8 Ways To Encourage Activity In Your Homeschool

May 19, 2022
Written by:
Guest Author
Elementary Homeschool, Homeschool Resources, Volunteer Contributors

Guest Post by Heidi Rosenberg

For most parents that have had to homeschool and work from home, it is a challenging and stressful ride. Imagine that the parent recently lost his or her job and is dealing with that disappointment also. Giving room for exercise is a fantastic way to alleviate the kind of stress that comes with homeschooling. It helps maintain balanced mental health and the kids need frequent activity. Education is a great investment in the kids but as parents, you must also encourage regular physical activity with the kids.  This regular activity helps use up excess cortisol which is the stress hormone. Here are some ways to encourage activity in your homeschool.

Build a Playground for the Kids

When the kids are in school, they usually have a period for breaks where they can have something to eat and then play. This is the norm in all schools everywhere and this means that importance is laid on kids taking part in physical activities to refresh their system. During homeschooling, the same should be adopted. You can encourage this by building a playground for the kids. The flooring should be durable and able to absorb shock and heavy impacts from regular jumping and other heavy materials landing on it. A rubber lock tile flooring will be very useful for this purpose, thus protecting the flooring and even any machinery or equipment that makes contact with it.

Get a Home Garden

This is another option if you want to make sure that your kids are always busy with one activity or the other during homeschooling. You can give them some occasional breaks so they can go to the garden and get busy. Apart from the fact that they are being active, they will also learn some basic things about planting and tending to a garden. Their exposure to dirt also strengthens their immune system to diseases. Gardening also facilitates deep sleeping, a stage of sleep when the body is able to rest the most and the system refurbished. This is good for kids as it makes them brighter and more able to assimilate what they learn better.

Get a Home Gym

Many people don’t go to gym houses often because of laziness or the long distance separating the gym houses from their homes. This can be taken care of by getting a home gym. Apart from the benefit to the adults, it can also help the kids stay fitPhysical Activity in Homeschool always. When homeschooling the kids, it is good to create a section in your house for their relaxation. You can set it to a gym standard by buying pieces of gym equipment that kids can use. You can even join them during such activities. Memorable things like these will help them to be more active and stay fit for their homeschooling.

Break Up the Learning Into Blocks

In a bid to get the kids moving regularly and stay active during their homeschooling, make sure that their learning is divided into different aspects that won’t have the same venue of learning. For example, you can give them assignments that would require them to use a laptop or computer system at home. These gadgets can be kept in another room far away from the usual learning area. This would mean that anytime they need to do assignments on the laptop, it gets them to move and change location thereby keeping them active. Make time to teach them good handwriting skills as well since they can often forget about that because they finish most of the assignments on a laptop.

Head Outdoors to Experience Nature

Taking lectures under the open sky creates a different type of environment from the usual indoor homeschooling. It gets the kids more active and vocal. Natural elements outside like the plants, trees, birds, and the sky have a way of influencing the mental well-being of the kids, making them more active and smart. Occasionally, they could quickly indulge in some outdoor fun activities for a break from their homeschool lessons.

Let Them Join You in the Kitchen

Teaching your kids some culinary skills while they are being homeschooled isn’t a bad idea at all. They get to learn how to make some easy meals themselves and this will bring them joy, knowing that they are eating what they cooked by themselves. You can even send them on errands and those regular movements here and there will keep them active and not just sitting in one place taking lectures all the time.

Introduce Painting

Painting is an activity that kids love to indulge in and it helps them to express themselves. You can teach them about color mixing of the primary colors to get secondary colors and some basics about painting. Then, give them assignments. The process involved in completing a painting is enough activity for them in between lesson periods during their homeschooling.

Get Some Bicycles

This is a very good way to make your kids more active when homeschooling. You can get them the regular traditional bikes if they already know how to ride one. For those still learning how to ride, you can get the electric bike for them which requires less physical effort to ride. They can ride their bikes outside or within the house. Bike riding especially in the morning helps the child experience nature and keeps him or her active and smart during homeschooling.

Final Word

It is not good enough to keep kids in one place for hours just because you are homeschooling them. The brain does get tired and even adults find it difficult to absorb new things when they are tired mentally. Indulging in one physical activity or the other is a sure medicine for stress. Kids need it to remain active and smart, and you can stay smart yourself as parents if you join in the activity!

 

This post was contributed by Heidi Rosenberg.

Additional Homeschool Resources

Crush Weekend Boredom With 8 Fun Kid Activities

How Physical Activity Can Help You Make Friends

Keeping Homeschool Kids Active and Healthy

#ACTIVITIES FOR HOMESCHOOLERS, #HOMESCHOOL ADVICE, #HOMESCHOOL TIPS, #PHYSICAL ACTIVITY