There is no denying that technology has invaded our lives and homes to such a huge degree that living without it can seem downright scary to us. Yet as homeschool families struggle to find the balance between using technology to ease teaching, and letting their homeschool students figure out the old ways of doing things, there is an appeal of returning to simpler times. At least for a couple of days in the month. Here’s how homeschool families are implementing tech free days.
A Camping Trip
One of the easiest ways to avoid the internet, and all related technology is to take the whole family off grid for the weekend. One weekend a month is easy enough to plan outdoors. The homeschool students could go the full camping route with setting up a tent in the wilderness and learning skills of bonfire building. Or the family could simply take a day trip to trek out in the closest national park to reconnect with nature.
Either way, it makes for a tech free weekend where the children get to commune with the local flora and fauna. Of course you may still need the GPS navigation to get to where you need to be…so instead you may want to introduce the concept of paper map books. This adds an additional life skill to the homeschool students.
Making Do Without the Internet
For one day in the week stay away from the internet and all related streaming technology. Put the smart phone, tablets, and laptops away. Go back to board games, cards and singing together for entertainment. The idea is to come up with old favourites which allow the homeschool students to enjoy their time bonding as a family rather than simply disappearing down the funny cat video whirlpool on YouTube.
This will take some effort from the homeschool parent initially to think up a list of activities and games that are tech free. In a few months time the day off tech will actually become popular for the limited activities that can only be done on those days. Make it fun and functional.