Even the best homeschool curriculum needs to be supplemented from time to time. Whether it’s to enhance learning or further explore topics of interest, I’ve come to rely on several fantastic supplemental sites in our homeschool.
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Today I’m sharing those go-to resources for supplementing and how they’ve helped in our homeschool. Let’s get started, shall we?
My Favorite Homeschool Supplemental Sites
1. Pinterest
It’s likely that you’re already familiar with the goldmine Pinterest can be, but it truly is my number one go-to for supplemental homeschool resources.
I mean, where else are you going to get such a huge variety of ideas in one place? You can find help from other homeschooling parents, publishers, teachers, and everyone in between.
If we’re not connected there already, I’d love to have you follow me on Pinterest. I’m pinning new homeschool ideas each day!
That help can come in the form of free printables, book lists, Netflix ideas, activities, crafts, and so much more, all to go along with your lesson plans and take your child’s learning to the next level. All you need to do is search and read.
2. PBS Learning Media
Though designed for traditional classroom settings, PBS Learning Media offers countless lessons and resources that can be used to supplement homeschool lessons. These range from preschool to high school and even include professional development help.
Also worth noting, you can search for your desired topic or peruse their resources topically. This supplemental site can help you fill in gaps in the following areas:
- the arts
- health and physical development
- social studies/history
- science
- math
- language arts
- world languages
- science and technology
In other words, if you’re looking for help covering a specific topic, chances are you’ll find help through PBS.
3. Teachers Pay Teachers
This is a great place for supplemental material, and I’ve used it more times than I can count over the years. Although I usually go for the free or low-cost items offered through Teachers Pay Teachers, there’s a whole world of teaching resources available there.
4. All in One Homeschool
I’ve never used All in One Homeschool as a complete curriculum, but I have used it to find non-traditional ideas for history and science. Let the record show that there’s much more to the site than these two subjects though!
I used the Scope and Sequence pages to help me determine what lines up with my lesson plans and then go from there to find the appropriate topics and schedule day.
Related: 3 Super Simple Ways to Supplement Math
5. Magic Tree House
My son loved spending time on this site, but it’s more than fun and games! If you click on the For Teachers tab in the upper right corner, you’ll find a world of educational resources to go along with the books.
Like many other mainstream resources, these are designed for use with a classroom full of kids in mind, but there’s a plethora of good stuff here and it’s worth a look, especially when planning for history and science.
6. Khan Academy
Khan Academy is a fantastic resource for homeschooling and what makes it especially awesome is just how much is available there.
For math, it offers grade-appropriate video instruction along with follow-up questions to test mastery before allowing the student to move on. Add the points-based achievement and mastery system and you’ve got a site most kids will love.
But wait, there’s more! Khan Academy isn’t all about math. You can also use Khan for full curriculum or specific lessons in science and engineering, computing, arts and humanities, economics, and even test prep. In other words, it’s awesome for upper level homeschooling!
7. Crayola
Oddly enough, my favorite Crayola resources aren’t terribly artsy. Sure, the art-based lesson plans on the site are great for not-so artsy folks, but the free coloring pages can be used in lots of ways.
For example, you can use the places pages to go with geography studies or plants and animals to go with nature study or other science topics.
8. Education.com
Education.com is a great supplemental homeschool resource if you’re looking for worksheets and quizzes. There’s a limit to the number of free resources you can download each month, but you can pay for membership if you prefer to avoid that cap.
This site’s especially great if you’ve got preschoolers or elementary kiddos. You can search their library of peruse the site; either way, you’ll find tons of lesson plans, hands-on ideas, games, and more.
Homeschool Supplemental Resources in Action
So, what does all this supplementing look like and how does it come together? Here’s one example:
If you’ve got a Magic Tree House fan in your home, you can use the books to your advantage. When we studied the Revolutionary War a few years ago, my son read Revolutionary War on Wednesday on his own, then we worked through the matching American Revolution Fact Tracker together.
We also made a Revolutionary War on Wednesday lapbook we found and used the free printables we found on the Magic Tree House website.
Add all of that, plus the Liberty’s Kids DVD, to our textbook and we had it covered pretty well. If I stuck to using that text alone in all of this, it’s likely that it would’ve fallen flat and my kiddo would’ve retained very little of what he read.
In closing, supplementing isn’t always needed, but it can be a great way to bring learning to life in your homeschool!