80+ Ideas for Homeschool Learning without Textbooks | Homeschooling

This post will spark fresh ideas for homeschool learning without textbooks. This is a list of over 80 ideas and how to get started! Freebie at the bottom!

In one of our previous posts we talked a little bit about how important it is to include hands on learning, activities, and life skills into our children’s at home education. We even talked about understanding that even learning instruments and sports is educational! So, let’s just mention a few reasons it is important to include homeschool learning without textbooks.

Why is homeschool learning without textbooks important?

To give our children a rich and dynamic home education, we can include a variety of subjects, topics, and skills that go above and beyond language and mathematics. Introducing our children to different subjects and skills also helps them explore strengths and discover passions. Here is a quote from one of our previous posts:

“Homeschooling is really beautiful, in that it gives us the time to educate our children in the things that we value and to implement life skills. But, it’s also amazing that we have the freedom and the ability to add in passions and interests. To grow the areas that God has already planted seeds in our children of the things that they are supposed to do when they grow up. We get to be a good steward of those seeds. We get to encourage and support those seeds in the ways that we educate our children at home.”

Additionally, you can read more homeschooling encouragement here.

So, we mentioned a few ideas in that post, but we wanted to give you all a list of over 80 ideas for homeschool learning without textbooks to help get you started. (Note: You will have to choose which activities and skills are age appropriate for your children, but most ages can do most of these activities!)

80+ Ideas for Homeschool Learning without Textbooks

1. Paint a picture
2. Color a picture
3. Learn to draw
4. Make crafts
5. Create with clay or play doh
6. Make homemade play doh
7. Make homemade slime
8. Create something with given objects (i.e. toilet paper rolls, cotton balls, toothpicks, blocks, etc)
9. Take an online or local art class
10. Learn to paint walls
11. Learn to crotchet
12. Learn to knit
13. Learn to sew
14. Learn to do embroidery
15. Learn to make pottery
16. Learn to do woodworking
17. Have a local craftsman or expert teach a class or do a demo
18. Look up divergent thinking challenges
19. Learn interior design
20. Learn how to make blueprints
21. Learn basic cleaning skills
22. Learn advanced cleaning skills
23. Logic puzzles
24. Children’s puzzles
25. Make an obstacle course
26. Play games like “Mother, May I?”, tag, “Simon Says”
27. Have a gym/physical fitness class inside
28. Have a gym/physical fitness class outside
29. Write stories and books
30. Listen to audio books
31. Create plays
32. Create musicals
33. Write poetry
34. Learn instruments by taking lessons or watching lessons
35. Sing together
36. Study hymns together
37. Study classical music and other genres
38. Study famous composers
39. Learn rhythm with drum pads, bells, or other small instruments
40. Write songs together
41. Learn dance (like ballet)
42. Learn how to use a camera
43. Take a photography class
44. Learn how to make videos
45. Learn how to edit photos and videos
46. Learn how to type
47. Learn how to take inventory (practice with the pantry!)
48. Do a charity project
49. Have a garage sale (teach customer service and money counting)
50. Go on nature walks
51. Keep a nature journal
52. Take or watch a cooking class
53. Teach your children to cook and bake from scratch (learning about ingredients, measuring cups and spoons, basic kitchen skills, basic recipes
54. Teach kitchen safety and hygiene
55. Teach how to safely use age appropriate knives in the kitchen
56. Take a homeschool gymnastics class
57. Take a horse riding lesson
58. Learn about caring for horses
59. Visit a pet store
60. Visit a library
61. Visit a farm
62. Visit a museum
63. Visit a landmark or historical building in your area
64. Visit an orchard
65. Visit a U-pick farm or orchard
66. Visit a flower farm
67. Visit a state park
68. Spend the day at a park and bring along nature journals and physical fitness ideas
69. Take or teach a gardening class
70. Plant a garden together
71. Plant flowers
72. Grow herbs
73. Learn how to cook with herbs
74. Learn how to use herbs medicinally
75. Raise a pet and learn all you can about it
76. Raise chicks
77. Raise any livestock
78. Learn as many ways as you can to use what your livestock will produce
79. Learn to fish
80. Learn how to make candles
81. Learn how to make safe cleaners
82. Teach them how to use some of the above skills to create products and learn how to sell them
83. Have them help you with certain tasks in your small business

How do you fit these activities into your homeschool schedule?

Just minutes a day!

Basically, how you fit new activities, subjects, and skills into your homeschool schedule is totally up to you. But, we wanted to offer a few ideas to help you along. You can add something new by simply doing it 5-15 minutes a day! So, you can do something new 5-15 minutes a day every school day, or you can pick and choose 2 or 3 days a week that you will teach those subjects and skills. Then, you have to decide how many weeks you are going to teach that subject or skill. Or, like we do, are you going to rotate what you are teaching in those 5-15 minutes a day either by the day, or week, or even by the month?

Rotational Scheduling

Another way to do it is what I like to call rotational scheduling. For example, every Friday in our homeschool schedule I teach 1-2 music related subjects/skills and we rotate which subjects/skills those are each week. So, one week on Friday we might have choir and music theory. Then, next Friday we might work on a hymn study and work on rhythms with drum pads. However, the next Friday we might do a composer study and work on music appreciation or instrument recognition.

Also, a different day of the week may be History related, another day Science related, and yet another day may be craft skills related. Regardless of the subjects, that is the beauty of the freedom and flexibility in home education. Some weeks you may rather go on a field trip in place of a subject. You decide together! Maybe you try a skill and no one is really interested, so you only learn it to a basic level. Or, maybe new passions are discovered and children thrive in unexpected areas!

It seems like a lot to plan…

Although it may seem like a lot to plan, I do not keep our schedule strict, and I do not always plan every detail. Sometimes I literally just write which subject/skills we are going to do and I might decide that day! Or, I might have a certain project, skill, or activity in mind for that day. Some Fridays we start a little later and just have one short music class, and some Fridays we get passionate and have one long Music class. Freedom and flexibility. But, the point is we are doing it. All of my children love Music and thrive in it, so it is a priority for us. We are making progress and getting Music in their home education in many ways by rotational scheduling.

Additionally, having some basic plans leads to better success. If you don’t plan at all to get new and extra subjects and skills in, then you depend on winging it and that will not lead to consistency or much progress for your children. However, you can plan as much or little as fits your family’s home education lifestyle and schedule. You can get a free version of our homeschool planner here to help you get started in planning!

Conclusion

In conclusion, we hope that you are inspired by this list of over 80 ideas for homeschool learning outside the textbooks. Moreover, we hope that you see that it can be easy and flexible to implement these things into your homeschooling schedule. If you found this post useful, please comment or pin. Also, don’t forget to check out our library of free printable resources to help you get started!

Live abundantly, Friends!