Think back to your own school days. Uniforms, lunches and friends aside, what stands out is probably bad lessons and fun ones.
Research from Princeton and Growth Engineering shows that enjoyment (aka fun) in learning leads to the release of dopamine, increasing attention spans, activating memory, and helping form new neural connections, which in turn helps with memory retention: In other words, the more students enjoy a lesson, the more they will learn from it.
Bad lessons are always going to happen, whether in school or at home, but in home education, once you’ve figured out why the lessons were bad (resources? learning environment? parent-teacher/child-pupil balance issues?) there’s no need to repeat those less-than-great lessons..so home-ed lessons could all, technically, be fun..but how are you meant to do that? How can we make learning fun?
4 ways to make home-ed learning fun
When planning a home-ed class, think of a fun activity first, & turn it into a lesson after.
Learning can be added into any activity – starting from a resource or activity that you know will engage learners sets the right tone for learning to happen.
(Read: How to turn anything into a lesson)
Test-drive resources & lesson materials before commmitting to using them for ‘school’
Study weeks are an efficient way to add trials of lessons materials & new courses, and to see what interests your child wants to follow.
(Read: Home-Ed Study Weeks)
Rethink how you think about education and take the pressure off you, as a home-educator, to meet arbitrary academic ‘school’ targets.
Children model our energy – the more relaxed we are, the more relaxed they are, and the more relaxed they are, the better they are going to learn.
(Read: Academic Building Blocks)
Get outside!
School is always more fun in the sun..or rain..or snow!
(Read: Take Lessons Outside)
Home education isn’t always easy, and not every lesson is going to be fun. Some days might need resetting and some subjects are just going to be hard, but that doesn’t mean your child’s home education experience can’t feel fun in their memories of (home) school.