Back To Homeschool

Back to HomeSchool!

By: Samantha Anne Moss

How do you feel about going back to homeschool? Are you excited, unhappy, or nervous? If you are like me, you feel all three! I am sure that you never complain about school, but for those of you that do, I have a few ideas that should make this school year easier. I will list them in a minute, along with some other suggestions, but first I want to ask you a question.

During the end of summer, do you ever get bored? Well, I do! I seem to find myself saying, “Mom, what should I do?” or “I am bored!” As I am sure you know, moms always help you think of something to do, but most of the time the ideas don’t sound too appealing! Some of my mom’s great ideas consist of things like cleaning your room or doing your chores. Naturally, I immediately find something else to do, especially if those are options for something to do and not chores! When school starts, I am always excited to be busy and learning new things… at least for the first week!

Back to Homeschool Fun!

So, once the novelty of going back to homeschool has worn off, how do you keep it fun? You may be thinking, “she is crazy.” Well, learning can be fun, but first, you must work hard on the subjects assigned and help with your given chores! Oh, great, I am starting to sound like my mom (not that that is a bad thing)!

If you complete your schoolwork early in the day, you have a better chance of having free time to do your own thing. I enjoy free time activities such as an art project I can work on each day or reading a favorite book. I know when we’ve completed our school work ahead of time our mom surprises us with an unexpected field trip! I love going to museums, parks, or historical sights and learning fun things as well as enjoying time spent with my friends.

Another reason to finish your work efficiently is to allow for time to do science experiments! No fancy kits are needed; we do lots of experimenting with around the house supplies. (My grandmother wrote a book, Teaching Science and Having Fun my mom is even the model on the cover when she was about my age, twelve! This book has home-supply lists and do-it-yourself lab kits.) My family loves to do science experiments.

My brothers favorite is making a baking soda and vinegar explosion. This is a perfect example of something that is cheap, and it is an easy experiment that almost anyone can do. If you want to bring this experiment up a notch then you might consider purchasing (or making) a fake volcano that you can dump baking soda to vinegar into, don’t forget to try different ratios of baking powder and vinegar. My siblings and I, along with our Uncle Mike, did this and had a blast! Our volcano was made of an upside-down cut, aluminum foil (on a tray) and Plaster Paris that was molded around the foil. After it hardened, we painted it! This just shows you that you can have fun and count it as school.

Homeschool Co-Ops are fun, and we have joined several during my years of homeschooling. This puts children in groups, and the activities are led by the parents. This keeps the fun in back to homeschool! Each co-op is different, and you can do many of these suggestions at home as well. There are enough people in my own family to have our own co-op!

Another fun idea is to do a STEM project! (I didn’t know they were called STEM projects until I wrote this, but regardless they are so much fun!) All you need to have on hand for this project is toothpicks and mini marshmallows! You can create engineering marvels such as building bridges, pyramids, and all sorts of other things. We did this fun building project with our co-op, and my brother insisted that it needed to be included in this year’s back to homeschool fun!

It is easy to make almost any design using these tools. My older sister Emma built a pyramid that was bigger than her head! She is very focused when it comes to these types of activities. There is one thing that always gives us a problem that requires quick thinking. The little kids (our younger siblings) tend to like to eat this experiment rather than build it. I must admit that it is not just the little kids that want to eat the mini-marshmallows necessary for this project, my friends and I ate our fair share too! Our co-ops are so much fun and educational. It is also a bonus that I get to see my friends.

I hope that this gives you a different perspective on starting your back to homeschool with a good attitude that lasts throughout the year! Also, the reward of starting and finishing your schoolwork quickly. Who has the time to complain about school work? Especially when there are so many fun things to do once it is done! I hope that you try some of these fun ideas, begin projects that interest you, and do some fun experiments. After all, learning is fun!

To see another article by Samantha Moss visit here.

About the author:

Samantha Anne Moss is a twelve-year-old homeschooler who lives in southwest Florida with her family. She enjoys reading, photography, and playing the piano. Samantha is the second oldest in a family of eight children.