Last month saw the reopening of schools across South Africa after Angie Motshekga, Minister of Basic Education, stated that children face a “catastrophic future” due to academic losses since the pandemic. But with health experts giving out warnings about a possible fourth wave, no one knows when and if schools will be able to continue safely and without disruptions. With Covid-19 cases still high, parents are or should consider looking at supplementary educational tools to support their kids with schooling.

Online educational tools can be entertaining and can make up a part of the screen time that children often spend anyway. Whether your child is engaging in face-to-face time with teachers, or getting private online schooling, the use of supportive online educational tools can increase a child’s learning pace, make them more independent and increase their confidence. If you are looking to supplement your child’s schooling with free online options, here are some popular and interesting sites and tools to consider.

The Learning App

The Learning App by Extramarks is a widely used educational tool for students across South Africa. It offers interactive and engaging material for children ranging from Grade R-12. It is multimedia rich, covers central subjects and can be used for self-study, homework, assignments and projects.

PLAY

PLAY bases its approach to learning through playing, using it as a powerful teaching tool for students in the age range of early childhood (Grade R-3). It covers “crawling to basic mathematics” and offers courses and training sessions that you can complete at your own pace.

Vodacom e-School

Vodacom e-School is an online education portal provides educational content for learners between Grade R-12. Content includes video lessons, interactive quizzes and assignments, all of which are free to access for Vodacom users. In addition, Vodacom users won’t incur any data charges in accessing the site.

Epic Online Book Library

Designed for Kids 12 and under, Epic carries over 40 thousand books from around the world. The award-winning subscription service offers high-quality reads and offers a free trial for parents and students.

South African History Online

South African History Online is a user-friendly site with various perspectives of history. The site highlights untold histories and  the classroom section offers comprehensive content for grades 4 to 12.

Thunderbolt Kids

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This site has resource material for Grades 4 – 6 in Natural Sciences and Technology. These are openly-licensed workbooks, available in hardcopy, PDF, web books and EPUB, for desktop, tablets and mobile devices