Making homeschool connections to what you already enjoy doing as a family may seem tough if you are new to homeschooling or if you have a more traditional mindset toward education. However, one of the benefits of homeschooling or participating in a hybrid school model of homeschooling a few days each week is flexibility!
Because you can be flexible with how and when your child learns, he or she will more readily develop a love of learning because learning doesn’t just take place in a traditional school setting. It happens everywhere.
So how do you make homeschool connections with things you and your family already do for fun? Here are some ideas.
Homeschool Connections to Family Movie Night
- If your family already hosts a family movie night, spend a few minutes talking about the movie you watch. What does it relate to that your kids have read in the past? For example, if you watch a Pixar film such as “Raya and the Last Dragon,” you can ask your kids what genre they think the movie falls into? Is it a fantasy? An adventure? Why or why not? You can also talk about who the hero is, who the villain is, and what the conflict is in the story. How is the story resolved? All of these are story elements that are important discussions at multiple grade levels. A 10-minute conversation after movie night can help your kids connect what they watch with things they are learning.
- Before you watch a movie that’s new to the family, ask your children to shout out what they think the movie will be about based on the cover image. This helps them review concepts such as prediction and then watch the film to see if their ideas were correct.
- Talk about the producer, the writer, and the elements of production behind the movie. Some on-demand movies even have behind-the-scenes information to help your kids learn about how the film format is different from a book format. It helps them see that stories can be told in multiple ways from many different perspectives.
- If the movie you choose to watch is told using a flashback sequence, talk about why the creative team did that and what the advantage was in telling the story through a flashback.
Homeschool Connections to Family Games
- While playing games, your child is learning multiple useful skills — whether he or she knows it or not. A child reviews counting, spatial awareness, and social skills such as taking turns.
- If your family enjoys playing traditional board games such as Sorry! or Monopoly, talk about the real-world connections behind these. For example, in Monopoly, learning to count and spend money wisely is applicable; with Sorry!, you can talk about strategy, deciding whether or not to use the number you roll as a means for getting further along on the board or allowing one of your pieces to join the others on the board. Think about other games you play as a family; what learning connections can you make?
Homeschool Connections to Puzzles, Music, Read-Alouds, LEGOs and Nature
Puzzles
Did you enjoy putting puzzles together while growing up?
If you answered yes, you may be someone who is organized, a problem-solver, good at spatial relations, persistent in task completion and/or skilled at activities that involve hand-eye coordination. Fields of interest/careers that use these skill sets are business and entrepreneurship; accounting; programming; logistics; management; and event planning.
If you enjoy hosting, tackling a space-planning challenge at home or the office, or leading a team through a series of solutions-oriented tasks, you may have childhood puzzles to thank.
These are all useful skills and homeschool connections that your children can learn as you put together puzzles or work on solutions.
Want to enjoy more puzzles as a family? Try these.
Music and Read-Alouds
Did you enjoy singing, music, or listening to books on tape as a child?
If you answered yes, some of your strengths as an adult might include sound engineering, direction of a play or musical, teaching music or music theory, using music in a therapeutic session, or songwriting. You also probably excel at hearing and taking notes, memorizing through music and/or teaching through lectures.
Brain science tells us that children can benefit from listening to music or playing an instrument since these are connections to good listening skills and hand-eye coordination.
Interested in finding musical and auditory-based activities to have fun with your kids? Think about reading a picture book aloud to them, enjoying an audiobook on a long drive, or take in a concert from a symphony online.
LEGOs and Nature Walks
Did any of your favorite childhood hobbies involve LEGOs, building models, lab experiments, dance or drama, nature walks or gardening?
If your answer was yes, you likely prefer to learn in a kinesthetic way. Being hands-on, you can succeed in a wide variety of fields. Some of those may include teaching, coaching, mechanics, electrician, personal training, cooking, a set designer and/or a landscape designer.
If your child enjoys pretending, consider some of these pretend play activities that can help you connect more with him or her.
How do your child’s play preferences impact his or her education options?