There's no shortage of educational resources online, which is exactly the problem. Sorting through apps, websites, YouTube channels, and platforms to find what's good, and not just good at marketing itself, takes more time than most families have. So we did the legwork.
This list covers 45 of the most useful free and low-cost resources for kids, organized by subject. Most are completely free. A few have paid tiers you can skip. Nearly all are self-directed, so your kid can use them alone or alongside whatever curriculum you already run. Free tiers and prices change, so check each site before your child gets attached.
Last updated: October 2026
Free math resources
Khan Academy
Free | Ages 2 to 18. Khan Academy covers kindergarten through high school math, from early counting through calculus. The mastery-based format means kids keep practicing a concept until it clicks, which helps if your child has gaps from switching curricula. The separate Khan Academy Kids app (ages 2 to 8) covers early math, reading, and social-emotional skills in a more playful format.
Prodigy Math
Free, with a paid premium option | Ages 6 to 14. Prodigy wraps math practice in a role-playing game. Kids answer math questions to battle monsters, and the platform adjusts to their level. The core game is free, and a paid parent membership adds more detailed progress reporting.
Zearn
Free | Kindergarten to eighth grade. Zearn is a nonprofit math platform with full grade-level lessons for kindergarten through fifth grade and structured problem sets for sixth through eighth. Each lesson pairs a short video with interactive practice, which suits families who want a math backbone without curriculum costs.
Desmos
Free | Ages 13+. Desmos began as a free graphing calculator and now includes a library of interactive, visual activities for algebra, geometry, and statistics. It's a good bookmark for teens who need something more dynamic than a textbook.
Bedtime Math
Free | Ages 3 to 9. Bedtime Math publishes a free daily math story with questions at three difficulty levels, plus a free app. Many families use it as a low-pressure way to make math part of the evening routine.
Math Playground
Free | Ages 5 to 12. A large collection of math games and logic puzzles sorted by grade and skill. Kids can navigate it on their own, which is handy when you need 20 minutes to get something else done.
IXL Math
Paid membership, with limited free use | All ages. IXL covers kindergarten through 12th grade math with thousands of practice problems. Its diagnostic helps pinpoint skill gaps quickly. It isn't free, so check current pricing before you sign up.
Free reading and literacy resources
Starfall
Free, with a paid upgrade | Pre-K to second grade. Starfall is one of the original free phonics sites, and it still holds up. It's simple and low-stimulation, and the free version covers the core sound-letter progression for early readers.
ReadTheory
Free | Ages 7 to 17. ReadTheory adjusts reading passages to your child's comprehension level and tracks progress by skill. It's quiz-based, which works well for some kids and feels dry to others.
CommonLit
Free | Third to 12th grade. CommonLit offers thousands of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and historical texts by grade level, each with guided questions and discussion prompts. It's a good fit for families who want a literature-based reading program without the price tag.
Newsela
Free tier available | Ages 8+. Newsela rewrites real news articles at multiple reading levels, so an eight-year-old and a 13-year-old can read the same story at different complexity. Some features sit behind a subscription.
Storyline Online
Free | Ages 4 to 10. The Screen Actors Guild Foundation runs this site, where actors read children's books aloud on video. It's especially useful for reluctant readers who respond better to a performed story.
Open Library
Free | All ages. The Internet Archive's Open Library lets you borrow digital copies of millions of books, like a library card you use online. It's often the fastest way to get a specific title for your curriculum.
Free science and nature resources
PhET Interactive Simulations
Free | Ages 10+. From the University of Colorado Boulder, PhET offers browser-based simulations for physics, chemistry, biology, and math. Kids can build circuits or watch atoms move, which is hard to demonstrate at home.
CK-12
Free | Ages 10+. CK-12 is a nonprofit offering free, customizable textbooks and lessons in science, math, and social studies. If you're homeschooling a middle or high schooler and don't want to buy a pricey biology textbook, take a serious look.
NASA Kids' Club
Free | Ages 5 to 12. Games and activities organized by grade level, all space-themed. For kids into astronomy, it's a rabbit hole they'll happily fall into.
National Geographic Kids
Free | Ages 6 to 14. Articles, videos, and photo galleries on animals, science, history, and geography. It reads more like a magazine than a textbook, which helps with kids who resist "school stuff" but will read about sharks for an hour.
iNaturalist
Free | Ages 8+, with a parent. iNaturalist is a citizen science app where you photograph plants, animals, and insects, and the community, including scientists, helps identify them. It's an excellent nature journaling tool.
Smithsonian Learning Lab
Free | All ages. Free access to millions of images, videos, and artifacts from Smithsonian museums. Use individual resources or build collections around a theme for unit studies and history projects.
Free coding and computer science resources
Scratch
Free | Ages 8 to 16. MIT's visual coding platform lets kids build games, animations, and stories, and remix projects from a large community. It's hard to beat as an introduction to programming logic.
Code.org
Free | Ages 4 to 18. Self-paced coding courses from block coding for younger kids to JavaScript and Python for older ones. The Hour of Code activities are an easy first try.
Tynker
Free tier available | Ages 7 to 13. Similar to Scratch but with more structured courses and a game-based format. It suits kids who need more scaffolding than an open-ended sandbox. Premium plans add more projects.
