Five things to try in your homeschool- part 4

(I've been working on a series of things to try in homeschooling. If you missed part 1, part 2 or part 3, check them out!)

What's the surefire easiest way to get your kids interested in something that they've been resisting? Gamify it! Gamification is when we take an assignment or task and add a game element to make it more interesting, engaging or fun. It's something we often naturally do as parents with our toddlers. Have you ever said "I'll race you to the laundry basket?" or "Let's see who can put away the shoes faster!" You've already gamified your task!

As our kids get older, sometimes we forget to spread games into everything and anything we're already doing. Especially as homeschoolers, we might get stuck in a rut of a worksheet or a book and leave our kids to it, even if they're rolling on the ground complaining about the torture of the page. This is exactly the ah-ha moment, time to gamify the assignment! There are many ways to make this work, depending on your level of commitment and the time you have available for lesson planning and redesigning your work.

Start Simple
Choose just one thing to make into a game. We started with a whole family experience in Chore Wars. I freely admit, I knew I'd win from the beginning and was hoping to prove a point. I did win and my point was proven, but it was also far more fun to do annoying chores along the way! You can start even simpler. If all you have right now is five minutes, cut the math page apart and scatter it around the house. Tell your child they have 15 problems to find and complete to win the prize. Lay a notebook and glue out on the table and say "Go!" Each child will tackle this differently. Some will try to find all 15 problems first, then put them in order, then glue them. Some will find one at a time to complete. Either way, the approach to strategy and thinking is his/her own and makes that math practice even more fun!

Add in board games for another simple way to have fun! Our favorites include:



Add in a little more
One of our favorite math games is DragonBox. This is a great way to add in digital learning and know that your kids are having fun learning math. DragonBox is available on most platforms, which makes it even more awesome! To add in a little more, it's quick and easy to google the subject area and "game" to come up with options. We have found that the best games usually come up from the BBC, PBS, Nova or National Geographic, though there are many others!

Go all in
How do you gamify the entire lesson? This is a challenge if you're planning on creating your own from scratch. Start early and play-test your game many times, so it's not a failure when you debut it to the kids. Or go with an already designed game that will make your life even more fun!
Our favorites:

• Mission US - Choose your own adventure style US history
• iCivics- Civics and Constitutional issues, a perfect match for Mission US
• Meet me at Midnight- Art appreciation and art history by the Smithsonian 
• CSI Science- Based on the TV show but made by Rice University
• Quandary- Logic, consequences and planning a new civilization all in one
• NovaLabs- Several choices of immersive science games
• Prodigy Math- Free K-8 math, set up Pokemon style with characters and leveling up!

Whatever you choose or however you do it, bringing games to your homeschool will make everyone find the lessons even more enjoyable!


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