Home schooling allows parents to gear activities to children's strengths.
An estimated 1.75 to 2.35 million U.S. children from kindergarten to 12th grade were schooled at home in spring 2010, according to a report by Brian D. Ray, Ph.D., creator of the National Home Education Research Institute. Parents opting to home-school because they can individualize the curriculum to their children's strengths and weaknesses may still seek social activities that allow additional opportunities to learn and interact with peers.
Geography
Geography activities demonstrate what's occurring around the neighborhood and all over the world. Geocaching teaches children read map coordinates on a GPS while searching for a hidden cache in the local area; jotting down clues and bringing a printed map makes it easier the first time. On the day of the hike, the family follows the coordinates to locate the cache, where kids can lead the hunt for buried treasure.
Cooking ethnic cuisine from different countries or states serves as a social studies, math and science lesson. During grocery trips, kids may be more willing to try new recipes if they understand the ingredients, such as that kielbasa came from Poland and curries flourished in India. Younger children usually need instructions while cooking and sampling dishes such as Hungarian goulash or bobotie -- a curry, ground beef and egg casserole that originated in Africa.
Science
Parents can incorporate science lessons through experiments based on kindergarteners' love of water play. The term "erosion" refers to the way water, wind and ice wear down surfaces and landscapes of Earth. To copy the process, children pour water on sand or potting soil "mountains." To wrap up the lesson, parents ask the children if they thought certain types of dirt or sand eroded quicker than others.
For upper elementary and junior high students, they can learn the elements by creating a periodic table box. Divided into nine or 12 squares, the box offers spaces for samples of elements or compounds that children gather. They can search the house for examples, such as sodium, represented on the periodic table with "Na 11," by using table salt. A square for nickel, "Ni 28," could include Canadian nickels, while American pennies could fill the zinc, or "Zn 30," square.
Educational Games
The Successful Homeschooling website recommends selecting games that the entire family can play or adapting the rules for younger children, such as playing in teams. The site also suggests avoiding purely "educational" games that often seem boring or contrived, in favor of traditional games such as Scrabble or Yahtzee, which offer practice in basic math and spelling skills. Trivia games help kids remember facts about literature, entertainment, history and science.
Extracurricular Activities
Through homeschooling, parents and children have more flexibility in planning extracurricular activities. Sports leagues require physical fitness skills, in addition to teamwork. Recreation centers may feature arts and craft classes, as well as babysitting courses that allow teens to earn a certificate. Support groups for homeschooling families arrange play days and organize field trips to zoos or science museum so adults and children can socialize and bounce new ideas off each other.
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