Homeschool Learning Activities for Elementary Students and Family

Now that the COVID-19 numbers have spiked again and the school year is quickly approaching, many parents are becoming uneasy about sending their children back to school. That’s exactly why I’m going share some fun activities you can easily implement at home to support your child in learning.

For one, parents, teachers have a lot of standards to teach. Unfortunately, many teachers sometimes move on to do different standards too quickly in a rush to cover the content, leaving your child with gaps in knowledge and skills.

Remember when we had to accomplish the task of transforming our living rooms into classrooms/daycares/cubicles?

We’ll I’m glad it happened. As my 6 year old son’s full-time teacher, I quickly discovered his academic deficits and gaps in knowledge. I mean, there were things he didn’t know that left me completely flabbergasted.

But then I had several thoughts: maybe the teacher didn’t get to it. If she did teach it, the instruction had to be cursory. And if it wasn’t cursory, she didn’t spiral the content, or find opportunities for students to practice previously learned skills.

So even when the school year starts back, even if you opt for your child to attend school virtually and receive instruction form their teachers with platforms like Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Edpuzzle, your child is still going to need of your support.

And I know you’re going to support them.

That’s why you’re here, right?

In this blog post, I provide you with some fun, easy at home learning activities for the family that will help you keep your child learning and possibly close the academic gap.

Take Learning Outdoors

Getting outside will allow your family to get some much needed fresh air and natural vitamin-D. At this point, getting outside is probably also good for your sanity.

You don’t have to go far. Get in your backyard. Walk the neighborhood. Go to the park.

These at home learning activities are designed to be practical and easy to implement.

As parent/teacher, you’re going to help your child strengthen lifelong skills and see the relevance of what he or she does in school — all while spending some good ole’ quality time with the fam.

At Home Learning Activities and Real World Math

The goal of learning is not just for learning’s sake; the goal is application, meaning the learner can apply his or or her acquired knowledge and skills to unfamiliar and novel situations. Situations that involve problem solving and asking and answering questions.

To that end, what is learned in school is to be applied in real-life situations.

Interpreting graphs is a lifelong skill that we use in our daily lives. The weekly weather forecast, school report cards (the graphs and charts you analyze to determine what neighborhood to move in based upon test scores), and analyzing stock trends are all examples of information that is provided in graph form.

By the time students leave elementary school, according to most state’s educational standards (click to see the math standards for your state), they should know how to collect, organize, create, read, and interpret various types of graphs, including bar graphs, line graphs, pictographs, and line plots (click on links to see videos related to each graph type).

This is how you’re going to support your child in learning lifelong skills they need to master before entering middle school. 

Recommended Materials

1. writing utensil: pencils, colored pencils, crayons, ink pens, etc.
2. clipboard
3. paper for recording observations and creating graphs

Data Collection and Graphing

Graphing is a great way to engage your child and family in real world math.

While outdoors, you can spend time making observations and collecting data of things that interest you.

Once back indoors, you can represent the information collected using various types of graphs. 

Below are some examples of at home learning activities that will lead to observations, data collection, representation, interpretation, and Learning OUTDOORS:

Jump Rope Contest. Find out who can jump the longest length of time without without messing up (bar graph and line plot).

If you want to monitor whether or not your jumping is improving over a period of time (e.g. round and days), you can use a line graph.

Bees, Birds, and Squirrels. Keep a tally of how many times you encounter squirrels, birds, and bees while walking (bar graph and pictograph) through the park or your neighborhood.

Brain Freeze. Everyone loves a slush on a hot summer day. Why not cool down with a game that includes your favorite drink. Find out who can drink am ice cold drink the longest before giving in to the inevitable brain freeze. (bar graph and line plot)

Examples of Questions to Ask After Creating Graphs and Extension Activities

1. Who jumped the longest/least?
2. How many more/fewer birds did you see than bees?
3. How many animals did you observe altogether?
4. Discuss trends in the line graph.
5. Put the data in order from least to greatest or vice versa.
6. Discuss factors that could’ve likely impacted the data.
7. Analyze the graph to determine and identify trends.

Fractions

The following at home learning activities will yield data that you can record as fractions AND graph.

Kobe or Shaq: If you have a basketball rim, see who can make the most free throws out of a predetermined  number.

One Leg Up: Set the time for 60 seconds. See how many seconds each person can hop on leg without putting the other leg down. 

COVID-19: Mask On, Mask Off: How has the coronavirus impacted our lives? Find out by going to a predetermined number of stores, at least 5. Find out how many require patrons to have on a mask upon entering. 

Examples of Questions to Ask and Extension Activities

1. Put fractions in order from lest to greatest or vice versa
2. Compare two fractions
3. Discuss why some stores may have chosen to not require masks, and possible effects — positive and negative.
4. Determine if more than half or less than half of stores required math

Geometry

Geometric City: Tour downtown or a historic neighborhood in your city. Identify the shapes you see while touring. Don’t forget to look for lines—parallel and perpendicular — and angles. By the way, you can also graph this information. It’ll give you an idea of the shapes that dominate the architecture in the vicinity. 

Chalk It Up: Buy a pack of multicolor chalk for outdoor use. Create shapes made up of lines and angles.

Scavenger Hunt: Tour your neighborhood or a place you’ve never been before and look for shapes (don’t forget to make a list of the shapes before heading out).

Examples of Questions to Ask and Extension Activities

1. How does geometry connect to the real-world?
2. Why do you think engineers, architects and designers chose to use those shapes?
3. How does geometry impact our daily lives?
4. When discussing shapes, talk about their characteristics: number of sides, angles, lines, faces, vertices, etc.
5. What characteristics do (blank) and (blank) have in common?
6. Use toothpicks to create different geometric shapes.

Science

Connect the Dots: On a clear night, look up at the night sky. What images can you form by connecting the stars with imaginary lines? This will set the stage for the following night’s observation activity: looking for constellations. Check your state’s learning standards to find out what they need to know about constellations.

It’s in the Clouds: Spend time observing clouds and discussing the weather. Before engaging in this activity, read or watch videos about the types of clouds and how they help with forecasting.

Your Backyard is an Ecosystem: Conduct an investigation in your backyard. Identify all the living and non-living things that make up its ecosystem.

Gardening: Plants some flowers. Identify and discuss the different parts and their purpose. Don’t forget to discuss what they’ll need to stay alive.

Examples of Questions to Ask and Extension Activities

1. What constellation is most visible? Why do you think this is so?
2. What would happen to (name an animal or insect found in your backyard) if (name a living or non-living thing) were removed?
3. What do plants need to survive?
4. Based upon what you know bout clouds, does the weather match the cloud type? Why or why not?
5. Forecast the weather based upon the clouds.
6. Conduct research to learn more about constellations. For example, research the visibility of constellations.

Before Next School Year Begins

There are tons of things you can do to keep your child ahead of the learning curve. You don’t have to spend a lot of money, nor do you have to spend a lot of time. However, as parent/teacher, you do need to keep your student in the routine of learning.

You’ll be amazed at how much these simple, relevant, and meaningful activities will support your child’s learning. If you’re interested in additional graphing activities, educator, Amy Lemons, has pre-made, ready-to-go graphing activities that will keep your child engaged for days to come.

I hope you find these ideas useful!