Top Homework Help Sites

Best multi-subject homework help

Reviewers say B.J. Pinchbeck (BJPinchbeck.com) is a good starting point. This website has been around since 20-year-old B.J., who runs the site with his father Bruce, was a nine-year-old student himself. While some reviewers say this site is easy enough for young kids to use, others say it's better for kids in the fourth grade and up. Common Sense Media is among reviewers who rate the site highly, calling it "a no-hassle library of links helpful for quick questions and homework assignments." One nice feature of B.J. Pinchbeck is that students can e-mail B.J. himself with their questions. Although B.J. says he gets between 20 and 40 e-mails daily during the school year and tries to answer all of them, parents should keep in mind that he's an inspiring mentor rather than a professional educator. Still, Pinchbeck is a whiz with research.

The Beehive (TheBeehive.org), an information portal run by Washington D.C. based nonprofit One Economy Corporation, includes a homework help resource for grades K to 12. The Beehive covers subjects from math and reading to art and music, broken down into elementary, middle and high school areas. Like B.J. Pinchbeck, this site links to outside content rather than providing its own material. Top Ten Reviews gives The Beehive its number four ranking and an overall score of 3.5 out of four, docking some points for completeness and speed of response to e-mails.

Of those sites that allow kids to ask questions, most reviewers recommend Infoplease Homework Center (Infoplease.com). They say Homework Center is prompt in its responses, and often refers kids to sites that will help them find (and learn) the answer rather than just answering questions outright (this is what makes teachers and parents especially fond of this site). Homework Center also provides an area where visitors can search through previously answered questions. Reviewers say they don't always get the correct answers, but this feedback is mirrored in reviews of all these services. One reviewer says this site is particularly strong in social studies and English, but not so much in math. Fact Monster, Infoplease's colorful interface aimed at children between eight and 14, makes a dictionary, an encyclopedia, an atlas and several almanacs accessible together through a single kid-friendly search utility. Top Ten Reviews gives Fact Monster 3.5 out of four stars and ranks it in fifth place out of 14.

Cosmeo (Cosmeo.com) is part of The Discovery Channel, and is a comprehensive online homework help service offering a search engine, an online encyclopedia, tutorials and a separate math area called WebMath. While it's not free (*est. $10 per month or $100 per year), Cosmeo is organized and more slickly designed than free homework help sites, with more multimedia features and pictures. Susan Hixson, in an article for MultiMedia & Internet@Schools, gives Cosmeo a perfect five-star rating. One Yahoo! Tech review calls Cosmeo "the YouTube of Homework Help," and says their math resource is "nothing short of miraculous." User posts are generally positive as well, although a handful says they are unhappy with the company's marketing practices, which include a 30-day free trial that can be initiated online but must be cancelled by phone to avoid charges. Another downside is the question of Cosmeo's future viability. According to Multichannel News reporter R. Thomas Umstead, Discovery has cut Cosmeo's staff from 100 to three, raising questions about the quality of future content and support.