When I first started homeschooling my children we used textbooks for the first few years. I thought it was the best way to ensure I gave my children a balanced education. I didn’t want them to have any learning gaps.
I believed that using textbooks was the right way to prepare them for college should they decide to enroll. It didn’t take long for me to realize how wrong I was. My children became bored with the traditional question/answer style of textbook learning. I grew tired of staying within the boxes that textbooks create.
The first digital homeschool curriculum resource I used with my children to try and bring the fun back into learning was lapbooks. My children were old enough to help cut out the pieces and create their own unique designs. They were thrilled with the hands-on learning activities that lapbooks brought into our homeschool. Since then I’ve added as many hands-on learning resources that I could to our homeschool because I discovered that children learn best when they “get their hands dirty”.
Our Favorite Hands-On Learning Resource
As homeschoolers, our kids have a lot more opportunities to learn life skills than most kids today. My children have been helping me cook, clean, garden and complete work around the house and yard since they were toddlers. When they were younger it wasn’t a struggle to get them to learn basic life skills, they wanted to spend time with me so they tagged along “helping” with what I was doing. However, looking back there are several life skills that I missed out on teaching them when they were younger.
Now that I have teenagers, teaching them life skills has become even more of a challenge. Often my kids would rather do their own thing after school than spend time learning a life skill with their dad or me. After all, they’re “grown-up” now and can do things all on their own. Yet, there are many life skills that they still do not know and it is our responsibility to prepare our kids for life.
Skill Trek is our favorite hands-on learning resource. While my teens don’t love me teaching them life skills, they enjoy using the Skill Trek program. I wish that this program had been around when they were younger! There are SO many life skill lessons that I didn’t realize I hadn’t taught them yet.
Since using Skill Trek my kids have learned how to sew on buttons, bake a pie from scratch, how to start a fire with only a match, turn a water main off and on, how to store an extension cord properly and more!
What my kids love most about Skill Trek is that they can sign into their Skill Trek accounts and do the lessons on their own with very little help from me! Once I add the life skill lessons to their accounts, they can log in, watch the lesson and complete it by themselves.
After they’ve completed a life skill lesson, they receive a nugget for their progress and the lesson is removed from their task manager. The task manager lists upcoming life skills that are selected by their age or that I’ve selected for them to learn. As the parent, I can at any point in time sign into the parent portal to add or remove a life skill from their task manager.
This is what I love most about the Skill Trek program —> Parents have the ability to plan out each child’s life skills curriculum based on their readiness and each child’s individual needs.
About the Skill Trek Program
The Skill Trek program contains over 500 lessons (and it is constantly growing!) for children from preschool age (age 4) through high school! Honestly, there are quite a few life skill lessons that I could take with my teens because I need them too!
Lesson categories include; health & wellness, financial literacy, technology, manners & etiquette, housekeeping, maintenance, outdoor survival techniques, hygiene, childcare, gardening, crafts, & more.
Important student details…
- Early childhood students are referred to as Trailblazers.
Some of their lessons include; tying shoes, stranger danger, dusting, coughs and Sneezes, clean up after yourself, take no for an answer with a good attitude, roller skating, calling 911, how to use Skype and Facetime, how to write a thank-you note (for the older end of the spectrum) and how to give change (older end of the spectrum).
- Tween students are called Rockhoppers.
A few of their lessons include: how to pack your own lunch, creepy crawlie patrol, What’s TMI?, how to read expiration dates, notice the needs of others/acts of service, how to make a smoothie, using sandpaper, how to plan a menu and car detailing.
- Teen students are named Cragsman.
They will cover these lessons and more: how to change a light bulb, how to make a specialty meal, how to check engine levels, calligraphy, how to change a doorknob, how to fix a running toilet, mowing a lawn, how to use herbal remedies, how to organize an attic or basement, making a major purchase, back-up and data protection, taxes and how to make an appointment for yourself.
While the lessons above are recommended for specific age groups, each life skill lesson can be removed or added to each child’s life skills program at the parent’s discretion.
You know your child best and with the help of Skill Trek, you can design the life skills curriculum that they are ready for!
When kids are given the opportunity to learn outside of the box they grow! If you’re looking for an easy way to add fun, hands-on learning to your homeschool, I encourage you to check out the Skill Trek program. It is an amazing digital homeschool curriculum that you can use for your entire family!
What is your favorite hands-on learning resource?
