Homeschooling for us means school is never out. Once we started thinking outside the classroom, our philosophy of education changed drastically and brought much freedom to our lives. Because learning isn’t on a schedule. So we like variety, especially in the summer when other projects are pressing.
Here are my top 5 favorite “homeschool hacks” to make homeschooling simpler and more fun:
1. Neo K12–A huge list of educational videos especially helpful to supplement a subject study. They even have music lessons. Education Portal is another video-learning site. User discretion is advised.
2. Educational Trivia Cards
–Professor Noggins Cards make learning facts on all sorts of subjects fun and easy. These are especially good for travel.
3. Nature Field Guides
4. YouTube.com. Using parental discretion, of course, youtube is a wealth of information and how-to for just about anything one can imagine, as well as providing inspiration for young entrepreneurs. My son who is very mechanically-minded spent two hours recently watching “How to repair small engines” and was inspired to try his hand at a real one. Browse the channels to find what you’re looking for–anything from culinary class to worm farming (our current project!) Master Chef Jr. is the favorite of my budding chefs, and one of my children is learning fashion design from the tutorials there.
5. Games. It’s because we grew up in a desk in a classroom in a school building that we probably don’t think about games as part of our school day. But games often teach in a way that makes sense to kids. Monopoly, Scrabble, Yahtzee, Chess, and Where in the World are just a few.
So have some fun and remember learning happens all the time!
5 comments
Love! We also love the Professor Noggins cards. They learn so much!
I bought a bunch of new games a few weeks ago and we’ve been having a blast with them! Apples to Apples Junior, Scrabble Junior, Sorry, Trouble, Banagrams, and we already had Yahtzee, Scrabble, Monopoly, Payday (the kids absolute favorite), Rummikub, Outburst (both regular and Bible editions), Apples to Apples Bible edition, Uno, and a table sized Fooseball game. No boredom yet!!
Thanks for the reminders, Kelly, and the specific resources! And while this isn’t considered “academic” learning, we are learning new chores as well as trying to serve mamas with small children (since we don’t have any here at home) simply by inviting them over to play. I thought we were doing it for them, but to watch my 14 y.o. son calmly put a 10 month old to sleep was priceless. I did reward them afterward for their attitudes and energy to get on the level of the little ones. Loving summer learning!
Thanks! I bookmarked the first one…had never heard of it before, but my kiddos love watching anything, so it might as well be educational : )
I have a question for ya… my oldest is 13, and I’m coming across a lot more “classics” on the recommended reading lists for his age group, but I’ve heard that many of the classics are horrible. I read a few in high school but don’t remember enough to make an educated decision. Do you know of a good resource that will give an honest review of the common reading list books, classic or otherwise, from a Christian worldview? (I tried googling it, but must not have been typing the correct phrase cause I didn’t come up with much : (
Kelly,
Hmmm…let me see what I can find. I know what you mean. What to do?