So many people think that a Classical style homeschool is a boring, inflexible place, where children are drilled for facts 5 hours per day. For many if not most homeschoolers, this is far from reality. The truth is that while a lot can be packed into a Classical education, there is plenty of room for flexibility, creativity, and fun!
History/Geography
There are many hands-on opportunities for learning about History and Geography. Learn arts & crafts from different places in the world, or from different eras. Cook and eat foods from around the world. Play Games – for instance, try Chinese chess if you’re learning about China. Create salt-dough relief maps or yummy maps we made out of cookie dough. Make costumes from around the world. Instead of reading textbooks on history or geography, pick up great “living books” or historical fiction that bring the place or time you’re studying to life and are much more exciting.
Languages
Foreign Languages can be fun, too. An online friend of mine has “French Fridays” in their home. They watch movies in French and try to speak French as much as possible each Friday.
Language Arts
Narration and dictation can be a riot. Choose some hilarious stories to read and have your child narrate them back. Dictate some ridiculously funny sentences of your own invention, or silly sentences from Dr. Seuss.
Literature
Studying a great work of literature doesn’t have to be a chore, either. Many Classical homeschoolers act out scenes from plays – why not give Shakespeare a try? You can even learn about set design, costume design, make-up and all the aspects of putting on a production while you’re at it.
Logic/Critical Thinking
Studying Logic as a subject can be fun! While watching advertisements, students can spot the fallacies. Election campaigns are particularly good fodder: from advertisements to televised debates, see if your child can spot the fallacies!
Math
Drilling math facts is important, but instead of endless flash cards, math facts can be fun. Try video games such as Timez Attack which drills multiplication facts while defeating monsters, or MathRider that drills all four operations while completing a quest across a fantasy world. And for the upper times tables, you can curl up on the couch and tell them as stories using Times Tales.
What do you like to do to spice up your Classical Homeschool?
Love, Luck &
Laughter,
Kimberly
Bravo! We’re classical homeschoolers as well and I hear the “you must do drill work all day long”. Not true – we do our work but we also do many interesting and fun things. I like your list of activities!
Thanks, Tonia! You don’t have to be boring to be Classical 🙂
Great ideas Kimberly. I am sharing your post on your blog.
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