How to turn EVERYTHING into an Educational Opportunity

When it comes to homeschooling, I often hear concerns about how parents have a hard time getting their kids (boys especially) to work on certain subjects. I get it! The struggle is real! Boys tend to dig in their heels when you try to make them do something they haven’t chosen themselves. However, it doesn’t always have to be a struggle…

Sometimes the secret to getting them to learn certain subjects, is to not make them do it. This is often referred to as “unschooling”. It is a less structured approach to homeschool. Now, it is also one of the most misunderstood and sometimes abused methods of homeschooling. Occasionally people will use it as an excuse to just not do anything. They will allow their children to play video games all day without putting in any effort and call that homeschool. Unschooling takes effort and it requires you to pay attention to what your child is interested in. I’m going to use my oldest son as an example of how to leverage your children’s interests to help them learn, but first there is one thing that I want to explain.

We do have some structured homeschool lessons and activities, but we don’t just replicate public school at home. That will burn you out. We are ALWAYS on the lookout for learning opportunities. Mary is especially good at this. I actually don’t love the word “unschool” but I get it. It’s catchy and easy to remember. I think that “child led education” or “lifeschooling” are both probably more accurate terms.

Ok, now here is an example of how unschooling can work in real life.

Mary has two siblings that live in a town on the southern edge of Utah a few hours from where we lived. We would occasionally travel and visit them. They were always very welcoming and allowed us to stay overnight. At one point while we stayed there, my son noticed a Battlebot book at their house. He picked it up and instantly became interested. I had never heard of it, but apparently Battlebot was a tv show where people would build remote controlled “bots” that would be put in an arena with plexiglass and they would fight. My son has always been drawn to mechanics and engineering. He had already become interested in electronics and circuits so this fit right in and gave him something he could apply that to. He became a sponge and wanted to soak up everything he could find about combat robotics. He watched matches online and learned about how the rules work, what kind of weapons the bots use, how they are made, etc. Of course, he went to work making his own bot. The first attempt was a total mess! He tried connecting a razor blade to a motor he had taken out of a broken RC car using hot glue. It came off while spinning and cut his finger. Luckily, it was a mild cut and that turned that into a safety lesson. (***lest you judge us for terrible parenting, he didn’t check in with us before doing this otherwise there would have turned the heat down on that idea!***) He continued to be interested and learn more and more about building these things. Honestly, it’s mostly all over my head. I find it entertaining to watch a few battles but it’s not something I’m terribly interested in. I am happy to support him in it.

From there he has branched out and learned how to make 3D models on the computer and test parts virtually. He has learned more complex electronic circuitry. He was gifted an older 3D printer by my dad and taught himself how to use it. He has learned about different types of plastics and what they use them for. Eventually, engineering also leads to math. Math was my nemesis and my brain doesn’t do well with numbers so it is exciting for me to see him find things that actually make him want to learn math! He would make little creations out of things he had taken apart and meshed them with things he had printed. Eventually, he wanted to get his friends together and do a little combat robotics competition. We kept it simple, but we utilized this opportunity for him to help with some other educational subjects. He needed to write up invitations and rules for the event. We went through several drafts to make sure that it was clearly written and that the rules all made sense and were appropriate for a few inexperienced kids. He needed to build a small wooden arena so I helped him with that. We used all of this to help him with communication skills, woodworking skills, etc. He helped some of his friends figure out what to do so he also learned some leadership skills along the way as well. He basically ran the event and we were there to support him. He had a few friends come and they all had a great time and it was successful.

After our move we assumed that he would not have any opportunities to work on combat robotics for some time. However, we found out that there is an organization based about an hour away from us called SEMO (South East Missouri) Combat Robotics. It just so happened that they were hosting a tournament several days after his 14th birthday! It was perfect! So we loaded the kids up and and took the whole family. I didn’t know what to expect but it was a more than I anticipated! They had people travel there from all over the country for it. It was fun to see such a wide variety of people who were participating including young kids, teens, adults, a girl, and even one older woman! The kids enjoyed it, but my son could not have been happier. He didn’t compete in it, but he interacted with the competitors, asked a lot of questions, and networked with them. He came home inspired and began creating highly accurate hand drawn schematics for his next bot. He is really putting a lot of thought into this and not just slapping something together for fun. He makes hand drawn plans, and looks for potential weaknesses or flaws then makes revisions. He then goes to the computer and creates 3D models of the parts and then prints and tests them. Now he’s realized that he needs funding for this hobby. Instead of asking us for money he has started coming up with ways he can earn money for himself and is exploring some business ideas.

I’m very excited to see where he goes with this one! Even though our first reaction to this interest was somewhat indifferent, we have seen how much he has learned while perusing it. So far the so called school subjects that he has learned from his combat robotics interest are:

• Math

• Engineering

• Electronics

• Drawing and Drafting

• 3D modeling

• Circuitry

• English and Language Arts

• Communication

• Mechanics

• Physics

• Social Skills

• Leadership

• Confidence

• Persistence

• Entrepreneurship

• Finances

• Etc…

You see how many great things he has learned, and will continue to learn from this one single interest? I realize that not all interests are as easy to turn into learning opportunities as this one, but with a little coaching, I think that any interest or subject can be utilized to learn in multiple different areas. And if they are interested in it, they will be eager to dig in and learn! Of course, there are also times that they lose interest. It’s also a good way for them to explore what they like and don’t like and they still learn things from them. One shift in thinking that has helped me is to stop thinking of myself as a teacher and start thinking of myself as a mentor, or even a facilitator. Kids are programmed to learn. They practically teach themselves if you guide them and give them the tools they need.
So look around, keep the learning mindset and turn everything your kids enjoy into a lesson. You might be surprised at what you learn along the way as well!