Homeschool STEM Activities: Bringing the Science Lab Home to Enhance Your Curriculum

August 16, 2024 / Heather Reyes

As a participant in homeschool education, you're likely familiar with the buzzword in the education field—STEM. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, helping children acquire knowledge in a multidisciplinary environment. In the future, the ability to solve complex problems will be more critical than just having technical or domain-specific knowledge.

For example, if you're an engineer, your work will involve all four components of STEM, and possibly more, rather than just engineering. STEM is a real-world teaching approach that shows children how science, technology, engineering, and math are applied in real life, significantly enhancing their problem-solving skills by encouraging critical thinking on multiple levels.

Engaging children in learning through homeschool STEM activities is essential, whether they are in school or being homeschooled. These activities not only support their future career development but also play a crucial role in developing skills necessary for technological advancement and economic growth.

Benefits of Introducing homeschool STEM Activities

The greatest advantage of STEM education is that it integrates tools and concepts from four disciplines into easily understandable project activities. In a homeschool environment, children can maximize their time exploring projects of interest.

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1. Develop Hands-On Skills, Deepen Understanding, and Retention of Knowledge

STEM activities emphasize hands-on work and experiments, helping children turn theoretical knowledge into practical skills. Through practice, they not only enhance their hands-on abilities but also better understand and remember the knowledge learned.

2. Enhance Problem-Solving Abilities, Develop Critical Thinking

STEM activities encourage students to identify problems and use interdisciplinary knowledge to solve them. The process encourages children to find answers through experimentation and testing, fostering critical thinking and problem-solving abilities.

3. Inspire Curiosity in Science, Foster Creativity, and Innovative Thinking

STEM activities are often based on real-world problems, sparking children's interest in science and curiosity in exploration. When completing projects, they experience a sense of achievement. The process involves a lot of creative thinking and experimentation, which helps develop their innovative abilities and stimulate creativity.

4. Prepare Children for Future STEM Careers

As technology advances, many future careers will rely on knowledge and skills from the STEM fields. Early exposure to STEM activities allows children to master the use of tools, knowledge, and skills from multiple fields, enhancing their future competitiveness in the job market.

A person is assembling a DIY constellation projector. They are carefully connecting the LED light to the wooden base, while the constellation dome sits nearby. The image captures the process of creativity and innovation, as the person brings together different elements to create a unique and beautiful object.

How to Incorporate STEM Activities into Your Homeschool Curriculum?

Even if you're not familiar with the STEM fields, don't worry. You don't need to be an engineer, mathematician, programmer, or scientist to introduce STEM activities into your homeschooling. Here are some helpful suggestions:

Choose appropriate STEM activities based on your child's age and skill level. This includes considering the difficulty of the activities, the materials needed, and the student's interests to ensure the activities are challenging yet aligned with their learning needs.
Align STEM activities with homeschool curriculum standards and learning goals. Integrate STEM activities with existing lesson plans and learning objectives, allowing students to meet course requirements while consolidating knowledge and skills through practical application.
Find a balance between structured STEM courses and open exploration. Structured courses help students systematically learn STEM knowledge and skills, while open exploration activities encourage independent exploration, innovation, and problem-solving. Parents should balance both when planning homeschool STEM activities to achieve the best learning outcomes.

A child's hands carefully assemble a toy, their focus intense as they work on the intricate details. The scene is filled with a sense of quiet concentration and the joy of creation, suggesting the child's passion for building and learning through hands-on experience.

Below is a strategy guide for implementing STEM activities at home, including some free educational resources, online tutorials, DIY activities, and STEM-related subscription boxes. These will help you seamlessly integrate STEM activities into your homeschooling with minimal effort.

1. Structured Online Courses and Resources

Since homeschool children rely heavily on online resources, we recommend starting their STEM exploration with activities from comprehensive online learning platforms. BBC Bitesize, Twinkl, Time4Learning are excellent online platforms that offer a wealth of systematic and professional learning content.

As a supplement to structured STEM courses, you can also search for STEM DIY projects on Pinterest or Instructables. Many projects are fun and easy to implement, making them suitable for parent-child exploration in a homeschool setting.

2. YouTube Video Projects

YouTube is also home to many high-quality, free STEM activities and experiments. Channels like Veritasium, SciShow for Kids, and Royal Society Of Chemistry are excellent. If you are willing to put in the time, you can find numerous interesting and fascinating STEM activities that explain complex scientific principles in ways children can understand.

However, you'll need to personally prepare materials for each STEM activity which gets very time consuming.

3. STEM Subscription Boxes

Many homeschooling parents are busy with both their children's education and their own work. Monthly STEM subscription boxes are a great help. If you're looking for an educational yet easy-to-prepare STEM activity to supplement your homeschooling, this is a good option.

Each month, a subscription box focuses on a fun theme, allowing children to delve into STEM knowledge without getting bogged down by technical terms. The activities are designed to be systematic and educational, saving parents a lot of trouble. When choosing a STEM subscription box, consider the following points:

Does it require additional materials?
Are the themes diverse and engaging for your child?
Does it suit your child's current age and developmental stage? (For younger children, we recommend STEAM subscription boxes that include Arts)
Does the design philosophy align with your homeschooling principles?
Is there flexibility to cancel or switch subscriptions at any time?

If you want an easy option, you can check out Tinkerer STEAM Box. It will not disappoint.

Tips for Planning Homeschool STEM Activities:

1. Allocate Sufficient Time for Activities

STEM activities involve exploration, challenges, and complex details. These challenges are one of the most valuable aspects of children's participation in STEM activities. We want them to learn how to explore, test ideas, and see science as fun. So, make sure to schedule enough time for them to test ideas and explore.

2. It's Okay to Fail

Be prepared for failure! Let children know it's okay if an idea doesn't work out—just keep trying. STEM activities help children develop an engineer's mindset. This means resilience and the ability to get back up after setbacks and solve problems differently.

3. Plan for Potential Messes

Don't be afraid of a little mess! Give children the space to be creative and explore freely. You can take activities outdoors or cover work surfaces with cheap tablecloths to minimize cleanup.

4. Get Involved in Your Child's STEM Projects

If you're just starting with STEM activities in your homeschooling, begin with some simple projects and involve an older child or another adult for assistance. You can also plan a family STEM time on weekends where everyone participates. This definitely counts as school time.

5. Celebrate Successes and Milestones to Maintain Enthusiasm

When children complete a STEM activity or project, the sense of accomplishment is huge. At this moment, don't hesitate to shower them with praise and celebrate every success together.

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STEM activities help children develop the ability to solve complex problems, cultivate critical thinking, and encourage them to become lifelong learners. As they delve deeper into learning, they'll become confident, knowledgeable, and thoughtful. By using the scientific method effectively to solve problems, children gain valuable mindsets and professional skills that will help them succeed in all areas of life.

Finally, remember the most important aspect of introducing STEM activities into your homeschool curriculum—have fun while learning! If children enjoy the course, they'll learn better. So, no matter how you do it, enjoy the fun that STEM brings!