Homework and I do not get along, not because I don't want my children to spend time learning, but because I want them to be able to do other things too. I have to find my happy place when the kids, after being gone to school for 7 1/2 hours, get home with hours worth of homework to do. Whatever happened to play time, chores and piano lessons.
So sometimes we don't do it (shhh... don't tell;) but most of the time I try to find ways to make homework double as playtime with my kids. This week we have been playing hangman. I never realized what a versatile game hangman was until this week, but it works for much more than just words. We used it for math, science, spelling and sight words, and instead of just doing problem after problem of long, boring homework after a full day of sitting at a desk, you are in the middle of a game trying not to be hung.
I love that the kids can either be the hanger or the hung, because either way they have to solve the problem for the answer or know how to properly spell the word. We switch back and forth and have a grand time, and before you know it, words are memorized, the math is done and the kiddos and I had some quality time together. So pull out some paper, grab an extra pencil and find out just how much you remember from your elementary math.
Labels: educational tips, homeschool ideas, homework helps, homework tip of the week, learning games, math games, memorizing sight words, spelling games
