As a traveling family who has been homeschooling and learning from across the world for the past 7 years, we’ve decided to put together a little guide to homeschooling! We know many parents are new to homeschooling and have had to adjust to this new lifestyle recently – which is why this guide will help your children learn in a fun, creative way and learn new things that they wouldn’t have been able to discover in school!
1. Creativity Is Key
Creativity is one of the most important factors of learning. In fact, kids will remember things better when learned in a creative way. This is why it’s so important to keep our kids engaged in subjects that are both creative and provide learning. Here are some ways to bring creativity into homeschooling:
- Give your kids a way to learn through a hands-on experience (such as a science experiment, etc.)
- There is no 1 way to learn so let your kids be creative with the way they choose to retain information
- Encourage your child’s creative ideas
- Use colors and objects to make learning more fun, tangible, and easy to remember
2. Cultivate Your Child’s Passions
Encourage your child to continue pursuing their passions that inspire that. Children are most passionate to learn subjects that truly interest them and will want to learn them for the pure joy of learning that subject, not because they have to. So if your child is interested in American Football for instance, then have your child learn about all the different plays, statistics, & players. Through their passion learning they are training their minds to absorb information just like normal learning does. However, studies show that when emotion is mixed with learning, you are much more probable to remember a piece of information for a long period of time. So rather than teaching your kids something they can’t attach a feeling to, teach your kids to learn through their passions!
3. Make Normal Subjects Fun
While homeschooling your child, you have the opportunity to make normal and boring subjects fun for your kids! As we mentioned before, the benefits of adding emotion + learning are so valuable, which is why by including fun into the mix, your kids will learn in an even more efficient and innovative way!
Here are some ideas to boosting fun in your kid’s school:
- Explain things through fun drawings
- Talk in funny voices
- Write with colorful pens or pencils
- Use toys to explain things (try not to distract your kids too much, however)
- Include their passions and things they love in the conversation (even favorite characters or idols)
4. Go on an Adventure
Whether it’s in your backyard or in your house – take your kids on an adventure! Dress up in costumes or put a camping tent out on your front lawn, make it fun for your kids and give them that sense of exploration. Something that quarantine can’t take away is imagination and creativity, so embolden your kids to be imaginative and have fun with what you have available! Set up a treasure hunt or an obstacle course or perhaps create a little show with your kids complete with costumes and characters! There are so many creative and fun things you can do with your kids that both inspires inventiveness and teaches a lesson in the process!
5. Movement, Movement, Movement
Movement is essential while we are all confined to our homes, we cannot forget to get exercise and get our body in motion. This is especially true for kids who have so much energy and not many ways to express it within a home. So every once in a while during the day, let your child move and exercise in whatever way they want to set their energy free. It could be through:
- dancing
- workouts
- running
- walk around the neighborhood
- hike in nature
- walking the dog
Wherever you are in the world right now with your kids, don’t forget to keep them moving!
6. Learn About the World
Take your kids on a global adventure across the globe through learning! There are so many different things you can teach you kids through knowledge about the world. You can learn about:
- Geography
- Different cultures
- Languages
- Cuisines
- Religions
- And so much more!
We invite you to keep the sense wonder and adventure alive in your homeschooling by teaching your kids about the world to explore one day!
7. Give Back Activities
During this time there are so many people who need each of our support and help – which is why a great and meaningful activity to do with your kids is to give back! Here are some giving activities you can do with your kids:
- Make food for the homeless
- Get creative and make your very own face masks to donate to people in need
- Help an elderly neighbor by getting their groceries for them
- Creating gift bags with toys for kids in the hospital
- Send a loving video to a relative you haven’t seen in a while
Now is the time for us to help one another through acts of love and kindness – we need more unity and compassion in the world.
8. Dress Up Days
Have fun and do dress up days with your kids by picking a theme or having random costume days. This will be such a fun and memorable experience to do with your kids and will make their homeschool day much more enjoyable and entertaining. Here are some ideas for costume days:
- Superhero day
- Princess day
- Travel/cultural day
- Disney character day
- Animal day
- Favorite movie day
- Holiday (Christmas, Halloween, etc.)
9. Have a Dance Party
This is such a joy-filled and memorable activity to do with your kids in between homeschooling lessons. Not only does it get your kids active and moving around, but it also is a fun bonding and family activity that your kids will always remember.
Make it a daily ritual and have dance parties every day with your family! Put on some music and your dancing shoes and just have fun for a little while. This is also good for all the parents as we need to move and keep active too!
This is something you can continue even once quarantine is over! It’s so important to craft these priceless memories with your kids and now is a perfect time to start!
Brainstorm: What other fun activities could you do with your kids during and after quarantine?
10. Do an Activity Together
With all this extra time we now have with our kids, we are able to do so many fun and entertaining activities! Try something new and exciting with your little ones. This is also a great way to have memorable learning experiences, so teach them something in the process of doing a fun project. Here are some ideas for exciting activities:
- Science experiments!
- Baking & cooking something different
- Google some new craft ideas
- Write a book or a story
- Create your own theater show or musical
- Write your very own music
- Start a YouTube channel together!