Homeschooling Through the Alphabet: F is for Fun!

As much as I know my goal in homeschooling is to prepare my boys for "real life" and their "future" I have always thought of making learning fun as my number one goal.  So I just had to pick Fun for this week's blogging through the alphabet challenge!

I think it's important to keep our learning and days fun because I have realized that:

The more fun we create; the more willing  my boys are to learn.

The more fun we have together; the more we make fun family memories together.

The more fun I made learning the more they are likely to want to keep on learning.

I used to find it hard to make learning fun because I was trying to make our day look like school but I soon realized that we seemed to learn the most when we were just focusing on having fun together and trying new things together.  After all any new experience, material we were working with, or game we were playing had to be leading to something new being learned!

There are so many ways we add to fun to our days:

1. I look for ways to turn math and spelling assignments into games.  
2. I often make special snacks or treat just because I want to see them smile.  
3. We plan field trips that get us excited about learning something new.
4. We use candy and food for math, science, and even art on occasion because I know nothing motivates my boys to work hard quite like food.  
5. I use silly voices when I read aloud.
6. I'll declare a day off on the spur of the moment!
7. We'll pop in a movie.
8. I'll give them a video game to play.
9. We invite friends or family over.
10. I ask them what they want to do.
11. We look on Pinterest for new science experiments, art projects, or challenges to try out.
12. We take classes together-- painting pottery, glass fusion, etc.
13. We head out somewhere unexpected-- the amusement park, the movies, out to lunch, on a picnic.
14. We take our schoolwork with us to the park, to the library, or even build a fort to work inside of. 
15.  We'll have themed days or even weeks-- some of the boys' favorites include Pi day, Star Wars day, Harry Potter Week, Game Day, Our No Book Day, Kit Day (A day we pull all the crafting and science kits out of the cabinet and just play with whatever we want), etc.  You get the idea. 

At the end of our days I always look back and think about whether or not we were smiling.  If we were having fun, had a chance to be silly and laugh together or not, and if not I try to think of some way I can bring that into our day next time.

It's important to me that my boys learn all that they need to know to succeed in life but I also want them to remember that life is short and while it's not always about fun and games you do need to enjoy the journey before the years pass you right on by.

Homeschooling Through the Alphabet:

A is for Awe
B is for Boisterous
C is for Creativity
D is for Determination
E is for Expectations