Don’t Be Afraid to Use Screens in Your Homeschool
We are big fans of integrating technology into our homeschool lessons here at The Waldock Way. Navigating screen time in your homeschool can be challenging at first, but I believe it’s worth it. Screens can provide an engaging multisensory learning experience for your kids.
I’d like to encourage you not to be afraid to use screens in your homeschool. Technology can provide many educational benefits worth exploring with your kids. Keep reading to discover how we use screens, our favorite tech resources and links, and some of the amazing benefits to learning with screens in your homeschool.
Screen Time Is Not All Bad In Learning
We have all heard the stories about kids addicted to screens and the negative effects screen time can have on your homeschool and your kids. However, there are many benefits to incorporating screen time into your homeschool day too.
Educational apps are a great option for roadschooling, long car rides, and time spent in waiting rooms. We use educational apps and screen time as an incentive to get through challenging or boring lessons.
Screen Time can really be helpful when your voice needs a break and on those mornings where you need an extra cup of coffee. Podcasts and documentaries are a nice change from your everyday homeschool routine.
I truly believe screens can engage young kids in a way that books simply can’t because they create a multisensory experience that holds their attention and creates opportunities for them to learn new information in a way that’s exciting and fun. Keep reading to learn more about how we use screens here at The Waldock Way.
How We Use Screens In Our Homeschool
There are so many ways you can use screen time in a positive way with your homeschoolers. Check out some of our favorite ways to use screens in our homeschool:
Incentive for Challenging Lessons
If a subject is truly challenging for your kids, you can use screen time as an incentive to encourage their best effort. Screens as a reward can be a great way to help your kids get through assignments that are difficult or boring for them.
Refresh Your Routine
Let’s face it, there are points in our homeschool year where we get a little bored with the routine. Sometimes there are things going on, like the holidays, that make it challenging to stick to our normal routine. Other times we just need to change it up. Or maybe take a break from each other.
Screen time can help you do that. A fun math app can make memorizing math facts much more exciting. A storytime podcast can give your voice a rest and get your kids excited about reading. A documentary can check off history or science from your to do list. If you need a reset, I encourage you to give screens a try.
Engage Reluctant Learners
Sometimes our kids are reluctant to participate. If your child is struggling with a particular lesson or subject, there’s an app for that. A fun educational TV show, learning app, kids’ podcast, or well-made documentary can engage kids in ways that books don’t always have the ability to do.
Social Interaction
As homeschool moms, when someone says “socialization,” we tend to get defensive. However, we have all felt the need for a little more social interaction since the pandemic began. Creating opportunities for our children to mingle socially with other kids is definitely more challenging.
Online classes and sandbox/open world video games can provide this aspect of social interaction in a fun new way that incorporates lots of learning too. New platforms like Outschool provide tons of exciting new classes focused on LEGOs, book clubs, learning about animals, and even Minecraft.
Learn Something New
Listening to a podcast or watching a documentary in your homeschool can be a fun way to learn something new. There are lots of subjects our kids are interested in and have questions about for which there are no books.
Sometimes a quick google search can answer their questions. When you really want to deep dive into a topic, Check out a brand new documentary or listen to the latest podcasts. I’m always surprised by all the new things we discover and how much my daughter retains from using screens in this way.
This happens all the time as we work through a unit study or read aloud. Something prompts a question, we have a conversation and that leads to a deeper dive using screens to uncover more information.
Our Favorite Options for Educational Screen Time
We incorporate screen into everything we do in our homeschool. I appreciate that they offer a something for visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners alike. So what exactly are we using for educational screen time? We have many favorites!
Check out our favorite options:
- 60+ Kindle Fire Apps to Use for Learning
- The Ultimate Guide to Children’s Podcasts
- The Best Documentaries for Your Homeschool
- Online Classes to Explore in Your Homeschool
Don’t Be Afraid To Use Screens In Your Homeschool!
I hope I’ve convinced you that screens should have a place in your homeschool. There are so many amazing benefits to regularly incorporating screen time in your lessons. As with most things, screens need to be monitored, but technology isn’t a monster you need to keep out of your homeschool.
Instead, screen time can be a tool to facilitate all kinds of new and exciting learning opportunities for your kids. Do you use screens in your homeschool? What are your favorite ways to use screen time with your homeschoolers?