By Christine Elgersma, Senior Editor, Apps, CommonSenseMedia.org


Editor's Note: Sharing this list from our friends at Common Sense Media with your older nieces and nephews, and bookmarking them for your little nieces and nephews, will help them start their new school year off right!





Websites come and go -- but the ones that are truly useful stick around for the long term. For students, having a few go-tos in their back pocket whenever they need to exercise some math muscles, build vocabulary, practice analytical skills, or do research is a time-saver (and sometimes a lifesaver!). What kinds of sites are bookmark-worthy? Ones that offer solid, supplementary information, adapt to your niece's or nephew's level, provide fun practice instead of drill-and-kill, and show videos to explain complex concepts. Class after class, semester after semester, these 10 sites are the ones you'll come back to. So bookmark them -- they'll start learning a lot faster.


Preschool and Early Grades

Bedtime Math
Great for kids who need some daily math practice but dislike drills. Savvy Aunties, parents and kids can explore a real-world math problem together, and the different levels let kids of different ages participate.

IXL
Though simple and straightforward, IXL offers math and language arts exercises that adapt to a kid's progress. It's available as a website and an app.

Bookopolis
Like a Goodreads for kids, this site lets kids log their reading, rate books, and earn rewards for reading. It's great for reluctant readers who might trust another kid's endorsement about a book.

Older Elementary School

Factmonster
Kids can use this as a resource for a variety of subjects. With biographies, an atlas, and other reference materials, Factmonster is an informative place for kids to find fun facts and play educational games.

Free Rice
While very simple, this game has two purposes: to teach words and to feed people. For each multiple-choice vocabulary question answered correctly, 10 grains of rice go to the UN World Food Program.

BJ Pinchbeck's Homework Helper
Provides research and general knowledge in lots of subject areas. Unlike more targeted sites, this one offers links to a wide variety of topics, including history, science, and grammar.

Middle and High School

Khan Academy
Instructional videos help kids learn new concepts, review old ones, or hear something explained in a different way. As an app and a site, this service lets kids find experts explaining and showing how to tackle lots of school-related material.

Vocabulary.com
Great for teens who want their vocabulary lessons gamified. As kids play the game and answer the questions, the difficulty adjusts to their level and rewards them with points (which might keep them playing longer than strict drill practice).

Shmoop
Offers teens study help and test prep with a twist. It's the tone of this site that sets it apart, as its wry humor and teen-speak make its novel summaries and SAT prep more palatable.

Google Scholar
Since the web is a wild west of information, it can be hard for a kid to sort through it all to find credible resources. This search engine helps weed out the noise and serve up search results a teen can actually use.


Photo: GeorgeRudy
Published: August 24, 2016
Originally published at CommonSenseMedia.org