Homeschooling is the education of school-aged children by parents or home tutors in some cases at home or a variety of places other than school. It is also named as home education or elective home education. Homeschooling is all about breaking the norms of the usual morning till afternoon schooling under fixed premises of school. In this there is no pre-defined curriculum that is assigned for all homeschooled kids.
While staying at home the kids can also take online classes from different schools or learning sites. Since the e-learning is being incorporated in every educational platform ,its playing important role in homeschooling as well. While a lot of educational institutions are providing online certification of their courses in distance learning ,South Africa is also setting a milestone. It has taken the initiative of launching the first globally recognized private online high school in South Africa that is aiming to begin its first year of curriculum in January 2020 and will provide learners worldwide with a fully supported, global online high schooling experience. Meanwhile in homeschooling we don’t need to spend a lot of time planning and preparing for learning materials just using few tips and tricks, and it doesn’t even cost a lot of money!
Various tips and tricks can be used to make the homeschooling more fun for the kids free from dull, stressful and tiring schooling, because feeling like a tyrant or robot sucks the joy out of life!
So, following five tips can be used to make sure that kids’ learning should include moments of fun to connect & build memories.
- Playing More Games:
With a diverse range of learning games, kids can have a blast building essential skills .
Games provide loads of teachable moments such as it improves critical thinking, problem-solving, skills, reading ,writing, digital literacy and math skills as well as bearing losing at something and learning from previous experiences to think more critically thus boosting their brain’s activity.
While having fun and playing the child practice the skills they need to succeed, while making learning a positive experience .
2. Exploring nature and country tours:
The natural world can be fun in its own ways. There can be a lot of outdoor activities like hiking, kayaking, fishing, camping that the kids would love to discover.
Countryside road trips can be planned to enjoy the mother Nature and to feel the healing effect of it. During the countryside tours kids can be taught planting and watering the plants and trees, and can be made to caress animals. Other options can be visiting nearby museums, historical places etc.
- Get their hands dirty with DIY crafts and Artwork:
Art teaches kids to think outside the box in problem solving skills while keeping it fun. In addition to these obvious advantages ,it makes them express themselves as an individual, unique person. Artworks at times help in bringing to light the mental problems and give insights into the home lives of children so that it can be better understood how they can be helped or treated . Foremost art is a way to express the mind ,as it is a non-judgmental medium that lets people express without any threat.
Lego’s, knitting, modeling clay, slime, Tinker Crates, and puzzles are all wonderful for keeping little hands busy during a read aloud.
- Using multimedia to watch Documentations and Animated stuff:
To delve into the topic of interest and discover new interests, watching different documentaries regarding certain topics is a great source of learning. Watching stuff in form of animated movies can also be a fun way to learn new things, meanwhile deepening your family ties. Music is a pleasant and soothing way to start the day .Playing music in the morning can freshen the mind in the beginning of the day.
- Celebrations and the get-togethers:
Celebration of achievements and milestones gives the kids confidence and appreciation. Completion of some course or scoring good in the final assessments can be celebrated. Meanwhile a party can be thrown on some important occasions/days of the year like Halloween ,Easter etc.
International days on the calendar can also be celebrated such as teacher’s day . How about some spring festival day? This can be fun and will also be good for the mental health of kids
