Why You Should Use Online Games in Your Homeschool

So I will be joining Marcy from Ben and Me on the quest to blog through the alphabet. This weeks letter is G and I’m going with games.

We all know that homeschoolers love books but we also know that learning can take place outside of books as well. Sometimes those lessons don’t work as well and you have to find new ways to present new material to your student. Sometimes it’s just a fun way to teach your child so that they don’t even realize they are learning.

Games add an extra layer of learning for your child. Sometimes when you get stuck on something then you may need to take a break and just step away from it. Then find a fun game to see if your child can figure things out on their own. They get so focused on winning that they don’t realize that they are learning at the same time.

These games are free, what can go wrong with free? I love finding freebies, it saves you money and you can divert your money to more important things life your mortgage or food.

Most of all games are fun. Don’t get stuck in all the book work and your long to do list. Sometimes learning doesn’t have to take the form of a book and paper. Screen time can be educational and for the longest time, the  only thing that my children watched was Bill Nye or Magic School Bus.

Sometimes Mommy isn’t feeling well or I need to buy a little time with one child before I move to the other and our computer is right there to keep them occupied for a couple minutes.

Here is my list of favorite online games that my children like to visit.

Free Online Kids Games

Math

• Timezattack –  a video game like play to practice for operations, this is what my son used to learn his multiplication tables after everything else didn’t work. You can download the free demo which also includes addition, substraction and division.
• Sheppard software – Science & geography
• Starfall – Phonics and reading games – I purchased the premium version one year and I was super happy with it as well as my son. He has outgrown it now but I used it when he was just learning his letters and letter sounds.
• ABCya – K-5 Math & word games
  Math magician
  Mystery Master Logic puzzles
  The kidsz page – Logic puzzles
  Puzzles.com – Logic puzzles
  That quiz –  Integers, fractions, geometry, vocab, and geography games
  IXL – Math games – JK-Grade 9
  Mr Nussbaum – Grade 1-5 – math, soc sci., L.A. games
  Arcademic skill builders – math, LA, and typinggames
  Word Games – word and typing games
  Xtra Math – master basic math fact
• Dance Mat Typing

And sometimes not all of those games that you find are super educational but they are free and they can provide you a bit of peace as you fix up dinner. These sites are broader and have games from all different genres.

• BBC games
• Funbrain
• Fun school
• TVO kids
• PBS kids

Please let me know of your children’s favorite educational online games, my children will be so grateful for any new suggestions.

I’m linking up at Marcy’s blog Ben and Me for the ABC blogging series.

Monique

I share educational printables and activities to help teachers make learning about math and science fun!