50 Easy Ways to Sneak in Learning

50 Easy Ways to Sneak in Learning {The Unlikely Homeschool}

Homeschooling isn't just an educational choice. In our home, it is a family culture. Even when the books are stashed away and the hands on the clock read "school's out", learning is still happening. Over the years, I've peppered our home with strategically placed items designed to bring about curiosity, imagination, and learning around the clock.


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Call it sneaky if you must.
I call it genius!

Who says an education can only happen between the hours of 8 and 3?
Or when a teacher is teaching? 
Children are natural learners. It's how they are wired. 

By providing an empty, unhurried afternoon schedule and a little suggestive inspiration, I can create a home that cultivates learning ALL DAY LONG. 

50 Easy Ways to Sneak in Learning {The Unlikely Homeschool}


Here are just a few ways that you, too, can sneak a learning culture into your home. 

Encourage your child to...

  1. start a blog- Set the security to "lock" so that only invited guests may read it.
  2. play Scratch and Solve Hangman
  3. complete a Mad Lib
  4. start a collection
  5. begin a Q & A journal
  6. make a stop motion video by using a free app
  7. interview a grandparent with some simple questions
  8. create a pet habitat
  9. watch a kid-friendly nature documentary
  10. listen to an audiobook
  11. write to a penpal or deployed soldier
  12. take a nature walk
  13. hide/seek a geocache in your area
  14. open and keep track of a savings account with allowance money
  15. "adopt" one of your church's missionaries- send letters to, pray for, learn about the country/culture
  16. create a Zentangle
  17. sign up for the national Great Backyard Bird Count
  18. participate in NaNoWriMo
  19. make a balloon car
  20. recreate the construction of a famous building using blocks, Legos, or other materials
  21. create a comic book
  22. learn to make a variety of paper airplanes
  23. create a floor plan for an indoor fort and then build it
  24. plan a scavenger hunt for a younger sibling
  25. create a time capsule
  26. make a flip book
  27. try to replicate a famous painting
  28. learn origami
  29. plant a container garden
  30. learn a new skill using youtube
50 Easy Ways to Sneak in Learning {The Unlikely Homeschool}

Invite your child to...

  1. become your sous chef for the day
  2. play a board game
  3. build a puzzle
  4. help open a family-run Etsy or ebay shop
  5. take a field trip
  6. shadow dad at work for a day
  7. participate in the free Home Depot workshops for kids
  8. attend a free presentation/workshop at your local library
  9. attend a free state park educational event in your area
  10. the local farmer's market
50 Easy Ways to Sneak in Learning {The Unlikely Homeschool}

Purchase or make a...

  1. discovery basket
  2. magazine subscription (God's World is our current fave!)
  3. tinker box 
  4. science kit
  5. craft/art kit
  6. squiggle book
  7. journal jar
  8. invention box- Fill it with empty containers, cardboard, egg cartons, etc. for inventing and creating.
  9. Lego idea book
  10. science exploration box- Fill it with a magnifying glass, clipboard, binoculars, specimen jars, etc.

Need more ideas for sneaky learning? Be sure to check out these thoughts from the lovely ladies of iHomeschool Network. Or join me on Pinterest for the best-of-the-best ideas from around the web.

5 comments:

  1. thank you very useful guide. Especially keen on the idea of a science kit

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    Replies
    1. I have one son who loves science. Science kits make it possible for him to explore his passion with or without my help!

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  2. Ahhh...summer pictures. We're SOO looking forward to Spring and Summer around here!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Okay, I have to know, since you linked to this post again. Were those pics taken at Gooseberry Falls? We were there for the first time about a month and a half ago and absolutely loved it! Can't wait to go back!

    ReplyDelete