What’s one unconventional homeschooling method you’ve tried that surprised you with great results?
Homeschooling offers a unique opportunity to tailor education to a child's individual needs, interests, and learning style. In this article, we explore creative and unconventional homeschooling methods shared by parents from our community.
We also dive into how parents strike a balance between structure and freedom, ensuring a well-rounded and engaging educational experience. Whether you're a seasoned homeschooler or just starting out, these tips and insights will inspire you to think outside the traditional classroom box.
Rebecka Blaylock
"Teacher kid days where they take over and teach me and each other what they’ve been learning. It’s a great way to assess what they know and to let them take ownership of their learning."
Sarah Faith
"Number Blocks on YouTube! They have SUPERSEDED any math curriculum we could have used K-1st grade math! We still do a book, but his love for math has developed because of that show."
Stacy Warwick
"Pulling out our play money and play register for "math". I have chat gpt give me store purchase scenarios that are age appropriate for my kiddos. THEY LOVE THIS! They take turns being the cashier and taking the money and giving the correct change! When I do this, I also pull out the globe or an atlas and ask chat gpt to give me a list of questions for each of my kids (age appropriate). They love playing teacher (I tell the chat gpt to give me the answers on a separate sheet for all of these subjects) This helps the kids "teach each other". I am in the same room as them (working from home). I am trying to do this once a week."
Lacey DiFilippantonio Grant
"Letting my kids write their spelling words on our windows in dry erase markers. No more fighting them to practice words. A HUGE win."
Corene Allen
"1 subject per month, put more focus on life skills, my freshman son works part time at a hardware store, my 9 year old daughter is entrepreneurial and always has a little “business” going with a table out front of the house with bracelets, baked goods, her art etc. Honoring each child and what lights them up vs check these school subject boxes daily."
Shannon Neiswonger Acevedo
"For some time I found we didnt get much done in the science or history books. In an effort to get more science and history into our day, I would check out educational dvds from the library and have the kids watch them on our 25 min drives to and from church. They scored off the charts on the IOWA each year we did that."
Molly Ann Charlton
"We pick one whole week (9 days including weekends) of school to take off each month and do school year round! Gives me a mental break and some time to catch up on things I may be behind on and gives the kid something to be excited about! Holidays are their own thing but we try to take our one week off during the month around birthdays and vacations."
Brandi Fought
"We watch a lot of movies with subtitles. He actually reads them and understands the movies better. Then when we watch sequels, he understands character development. May seem like just watching movies but he is actually learning and reading better now!"
Tina McNelis Arozena
"Child led interest-based learning and a relaxed homeschool is the way to go! My daughter is my inspiration for the resources I create all based on questions she may ask me. I let my daughter choose what she wants to learn for all core subjects & electives. You will be surprised that when they are actually interested in the topic, you will see more productivity.
I also allow her to teach me what she knows: this could be an oral presentation, her bookwork, her online work, etc. This is a great way to assess what she has learned and if there are any areas where she is lacking.
By being relaxed - I mean no set start time or schedule. There are days that I sleep in and wake up and she is already done with school. She is motivated and ready to present what she learned."
Achieving Balance
How do you balance structure vs freedom?
Jacqueline Merville
"I have “school hours” with set times we do certain subjects together (bible, history or science, and enrichment), and then certain hours where they can pick the order of the subjects they want.
I review quarterly and get input on what they thought about the current curriculum choices for math and language arts. Sometimes, especially as a new homeschooler, we switch switched to a different curriculum each quarter. But after that first year, my kids finally found something that works and they like so we’ve stuck with it the whole year."
Ryan A Bell
"We start whenever kids have chosen after lunch, no devices until critters and rooms are tended to then we do IXL lessons usually 1 math 1 ela for the day bookwork if they are struggling to understand the concept then free learning like foreign languages (they chose) extra choice learning like baking gardening machanics whatever they are interested in , chores and free play, reading for 30 minutes anytime before bed.
Only things I push that must be done everyday is math and ela and reading. The rest we mix up days and they choose the subject."
Ashley Wright
"My kids have a checklist they need to get through each day. The goal is before noon, but when they're on top of things, they can finish by around 10. (2 Duolingo lessons, 1 Khan Academy math lesson or about 10 questions, 6 typing lessons on TTRS, 1 chore, and personal hygiene, breakfast, etc.) They usually have the rest of the day free, unless we're going somewhere cool together (and they're old enough that if they don't want to go somewhere, they don't have to). Then, after dinner, we have "evening lessons" when we all work on our Spanish together, as well as science and/or history, journaling, and meditation. Sometimes we ditch evening lessons in favor of watching a movie. At least during the winter, it's already dark by this time so it's usually easy to get them to come inside. In the summer, it can be more challenging and sometimes we don't get to our evening lessons as often."
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