Friday, October 7, 2011

Homeschool ideas (and it won't even feel like school)!

Just thought I'd take minute to toss out some "sneaky" ways to fit in school without your kids even thinking of it as school.  What could be better?

1)  Teach your kids to read prices with their favorite catalogue.  In my son's case he really likes a store called Outback Toys filled with all kinds of tractors.  He learned to read prices in less than a week and he did it all without really thinking of it as school.  He got to look at this favorite toys and I got in a math lesson.  That's what I'm talking about.

2)  With Christmas coming up I saw my son looking at his new Lego catalogue.  I told him to make a "wish list" of all the sets he would like to have.  I told him to include the item number, the name of the set and the price it cost.  In order to do this he had to read (to make sure he was looking at the right set) and write. 

I'm convinced more and more that homeschooling involves thinking outside the box.  Not all learning comes from sitting in a desk using conventional schoolbooks (although there is a place for this).  Sometimes kids are learning the most when we don't even realize it.