Welcome to 10 Days of Simple Homeschool. For the next two weeks, I will be posting about all things simple in homeschooling. 10 Days of Simple Homeschool is about going back to the basics. Too often we tend to complicate our purpose by trying to do too much. Homeschooling can be very effective when we go back to the basics and let our everyday life be our classroom and learn by doing.
Simplifying Homeschool is dear to my heart-getting rid of all of the distractions that keep us from our purpose and from putting God first in all!
Some posts will be practical ideas, some will focus on our hearts, but all will be focused on keeping it simple.
It is, in fact, nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiousity of inquiry; for this delicate little plant, aside from stimulation, stands mainly in need of freedom. – Albert Einstein
One of our favorite simple activities in home learning is a scavenger hunt. These can be adapted in so many ways for so many different subjects. These are some ways that we use scavenger hunts:
Seasonal scavenger hunts: I have adapted this for “Signs of Spring” or “Signs of Winter.” The kids go out with their sketch books and look for various ways that show if spring or winter is approaching.
Indoor Scavenger hunts: For little ones just learning letters, I will ask them to go around the house and find as many things beginning with the letter “A’ or “B’ etc. Or for pre-readers, I will give them a list of simple words, that they must read and find.
Language Scavenger hunts: Practice those words learned in a foreign language by writing them out in a list with the language you are learning. The child must find all that are on the list.
Math Scavenger Hunt: This can be adapted to however you need for any level. For little ones they may simply have to find the correct quantity of something, for instance: Find three of something, or find pairs, etc. For older children use it to practice measurement. Give them a list of things around the house or outside to measure.
Nature Scavenger Hunt: This can be used any way to practice finding types of flowers, animals, tress, etc.
Language Arts Scavenger Hunt: have the children identify things by adjective or noun: Find something that is shiny, or large, or curvy, etc. Or use nouns to identify objects.
These are just small ways to get you started in tailoring a scavenger hunt to your family’s needs and to what your children are learning. They can be adapted any which way you choose. Get creative. Use these scavenger hunts every week or two, just to change things up, and make it fun.
Here are the past links in this series!
Day: 1: Cooking with Kids
Day 2: Why I Have Simplified Homeschool
Day 3 Using Your Library
The 10 Days Series is organized by iHomeschool Network, a collaboration of outstanding homeschool bloggers who connect with each other and with family-friendly companies in mutually beneficial projects. Visit us on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. And of course, click the image below to visit all the 10 Days posts from these homeschool moms of the iHomeschool Network. You’ll be blessed with tips on how to handle bad days, cultivating curiosity, teaching with Legos, and much much more!
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