How To Make Homeschool Not Suck
The good thing about doing remote learning this year, you have the chance to get creative. You have the unique ability to be flexible in the ways your kids learn their lessons.
Just because you are stuck at home doesn’t mean that the homeschool situation has to be crazy boring, strict, and a flat out dreadful.
Here are 10 ways to make homeschool not suck.
1) Start Your Day By Letting Go –
Just take an intentional moment to let go of the negative. Let go of perfectionistic expectations (this is my struggle). Let go of the power struggle.
Breathe in the positive. With each breath in, be intentional with thinking about everything good and positive.
Use positive affirmations — “This WILL be a good day.” “We WILL be productive and have fun.” “It doesn’t HAVE to be perfect.”
Involve the kids! There is something powerful about working together to start the day on the right foot.
2) Incorporate Music –
Music makes the world a better place. It can have a strong calming effect. It can also make things lively and fun.
Match the tunes to the atmosphere you want to achieve. Maybe you want at strong, steady rhythm of classical music for studying. Then you might change it up to 90’s dance techno for P.E. activities.
Music has a way of invoking strong feelings that you can totally use to match the environment that you are going for in the “classroom.”
3) Incorporate Cooking –
Cooking is ONE way to incorporate fun into the learning experience. It is GREAT for studying real-world math, chemistry, and home economics.
The kids will have fun creating the foods, and then look forward to experiencing the fruits of their labors!
4) Get Hands On Whenever Possible –
Don’t be afraid to get messy and real. Get creative. Use Play Doh to model the things you are learning about. Use Hot Wheels, or some other toys that you have in abundance, to help teach math. Use slime to teach chemistry.
Think of ways to incorporate LEGOS, games, puzzles, yarn crafts, or other fun activities into the things you are trying to teach your children.
5) Incorporate Nature –
Get your “class” outdoors. Take hikes. Breathe in that fresh air. Bask in the sunshine.
My perfect day would be reading a book by a little babbling brook. Set up a blanket to sit on, pack a picnic lunch, and just have school in nature for the day.
That isn’t something you can get in a traditional classroom!
6) Have Celebrations –
This can take on so many different forms. Get creative.
I have a friend who homeschools, and she has a party with her kids whenever they finish an area of study. For instance, they learned about Africa in one of their geography lessons. When they got done with their 3-month long study, they had a giant party that featured food, decorations, and music from the African culture.
You can also celebrate things like famous historical dates and birthdays of famous characters in history and pop culture.
Things don’t get much more memorable than if you associate a celebration with them. Not to mention, they are super fun!!
7) Use The Computer –
I can tell you from experience, some kids just learn better if they get to interact with it electronically. This is how my son learns best.
Some people will tell you to limit screen time, but I’m a firm believer that this doesn’t include using technology for teaching.
There are so many different apps, games, and websites that can be a great aid in the learning process.
8) Incorporate Movies –
There is just something simply magical about seeing something play out on the screen — whether it be a BIG screen or a small screen.
Movies can be SUCH a great teaching tool when it comes to showing kids how to do something or exactly how something played out historically.
Don’t be afraid to bust out that streaming service to teach a lesson!
9) Play Games –
Your kids are going to learn more if you make it fun. That’s just the way of it. If you can turn something into a fun game, the kids are going to eat it up and love it!
There are ALL KINDS of learning games online for homeschool. Just do a simple search. You will find ALL KINDS of games for ALL KINDS of topics.
10) Use The Real World To Learn –
Take the kids shopping with you. Have them make a meal with you. Changing a tire? Grab the kids to help. They can plant a garden with you. Enlist them to help you spring clean one of your rooms. Get their hands all sudsy doing dishes.
The ideas are endless. They will learn things like math, science, english, and history, but they will also learn real-world applications — and honestly, that isn’t always something they will get in a traditional classroom setting.