What's the most fun thing you've done in homeschooling. . .? I'll go first. . .

[Alicia64]

I'll go first: 

 

-- we launched a Viking funeral on a Lego ship in the bath tub. (Because we didn't have a Viking ship.)

 

-- in studying all the languages that make up English per SWB. You classify different play dough blobs as a different language ie. yellow blob is French, blue blob is Old English, red blob is Latin. At the end you smush them all together to make. . .  English!

 

Thank you, SWB, for both.

 

-- Too many read alouds to list, but they've been the best part of homeschooling.

 

-- We're about to study bees because I'm so tired of my boys seeing a bee and running for the hills. I keep telling them that wasps can be aggressive, but bees are generally fine.

 

I would love to make this summer more fun. We school through summer, but I want the time to be engaging.

 

I'm hoping to find some fun inspiration!

 

Alley

[CardinalAlt]

ETA: sorry, your boys are older, my replies may be a bit off-topic.

 

I often let DD choose how she expresses her learning after we finish a unit (chunk of history, big read aloud, etc.), and she almost always decides to make her own games. She enjoys the process and inviting people to play them with her! Go Pyramids (Go Fish with Egyptian stuff), Pantheon Memory (matching Gods and Goddeses by Greek and Roman names), The Great Ikkinasti Jungle Ride...

 

She also sometimes chooses to write mini-plays or record little video interviews where she's responding as a particular character... Like Deborah Read, Benjamin Franklin's wife.

 

We've really enjoyed the Magic School Bus science kits.

 

Field trips, obviously.

 

A game jar - she draws a slip to see what game we'll start the day off with, many she loves, a few that aren't quite as much her favorite but I value what they teach :). The element of surprise keeps it fresh!

[In2why]

Our field trip to Jamestown.   We had recently read The Birchbark House and as the kids used a shell to scrape the hair off the stretched hides they wanted to know where the animals brains were so they could soften it.  The people listening thought they were ghouls.   We also got to scrape out a burning log to help make a canoe.  Volunteers showed them how fish hooks were made out of th dew claw of a deer hoof, and they mashed corn in a hollow log with a club.   That was only a small part, there was just so much to see and do.  

[Lieutenant Stranger]

We went to Disney World, in the middle of the school year-- actually beginning of October, so in the beginning -- and the kids took educational classes at the Animal Kingdom. High fived myself for animal-loving awesomeness. 

 

Also, once, we dissected a bee. 

[Lieutenant Stranger]

Standing under the Eiffel Tower on the 4th of July and recognizing two of the Band of Brothers in their WWII uniforms. And going up and visiting with them, and deciding to serve your country. And ten years later, making LT, standing next to your helo.

 

OMGgggggggggggggggggggggggeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Which two did you meet? I get so sad every time I hear another has passed-- I live in awe of them.

[deerforest]

I think something I started today might be in the running. We have been studying evolution and early hominids. Today I realized that one of the primary scientists working on some of the research we've been studying is based at one of our local universities. I emailed him to ask if we could come to the lab sometime, explaining my daughters interest in paleoanthropology, and he wrote back quickly with a long note and invitation to visit in June. He apologized for not being available sooner but he was heading out to a new site this week with lots of activity. We will get to chat with him when he returns. DD was so excited she was practically crying. We are both ridiculously giddy!

[duckens]

 

deerforest says:

Today I realized that one of the primary scientists working on some of the research we've been studying is based at one of our local universities. I emailed him to ask if we could come to the lab sometime, explaining my daughters interest in paleoanthropology, and he wrote back quickly with a long note and invitation to visit in June.

Can we come, too????  *needs a jealous smiley*

 

 

[duckens]

Dd would say:

--Spanish because of all the games we play

--Chinese because of the Chinese Jeopardy Game on Easter Sunday's class. (Yes, we had class on Easter Sunday).

--Usborne curriculum of Dinosaurs, and before that Under the Sea.  (Reading Usborne books on a related topic and looking up the quicklinks, mixed with some enrichment experiments).

--Typing on Dancemat

--Top Secret Detective for World Geography.  

--Dino Lingo Russian
--Getting Blue Death-Feigning Beetles for a pet
--Getting to watch science documentaries (Nova, Nature, PBS, etc) for science some days.

--Digging for fossils at the old gravel pit

 

I would say (bragging alert):
--Dissecting our pet fish that died

--My first grader using the handheld computer-magnifier to take pictures of the flower we dissected.

--My first grader following the discussion of Punnett Squares used in genetic inheritance, and answering the questions beautifully to predict statistical outcomes.  Yeah, she's a science kid.
--My dd3 joining us for Spanish games, and answering properly in Spanish without being prompted.

--My dd3 spontaneously singing in Chinese.  Who taught her that????  Dd7 and I joined in.
--My first grader recognizing random art references to Warhol, Seurat, Pollack, VanGogh, and Lichtenstein

[lewelma]

Definitely our science fair projects.  I think that fun and engaging are not necessarily interchangeable, but our scientific investigations have been the most memorable work we have done in the many years we have homeschooled.

 

Ruth in NZ

[mom31257]

The most fun things involve other people. I guess we are just social creatures! 

 

Ancient History:

My best friend and I studied it the same school year. We spent a few days together doing crafts, games, projects, etc., over all the major civilizations in ancient history. We had our own Olympic games, the kids created a Homer play, etc. It was a lot of fun.  That same friend is studying ancients again next year, and so is ds. We've talked about doing some things together this year, too. 

 

 

Book Club:

I've lead a book club the last 3 years. It has been a lot of fun. We watched the movies of the books the first 2 years, and this past year we did a unit study each day (much like we did with the ancient history). One really fun thing I had the kids do was to create a "figurative language cafe" menu. They had to make a menu for a restaurant and title/describe all the items with figurative language. The kids actually brought an item off their menus for our end of year party. 

 

Co-op classes:

I directed an enrichment co-op for 3 years. Several of those classes were a lot of fun. Then I started an academic co-op, and have directed that for 2 years. It has been a lot of fun, too.