CS Unplugged
Free | Ages 5 to 12. Offline activities and games from the University of Canterbury that teach algorithms, binary numbers, and data structures with no screens at all.
Swift Playgrounds
Free | Ages 10+, on iPad and Mac. Apple's app teaches real Swift programming through a puzzle-game format, a good next step for kids ready to move beyond block coding.
Blockly Games
Free | Ages 8 to 14. Google's puzzle games introduce functions, loops, and variables in a low-stakes way. It runs in a browser, with no account needed.
Free history and civics resources
Crash Course
Free | Ages 10+, on YouTube. Hundreds of short videos on world history, U.S. history, economics, philosophy, and literature, each around 10 to 12 minutes. It supplements almost any curriculum for kids who learn well from video.
iCivics
Free | Ages 10 to 16. Founded by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, iCivics teaches government through games where kids negotiate legislation and argue cases.
DocsTeach
Free | Ages 10+. The National Archives' tool for working with primary sources like letters, photographs, maps, and government records. A strong alternative to textbook summaries for project-based history.
Library of Congress
Free | All ages. Primary sources, lesson plans, and digital collections organized by era and theme, including a section for kids and families.
Free music and art resources
Chrome Music Lab
Free | All ages. Web-based music experiments from Google where kids play with rhythm, melody, and sound with no background needed.
Simply Piano
Free to download, subscription for full access | Ages 4+. The app listens through your device's microphone and gives real-time feedback on any piano or keyboard.
Incredibox
Free tier available | Ages 7+. A music creation app where kids layer beats, effects, and vocals by dragging characters onto a screen. The free version includes several sound packs.
Art for Kids Hub
Free | Ages 4 to 14, on YouTube. Step-by-step drawing lessons that kids follow along with, organized by theme and difficulty.
Tate Kids
Free | Ages 5 to 14. Free art games, creative challenges, and art history content from the Tate museums. It's a step up from worksheet-based art instruction.
Canva for Education
Free for eligible teachers and students | Ages 10+. Canva's education program is free for eligible K-12 teachers and students, but homeschool educators who aren't licensed or employed by a school may not qualify. Check Canva's eligibility guidelines first. The standard free Canva plan still works for projects and presentations.
Google Arts and Culture
Free | Ages 8+. Virtual tours of hundreds of museums worldwide, plus interactive experiments. It's useful for unit studies in history, geography, or art.
Free language resources
Duolingo
Free | Ages 6+. The core app is free and covers dozens of languages. It works best as a daily habit, and the streak system motivates many kids.
Mango Languages
Free through many public libraries | All ages. A conversational language platform covering more than 70 languages. Check your library login before paying for another language subscription.
DW for Kids
Free | Ages 6 to 12. Deutsche Welle's kids section offers German-language videos, games, and reading activities with English support for beginners.
Free study skills and writing resources
Quizlet
Free tier | All ages. Create or use flashcard sets for almost any subject. The free version includes flashcards, matching games, and practice tests, and it's especially strong for vocabulary and science terms.
Typing.com
Free | Ages 7+. Structured touch typing courses from beginner to advanced, with speed and accuracy tracking. Kids can work through it on their own.
NoRedInk
Free tier available | Ages 10 to 18. A grammar and writing practice platform that builds questions around topics your child cares about, like favorite books and movies. It's more engaging than a traditional grammar workbook.
Free podcasts for curious kids
Brains On
Free | Ages 6 to 12. A science podcast from American Public Media that answers questions kids ask, with scientists and kid co-hosts. Good for car rides and quiet time.
But Why: A Podcast for Curious Kids
Free | Ages 4 to 10. Vermont Public's show answers questions submitted by real kids, without talking down to them. It's a great fit for the endless "but why?" phase.
Wow in the World
Free | Ages 5 to 12. NPR's science and technology podcast for kids, with a goofy, warm tone that works well for kids who aren't naturally drawn to science.
What "free" means on this list
Entries marked "free" have a functional free version that covers core content. Entries marked "free tier available" or with a price gate some features behind a subscription. Prices and plans change, so check each site before your child gets attached. If you're building a full homeschool plan around free resources, our guide to how to start homeschooling is a good next read.
If your family has ESA funds
Most of the resources above are free, so there's nothing to reimburse. If your family has an Education Savings Account and wants live instruction, Outschool is available through ESA programs in many states, including Texas (TEFA), Alabama (CHOOSE Act), Louisiana (GATOR), and others. Families in Odyssey states book through Odyssey, and families in ClassWallet states book through ClassWallet. Some states use reimbursement instead, where you pay first and submit receipts. Our ESA guide explains how each program works.
When you want a live teacher: Outschool
Every resource above is self-directed. Outschool is where your child shows up live and interacts with a teacher and a small group of other kids. With more than 140,000 classes covering everything from phonics and fractions to marine biology and creative writing, it can cover much of what's on this list with a teacher who can answer questions in the moment. Classes are pay-per-class with no subscription required, and many are ESA-eligible. Browse science classes, coding classes, or art classes to see what's available.
No single resource will fit every kid. What makes most of these worth trying is that the barrier to start is low. The best educational tool is the one your child comes back to on their own.
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