Keep Learning Fresh and Exciting in Your Homeschooling

While there are a lot of benefits to homeschooling, it also presents some challenges. From dealing with limited resources to keeping your child motivated and engaged, as a parent, you can face obstacles when it comes to homeschooling. We all want to keep our kids (and ourselves) motivated and excited about learning. Here are tips to have more variety in your homeschool.

Variety in your homeschooling can help your child stay motivated, while also making learning more enjoyable for both you and your child. It’s not always easy to do, but finding ways to vary learning will lead to many benefits. Additionally, your child will find out that learning is fun and something they can do everywhere, not just in a classroom environment. Our ultimate goal is to raise lifelong learners that seek out truth and knowledge all the days of their life.

A great way to accomplish this is having more variety in your homeschool.

Is there enough variety in your homeschooling? Take a look at some ideas to help you change up your learning.

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Make the most of online tools

Using online learning resources can be a great way of making sure your homeschooling stays up to date. Thanks to the pandemic, online learning tools have come a long way, helping families teach their children at home while covering all aspects of the curriculum.

Age of Learning is a fantastic resource to benefit homeschooling, providing a range of activities that will keep young learners engaged. Online resources provide access at any time, helping you provide flexible and adaptive learning opportunities for your child.

If you want to provide a more well-rounded kind of education for your children, then consider websites that help them to learn more about the performing arts and theatre. People have different talents, and it’s our job as parents to help them to explore those.

You can find some fantastic online resources and educational services from Travis Preston CalArts. Even better, adults can also benefit from these resources, which makes them a great option for older children who want to explore different options. Even if your child doesn’t want to go into theatre as a career, they will benefit from a broader education.

If you are looking for a Christian online learning environment, check out SchoolhouseTeachers.com. They offer over 400 courses, a Facebook group for additional help, homeschool resources, special needs resources, and plenty of support and extra materials for moms and dads. They lay out the lesson plans so you don’t have to. There are a variety of options to add to your homeschool curriculum.

Find activities that take learning out of the home

Learning at home provides convenience, comfort, and familiarity. But having some variety can help keep things interesting. At school, children get the opportunity to learn in different locations, and you can replicate the experience for your child.

Some of the places you can take your child to help their education include:

• Libraries
• Museums
• Different landscapes (beaches, countryside, etc.)
• Aquariums and zoos
• Farms
• Movies
• Theater

Taking learning out of the home and ensuring there’s some variety will keep things interesting, while also giving your child to see things put into practice. Learning happens in all kinds of ways, and some real-life experiences can be very beneficial.

Join a local co-op or homeschooling group. (Or if you can’t find one, start your own homeschool co-op.)

In addition to the support for moms and dads, local homeschool groups offer field trips, co-op classes, and other activities that you may not be able to accomplish on your own. Often by attending a homeschool group field trip to a museum or zoo, you can get a significant discount through group ticket discounts! This is a win-win!

Use a variety of resources

Using a variety of resources is another way to keep learning appealing. From using textbooks to video and audio, there are different ways to help your children learn. 

It can be overwhelming choosing the right sources, especially if you’re homeschooling on a budget. The good news is that there are different places you can find educational resources, including yard sales and online marketplaces, while inexpensive school supplies can also be found during sales via reselling websites.

Incorporate outside the box courses to add variety to your homeschool

Too often we look at the school system’s course of study, not realizing we can customize our own courses for our children. Customization adds variety to your homeschool days.

For instance, we believe that foreign languages are supposed to be studied in high school, however, you can begin a foreign language course at any time. You can also teach any language and not just those that are traditionally taught in traditional schools. If your family heritage is Slovak, teach your children Slovak.

Build your homeschool curriculum that fits your family. If you are interested in raising chickens, study Youtube videos, check books out of the library, and get yourself some baby chicks. This can lead to studying the egg, reproduction, breeding for specific qualities, genetics, and more.

If you want to teach social studies, watch foreign films with subtitles from those countries, or watch movies set in those countries.

Remember that life lessons are important too 

One of the biggest advantages of homeschooling is the opportunity to teach your children things that are outside the curriculum. You can teach them about budgeting, taking care of a home, and other practical skills that will prove very useful. There are also valuable life lessons your kids should learn to help them in their development. Adding in this type of learning will make sure your child gains a wide range of knowledge and skills, giving them the best start in life.

Explore other ways to teach

We are so ingrained into thinking that there is one right way to teach. This is not true, and each person learns differently. Homeschool teachers have the advantage of being able to pivot easily, make changes, and adapt to how their child learns best.

Find out about other learning options

Have you ever used a unit study? If your child is interested in baseball or Pokémon, you can create a unit (or find one that is already out there) that teaches all courses with just that one subject.

Charlotte Mason was an educator with “classically-based principles to prepare children for a life of rich relationships with everything around them: God, humanity, and the natural world.” These principles apply to each subject, language arts, science, reading, etc. It is a gentle and kind way to teach taking into account your child’s abilities and their best way to learn. She used nature study for a lot of her teaching – art, science, and reading can be done outside and learn about the world around you.

Change up your homeschool day

Don’t think you always have to start and finish each homeschool day the same. In fact, your child can do all their math for the week in one day. Block scheduling is a great way to add variety to your homeschool if your child likes a more immersive learning experience.

In fact, your child’s education should have a variety of options that allow them to direct their own steps. Allowing them to do one subject a day or each subject every day, gives them the flexibility to learn how they learn best.

Get outside and learn. Outdoors is a great place to learn about God’s world.

One way to see how your child learns best, besides online tests, is to visit your local library. Watch where your child gravitates toward. Some children immediately hit the movie section, while others will pick up fiction books. One of my children always leaned toward the non-fiction area, and others loved online computer learning.

A varied program will help keep homeschooling interesting for you and your child, making sure they learn different things in different ways. Get creative with your homeschooling and help provide your child with a rich and diverse education.

Remember the best way to homeschool is the way your children learn best!

Great Resources for homeschooling:

The public library

University libraries

Online resources

YouTube Channels

Ted Talks

Khan Academy

Nasa Classroom

Project Gutenberg

Traditional textbooks

digital products

Science Kits

Educational Videos

Disney+

Amazon Prime

PureFlix

Discovery Channel

Companies/Organizations to Check Out

Homeschool Legal Defense Association

Teach Them Diligently

Great Homeschool Conventions

Your State Homeschool Organization

Local Homeschool Groups

Online Homeschool Resources