Every classroom needs discipline, even a homeschool classroom. I learned long ago that positive consequences for good behavior are just as important as negative consequences for bad behavior. And so as we went along in our homeschooling adventure, I developed the idea of a “fun day.”
Every school day my kids can earn 2 points each: one for getting ready in the morning, and one for finishing their assigned work. We have a time set aside early in our routine to check if “morning agendas” were finished and yesterday’s work was completed. We mark our points on a tally chart. Right now, with 4 kids earning points, I have it set so that 100 points will equal a “fun day.” This number gets adjusted for different numbers of students. My aim is that we’ll be able to come to our “fun day” every 4-6 weeks.
What do I mean by a “fun day?” In our school at home, a fun day is a day where we put aside our normal routine and do something fun to learn. This could mean going to a museum or on an adventure, or it could mean changing things up at home. My kids really look forward to it! And honestly, I do too.
Fieldtrips
We’ve been doing this for lots of years, so I don’t think there’s any way I could remember all the “fun days” we’ve had, but here’s a list of many of the memorable fieldtrips we’ve gone on as a homeschool group.
Guided tour of the Police Station
Guided tour of the Fire Station
A local Cemetary
Commemorative Air Force Airbase Arizona Museum
Performances at the Mesa Arts Center
Tour of a local Dairy Farm
A local Aquarium
Guided tour of Fry’s Grocery Store
Themed city parks
I want to talk about those last two for a minute. The Tumbleweed Ranch features an old home from the early 1900s. The staff gives a little taste of what life was like back then: showing an outhouse, letting us help make butter, and showing how the first tiny grocery stores came about with the introductions of canning. That was cool!
The Hangar Cafe is a little restaurant at the Chandler airport, where you can watch the planes taking off and landing while you eat. What my kids loved most about that, though, was that I pretended the 10 seat van we had at the time was an airplane, and I gave each of them their own ticket with an assigned seat. That’s what they talk about when they remember that fieldtrip. 😆
Fun Days at Home
We have had more “fun days” at home than fieldtrips in our positive discipline plan. Most of these years that I’ve been teaching homeschool I’ve had a breastfeeding baby or potty training toddler, or both! And every parent knows that little ones are easier to take care of at home.
For our “fun days” at home we put away our pencils and just have fun with learning! There are way too many that we’ve done to list them all, so I’m going to give a summarized list with the ideas I’ve used for them.
Movies related to our studies
History based play that we write and act out
A day full of learning games
An imaginary history adventure
Treasure hunt about what we’re learning
Scavenger hunt about what we’re learning
“Archeology” in cookie crumbs
Science crafts and kits
Themed Unit in a day
Our homeschool “fun days” at home or away have been a great reward for good classroom behavior. They are great for motivation, and they help us engage in learning and make connections. Whether you can get out or stay at home, I encourage you to make time for some fun in your teaching and parenting.
Speaking of fun… I’ve recently started up a Homeschool Recess group in the Chandler, AZ area. If you’re close by and interested, you can join by contacting me on my contact page with Recess in the subject line, or by joining my Facebook group.
Thanks for reading my post! I hope it gives you some ideas of how to enjoy your adventure! I’d love to see you “fun day” ideas in the comments!
