Switch Things Up And Make Homeschool Fun By Adding Movement
Are you tired of your homeschool day feeling stagnant and a little boring? Do your children seem restless and unfocused? It might be time to add some movement to your routine! In this blog post, we’ll explore why movement plays such a vital role for homeschooling success, how it can help to break the slump that you might be feeling, and practical tips for incorporating more movement into your homeschooling day.
Why Movement Matters:
Remember when you were a child, and sitting still for longer than an episode of Star Trek felt like an eternity? No? Just me? I really didn’t like Star Trek but my mom LOVED it! Well, our children are no different. Incorporating movement into the homeschool day isn’t just a nice break for them; it’s essential for their learning and well-being.
Think about it, how many great ideas have you had while sitting still versus being active? Movement gets the blood flowing, not just to our legs but to that all-important organ, the brain. It’s like giving your child’s brain a mini spa day; where they come back refreshed and ready to tackle the next long division question.
Busting Boredom with Movement:
One of the many challenges of homeschooling is keeping children engaged. By incorporating movement into your day, you can break up the monotony and make learning more interactive; i.e. a lot more fun. We can accomplish this by adding short dance breaks, outdoor activities, and so many more ways to keep things interesting.
Tips for Adding Movement to Your Day:
- Incorporate Brain Breaks: Short bursts of physical activity in between lessons. You can use the Pomodoro technique to break up your homeschool day. This is where your child does focused work for 25 minutes then breaks for 5 minutes (that 5 minutes is usually 20 in our house). This works great for older children. If your child is younger, I usually have my daughter focus for approximately 10 minutes and then she breaks for about 20 minutes. There are many online resources for finding brain breaks, but you can also improvise with other movement exercises like a short dance routine.
- Movement while learning: If your child is a kinesthetic learner, you may have already used some of these tips. Instead of sitting and reading a book, let your inner actress out and try acting out scenes. Quiz your child’s spelling with jumping jacks for every letter. For example, have your child spell the word “cat” by doing a jumping jack for each letter.
- Scavenger Hunt: You can create a scavenger hunt when you are testing your child’s comprehension on a topic. For example, we used an activity from Speak Life Badges where she suggested a few movement activities and I printed their math questions behind them. Then, I scattered them around the house. When they found one, answered correctly and did the activity, I gave them the next clue. This was a lot of fun because they were able to practice the theory that they learned, perform physical activity as well as have fun.
- Get outside: You can take a walk when you feel that you need a break. Getting outside and smelling that fresh air can help to refocus our children. You can also take a nature walk where you discuss what you see, smell and hear in nature.
Some homeschooling curriculum may seem rigid but adding movement to your homeschool day can have a significant impact on your children’s learning and overall well-being. By getting up and moving, you can make homeschooling more fun and effective without sacrificing the learning process.
So, let’s keep the conversation going! What movement strategies have worked for you and your children? Remember, it’s not just about movement; it’s about creating a dynamic and engaging learning environment that makes homeschooling a positive experience for the whole family.
Here’s to dancing, jogging, and making homeschool AWESOME!
At the end of your movement break, you’re going to need this one simple habit to help your children find their focus again.
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Check out the entire video to find out how you could incorporate movement into your homeschool day.
The topics covered in this video are:
- Benefits of Movement for Homeschoolers
- How to Incorporate Movement in your Homeschool Day (Brain Breaks, Get Outside, Exercise Examples To Perform While Teaching (Kinesthetic Learning), Scavenger Hunt To Validate Comprehension, etc.)
- Change the Flow of your Homeschool Day
- So much more…
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Links mentioned in this video:
- The Body Coach TV YouTube Channel
- Tanzii TV YouTube Channel
- Fitness Hustle TV YouTube Channel
- Teacher Mister Alonso YouTube Channel
- Go Noodle YouTube channel
- UJU Videos YouTube channel
- Speak Life Badges
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