With all of our IGCSE (International GCSE) subjects that we are working on we always use a text book that is recommended by the exam board. The text book is vital but it is not enough, at this level you are just going to have to accept that you will be using more that one source for every subject. You just are. So I am going to mention a few of the other sources that we are using, the ones that we use on a regular basis and the ones that I have found contain good explanations and questions.

To start with I want to mention two general sites. BBC Bitesize, honestly I have been surprised by how much I have started using this site with our KS4 subjects, but it actually has everything on it. Best thing is to set up an account, then it keeps a record of what your kiddo has been working on. But really just find your subject, find the topic and then start reading. Great explanations and questions for the kids to answer once they have read everything. This tends to be one of the places that I direct my daughter to after we have finished reading the pages in her text book, it is always useful for them to hear a second version of what they have just read and so far these pages have always been spot on.

Also the TES website (you want to click on the top of the screen where it says Teaching Resources). Now this site has a LOT of content but I am finding LOTS of free the download worksheets for all of our IGCSE subjects here. It does take a bit of time to search and sometimes the worksheets do not contain answers. But it really is worth creating a free membership to this site so you have search for extra content here. (Tip – sometimes you just been to change the words that you type into the search bar)

Okay now for some subjects specific sites.

Maths – My two favourites at this stage or Cognito and Corbett Maths. Both are free (there is an option to upgrade Cognito to a paid membership but we have not done that yet, although I think I might). I like both of the sites explanations and I like the questions that that give. My daughter is also a fan of both of them, she tends to navigate around Cognito by herself (she works completely online for this one) but with Corbett Maths I will often go on and find the questions and answers for her and print them out. But really both of their explanation videos are great. Highly recommend both of these sites.

With the Cognito site – you need to select you subject – eg maths, then select the topic, eg Numbers and then it will take you to menu which shows the subsections for Number, if you click on each of these you will get a lesson and questions. The colours show which lessons my daughter has done, so it is very easy to see how we are progressing.

Physics – we are doing Physics slightly differently in that we are following the Threatre of Science IGCSE Physics lessons. We tend to watch the lessons on Youtube (there is also a live version but my daughter prefers watching the recorded versions, so she can pause whenever she wants). Laura explains the concepts in the lessons and gets them to do a few questions in the lesson. Then after the lesson she also supplies “homework”, which is extra reading and questions (have a look for her on facebook she has all the worksheets on facebook). We are finding it works really well for us. After her lessons we do tend to read the relevant pages on BBC Bitesize and we do also do the relevant lessons and questions on Cognito. (I think for most the homework that Laura gives would be enough but I have found with my daughter adding in the Cognito lesson and question just cements everything and makes her feel more confident.)

Biology – My favourite extra resource here is Cognito, we always do the lessons and questions on Cognito. But with Biology we also tend to watch other YouTube videos – my daughter absolutely loves the Amoeba sisters (and I really do mean love), she is always glued to their videos. We have also found Mr Exham has a lot of good explanation videos on YouTube and sometimes Biology with Hazel.

History – With History I believe it is vital to read or watch multiple sources. So I often end up getting two different History “textbooks” for each module that we choose, sometimes I even manage to get something for the library. We have also bought a membership to the School History website. Here you can download modules of work. They tend to be in powerpoint format and there are lessons which you need to read and then activities which the kids can try and complete (there are NO sample answers). It is a helpful resource but I am not sure if it was worth the money I paid, but then I was struggling to find the History content, there is not as much History content as there is for Maths or Science subjects. With History I have used BBC Bitesize and the TES website a LOT and we do also watch a lot of documentaries.

So those are a few of the “extra” sites that we are using. I am sure we will discover more as we progress on our IGCSE journey, but I just wanted to share what we have discovered for any of you looking for ideas.