Great Homeschool Teaching Tool!

One of the great features of the Lighthouse Homeschool Solutions online learning program is the activity submission form, which is available in both an online and a printable format. For homeschooling convenience, this form is unmatched! 

WHY WE LOVE IT

Essentially, this activity submission form can be used to enhance and document any homeschool activity, from a math assignment to an art project; from a book report to a field trip. The format is both incredibly simple and extremely versatile!  

Picture a homeschool learning activity- any activity you like… Now visualize how you might want your child to express what they learned from the activity. By using the Homeschool Solutions activity submission form, your child will consistently reflect upon the same key aspects of learning and critical thinking, regardless of the activity!

ORGANIZING INFORMATION

• Name, Date, Recipient Email Address(es)
• Field of Study, Subject, Unit/Topic of Study

In the organizing information section at the start of the form, homeschool students will get into the habit of including their name and date when submitting an assignment. This small detail is an important school and life skill, and establishing this good habit early can be very beneficial. Additionally, in this section, homeschool students will indicate the area of study the specific activity or assignment falls under. 

Let’s say your homeschooling family went on a field trip to see a museum exhibit about life in Colonial America. On the way home, your children each fill out an activity submission form. After entering their own name and the date, they put your email address so that you can receive and print, or electronically file, the submission at home. Then, they enter the field of “History,” subject of “U.S. History,” and Topic/Unit of “Colonial America.” 

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

• Description of Learning Activity
• Source of Learning
• Summary of Learning
• Time Spent on Activity

The required information of the next section begins with a description of the learning activity. For this particular field trip, your children may write, type, or dictate, “I went to the museum with my family to learn about life in Colonial America.” For the source of learning, your children would write the name of the museum. Finally, the majority of the activity submission should be the summary of learning. Depending on their skill levels and your expectations, your child may write a single sentence or multiple, well structured paragraphs. It is in this section that your children will explain what they learned from this field trip. You can give guidance or let them explain independently. Following the summary, your homeschool student can simply note the amount of time spent on this learning activity (visiting the museum and completing their activity submission) and then submit the form. However, students can really benefit from going a step further and completing the optional critical-thinking questions for each learning activity submission. 

OPTIONAL COMPONENTS

• Connections to Past Learning
• Personal Reflections
• Different Perspectives
• Questions for Parent/Teacher
• Attached Work Samples

Critical thinking goes beyond summarizing learned information; it involves making connections between new information and personal experience or past learning. It involves thinking about the minds of others and considering different perspectives. That’s why the optional portions of the activity submission form ask children to do just these things! For the field trip example, your child can connect this museum outing to the family trip to Colonial Williamsburg last summer, or to the documentary you watched together. Your children can compare how those experiences helped them understand new information that was presented throughout the museum trip. Further, they can give a personal reflection based on their own feelings about the museum trip; they may express their feelings about the content of the exhibit, the layout of the museum, or even the tour guide, gift shop, or restaurant! Finally, you can prompt your children to consider different perspectives and explain how they think someone else might feel about the museum experience; how might a person from a different culture, background, or belief system have experienced the same exhibit? Looking at things through someone else’s eyes is an amazingly effective way to build critical thinking skills!

Lastly, there is a place on the activity submission form for students to ask questions of you as the parent or teacher. If there was anything interesting or confusing to your child, this is the place for them to consider and note those thoughts. They might ask your opinions or make a request to visit the museum again! Additionally, your homeschool students can attach related photos, audio files, or video files from the trip to their submission before sending it to you. This customization let’s your children express their creativity and add their own flair to each activity, whether it’s a photograph, a drawing, or a song!

TRY IT OUT!

Here are some of the many different homeschool learning activities after which this versatile form can be used to capture and document the learning that occurred:

• Completing a chapter of a book
• Playing a game of basketball
• Completing a math worksheet
• Baking cookies
• Visiting a botanical garden
• Watching a history video
• Completing a science project
• Reading a section of a textbook
• Writing poetry
• Planting vegetables

Now, try it out! Take your most recent homeschool learning activity and have your child complete and email you an activity submission form using the link below. Happy Homeschooling!