Home Schooling Ideas

Over the past couple of months, families have had to get used to spending much more time at home, including families here at Esprit too. We’ve been home-schooling, baking, making crafts, colouring in, playing in the garden, building dens and much more.

So, if you are looking for some more inspiration for home schooling, we're on hand with some of our favourite tried and tested ideas for you to do at home with your kids. We’d love to you know what you’ve been up too, so why not tell us on our Facebook page? It would be great to share them, from your home to every Esprit Ski family.

Anne from the Marketing team suggests Jump Start Jonny

There are lots of different options out there for exercise, such as Joe Wicks’ daily PE sessions, however my kid’s favourite is Jump Start Jonny. He posts a number of videos on his website with the aim of getting kids active whilst having fun. The exercise videos are energetic, short and set to upbeat music - perfect for primary age kids. Jonny himself is a bundle of energy and really gets the kids going - be prepared to shout “Whoopa!”

Richard from the Contracting team suggests Cosmic KidsYoga

We watch a few episodes a week of Cosmic Kids Yoga, it’s great way to calm your kids down and also helps with making them stronger. The instructor, Jamie, makes it fun and ties it in with stories that kids love such as Frozen and the Gruffalo which helps encourage them to take part. They have so many options from the Zen Den to learn about mindfulness to having a dance in the Yoga Disco, it’s all great fun.

Abbie from the Sales team suggests Nessy.com

My son is four and finds it hard to sit and learn in a formal way, so Nessy.com have fun games to play which makes learning phonics much more entertaining. They regularly post videos and announce free access to their resources on their Facebook page. Their apps, Hairy Letters and Hairy Games, have been a real hit with my son too.   

Charlotte from the Marketing team suggests Wizardingworld.com

One of my daughters struggles to read long sentences and answer comprehension questions, that is until we found the Harry Potter website! Each week the Wizarding World is publishing a chapter from the first Harry Potter book, read aloud by a famous face, such as Daniel Radcliffe (aka Harry Potter). Following each chapter there are a series of comprehension questions and writing exercises, disguised as fun challenges where you earn house points.

Why not download our colouring in by languages activity? Your kids can learn four different colours in French, German, Italian and Spanish.

Hanna from the Marketing team suggests The Dad Lab & Raising Dragons

These two websites, The Dad Lab and Raising Dragons, have been an excellent resource for science. Sergei Urban aka The Dad Lab, is not a teacher or a scientist but is a Dad to two boys and shares his love of creative play and experiments that he does at home with his own family. He tries to make use of materials that you can find easily at home and they are super fun activities. Over the weeks we’ve learnt about the five senses, how to defy gravity and friction.

Raising Dragons is run by a Mum (Andrea) to four boys who is passionate about the concept of STEAM subjects – Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Maths. Like the Dad Lab, Andrea isn’t a teacher and doesn’t have a huge amount of time to create complex activities for her kids, so keeps them simple, fun and educational. We’ve learnt how to make a homemade lava lamp, an underwater volcano and even showed them how to stick pencils through a bag full of water without it leaking, they were amazed!

Stephanie from the Contracting team (France) suggests Food and Nature Art

Our daughter's school organised a competition of "food art' and "nature art" and are planning to do an exhibition at the end of June with all the children's creations. Our daughter loved it and is still asking to do some food art for every meal! The nature art also encouraged us, even me, to take more note of our surroundings when we go for our daily walks outside. 

Tom from the Sales team suggests Draw with Rob

Rob Biddulph is a multi award-winning author and is the official World Book Day Illustrator for 2020. Every Tuesday and Thursday at 10am he posts a ‘Draw with Rob’ video teaching kids how to draw fun characters such as the Gregosaurus, Penguin Blue and Parsley the Lion. They’re great fun to do with the kids and even I’ve had a try!

James from the Commercial team suggests The Maths Factor

The Maths Factor was created by Countdown legend, Carol Vordemon, and it’s an excellent resource to build confidence in kids and make maths more fun. There are a number of online resources, such as videos and interactive games, all taught in an easy to understand way and for those that prefer paper, they also provide activities to print out too.

Alex from the Marketing team suggests Prodigy Game

A popular educational game in our house is the Prodigy Game, my kids can meet up with their friends online and fight monsters by solving maths questions, they love it! It’s great because they’re learning but also keeps them occupied and engaged. Parents can even get access to a dashboard to see how their kids are getting on and set goals for them, incentivising them with rewards. 

Lastly why not download our colouring in by maths activity? Your kids can learn to do sums whilst colouring in to reveal our picture.