Let's face it, as they get older, children's homework is tough. In fact, it's downright hard. And, between trying to help them out with quadratic equations, shuttle siblings to after school activities, throw together dinner and stay on top of the evening routine, it's no wonder we can find a moment to sit down and try to help them work out the slope of a line or diagram a sentence! Given the fact that the last time we encountered any of this was in middle/high school, we hit up Google to help us find online resources for when the homework is even too advanced for mom and dad, and the time crunch is on.
We (along with some middle/high school friends and teachers) checked out these sites and all agreed they explain everything from basic to advanced questions in an easy and understandable way for kids and parents alike.
Math
http://www.math.com – covers everything from basic, elementary math to calculus. The site also offers parents tips on what to look for when searching for a math tutor and a list of "hot subjects" (their top most frequently searched-for math topics, like fractions, decimals and percents).
Math & English
http://www.tutorvista.com – Offers 10-minute demo tutoring sessions. In our first test session, we had our tutor explain the basics of diagramming a sentence. They used an online whiteboard to map one out as an example. We were only allowed to ask one question before they pitched us an online tutoring package ($49.99/month), but when we went back in and asked a problem related to quadratic equations, they answered that one as well.
Writing a Paper
http://www.homeworkspot.com/features/writingapaper.htm – Look past the Google Ads and you'll find a decent guide to helping students write a paper. It also includes links to helpful websites that outline every step of the paper writing process.
Science & Social Studies
http://www.homeworkspot.com – This website proved to be our best hub for links to science and social studies websites around the net. They filter them by grade and then subject. We were able to find resources to help answer our high school Chemistry question and our middle school question on the French Revolution.
Foreign Language
http://www.verbix.com – Conjugates verbs in nearly every language in present, past, imperfect, indicative, subjunctive, etc. Just choose the language, type in your verb and the conjugations will come up.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/ – Offers audio and video language course downloads for free, from beginner to advanced. Download some lessons to your child's iPod or computer to keep their ears and brains tuned into the sounds and vocabulary of whatever language they are studying.
Phone Help With Various Subjects
Dial-a-Teacher connects children in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut with a teacher, via phone, to help out with their homeowrk questions for the cost of the phone call: (212) 777-3380. Their staff consists of five teachers to answer questions Monday-Thursday and two part time Spanish-speaking teachers. If you don't live in the area, the teacher we connected with assured us they try to help out kids around the U.S., as all curriculumns tend to be similar.