands of questions that Wonderopolis answers, from “Where does old money go?” or “Who invented potato chips?” to “What is fluoride”. It’s basically like an educational Google, but for kids!
Website: http://wonderopolis.org/
Scholastic Parent & Child
Grade: All, but with a focus on K to 8th
Subjects: All
As one of the leading educational publications in the world, Scholastic has put together a homework help site that is comprehensive, subject-specific, and grade-appropriate. Here, you and your child can read up on everything from the branches of the American Government, facts about Greece, or the basics of geometry.
But what sets Scholastic apart is their Flash Card Maker, which allows parents to create fun and interactive online flash cards for math and vocabulary lessons. There’s also a Spelling Wizard to make fun word search and word scramble challenges.
Website: http://www.scholastic.com/parents/
Hippo Campus
Grade: All, but with a focus in Middle School and Above
Subjects: All, but with a focus on Math and Science
For older students, Hippo Campus is one of the better homework help sites thanks to their multimedia academic content ranging from informative videos, easy-to-digest animations, challenging quizzes, and even subject simulations. Hippo Campus has over 5,000 free videos in its library, with most of them coming from well-established academic institutions. These videos cover over a dozen subject areas, from algebra, calculus, and geometry, earth sciences, Physics, and chemistry, to the humanities like history and English.
Hippo Campus also has interactive portions on their website for middle school students like STEMbite, a series of videos about real world applications of science and math; Math Snacks, on the other hand, is an interactive corner that focuses on videos and games that teach middle school kids about mathetical concepts.
Website: http://www.hippocampus.org/HippoCampus/
Parent Toolkit
Grades: All
Subjects: Focuses on Math and English
ParentToolKit is a homework help site that is sponsored by Pearson and produced by NBC. With these high-flying backers, you can be sure that ParentToolKit has one of the most comprehensive resource libraries out there. The site segments its content by grade, from preschool and grade school all the way to middle school and senior high. Each section takes into account the Common Core Standards that are being applied to each grade’s academic lesson plan.
ParentToolKit has “Benchmarks”: grade-specific guides that your kids can use when reviewing for their math and English subjects (the websites specialty). The Benchmarks are also a great way to get ahead in the semester, as these guides are available all-year round.
The homework help site also offers sample problems in both math and language arts, as well as actionable tips for parents to improve their home teaching skills. All of these and more are available both at their website and through their mobile app.
Website: http://www.parenttoolkit.com/
Ask Dr. Math
Grades: All
Subjects: Focuses on Math
Drexel University’s nonprofit forum, Ask Dr. Math is an online community board where students of all levels can go and ask their math related questions. The questions come from students from all grades, so expect to see queries that range in complexity, from basic arithmetic to calculus and trigonometry related questions. But don’t worry, Ask Dr. Math makes it easy for users to browse answers by age group. However, because of the diversity of questions presented in this homework help site, students can read ahead and learn more advanced topics whenever they want.
Website: http://mathforum.org/dr.math/
Study Geek
Grades: All
Subjects: Focuses on Math
StudyGeek.org is unique amongst homework help sites because a lot of their content was created with the help of legitimate math experts with PhDs! StudyGeek has sections for students of all grades, whether it’s basic algebra and geometry, to advanced calculus and even statistics.
Each section was crafted with the help of math professors from established universities and double-checked by their peers. When you enter a specific section, you’ll find sample problems as well as helpful guides to figuring out their solutions.
They also have a nifty Math Solver tool, where you input values and the site gives you a step-by-step solution to get to the answer.
Website: http://www.studygeek.org/
Common Core Works and Common Core
Grades: All
Subjects: Focuses on Math and English
To differentiate itself from other homework help sites, CommonCoreWorks lets parents print out a “Parent Roadmap”: a useful resource for parents to refer to when helping their kids with Math and English homework. The Roadmaps are available for all grades from K to 12th, and can be printed in either English or Spanish. Meanwhile, CommonCore provides “tip sheets” for parents who are curious as to how the “new math” process works.
As their name suggests, both CommonCoreWorks and CommonCore uses a comprehensive lesson plan based on the Common Core curriculum, including math and English exercises that vary in difficulty.
Website: http://www.cgcs.org/domain/104, http://commoncore.org/parents
