Oxford Languages : An online version of the classic Oxford English Dictionary. There are complete, searchable British and US English dictionaries with audio pronunciations for each word. There’s also a thesaurus, as well as tons of useful articles on grammar, style and current usage.
Merrriam-Webster : Has an excellent US English dictionary, thesaurus and concise encyclopedia. The site also has some fun word quizzes, as well as some great “Ask the Editor” videos explaining tricky grammar issues, word etymology and more.
Visual Dictionary Online : Also by Merriam-Webster, is a fantastic dictionary for kids that explains words and terms using beautifully-drawn, annotated images. It’s a great way for kids to explore words and meanings.
Dictionary.com: Easy-to-use US and British English dictionary. Each word definition includes an audio pronunciation, synonyms, examples of usage, etymology, quotes using the word, a “difficulty index”, and even the word’s Scrabble score!
Biography: A fantastic one-stop resource for finding out about famous people. You can browse or search for people to access their detailed biographies. The articles include images and often entire documentary videos that you can watch online. There are also lots of great articles on past and current events and people, and even a fun famous lookalikes section.
World Atlas : Contains maps and information covering thousands of worldwide features, including countries, lakes, rivers, seas, oceans, mountains, time zones, and lots more.
Encyclopedia Britannica : Online version of the well-known general-knowledge encyclopedia. The quality of the articles is — as you’d imagine — superb, and on the whole easier to read than, say, Wikipedia.
Poetry Foundation: A great place for your child to refer to and explore poetry. There are over 12,000 poems on the site, from Lewis Carroll and Oscar Wilde through to Yeats and Shakespeare. You’ll also find a detailed biography of each poet. You can even browse poems that are good for children.
SparkNotes: Features free online study guides to help schoolkids through some of those tricky works of literature, from Shakespeare to Sartre. There are also notes on history, politics and the sciences, and many notes come in both text and video versions.
Fact Monster: Kids’ reference website from the Infoplease folks. It contains tons of fun facts and figures and is designed for kids aged 8-14. You’ll find a dictionary, an atlas and lots of almanacs, all searchable from the search box on every page of the site.