Over the last 16 years, I have taught my kids using a set curriculum and also by coming up with my own. I am a planner by nature so I order from the library or purchase supplements to our main curriculum well in advance; making notes, even in the summer. Sometimes, however, questions come up that I don’t have answers to or the answers are unavailable in my own resources.

For instance, while studying about the Bonus Army that protested in Washington, D.C. after WWI, my daughter asked, “What is a tank?”  When I showed her a tank, it’s moving over land and buildings, and it’s size in comparison with a human being, she realized the implications of how it may have felt when President Herbert Hoover ordered the army to clear the veterans’ campsite.  Even if it was only a glimpse through my cell phone.

I too struggle with teens and their IPODS and iphones.  I know the problems, the disadvantages, and understand the justifiable and scary implications that come with kids and electronics.  I have found however, that as educators, we can use this technology to enhance our kid’s educations and ultimately, learn right along with them. And we usually do not hear about these benefits.

I was one of the last of my friends to get a smart phone and currently have an IPAD on my wish list. Sometimes we school on our comfy school couch and sometimes we are carschooling in the minivan waiting on an older sister to get out of a class.

That smart phone has engaged, broadened, and complimented our learning.  It makes the words come alive and off of the paper.  It affects all the senses.

3 ways technology has enlivened our homeschool experience:

1- Convenience

First, the iphone or ipad is convenient. If I had to go upstairs to my computer to show my girls something we are learning about, I probably won’t do it.  I would either forget, the sticky note would get lost in my shuffle, or the moment would be gone.  My iphone is at my fingertips.  Google takes just seconds.

2- Creates memories

Often we are laughing at the videos we watch.  Or we are totally amazed at just how big anacondas grow.  Sometimes we have sat in awe at being able to visualize what we are reading.  Seeing pictures of WWI, the Great Depression, or hearing the songs or personal testimonies of an era connects us to it.  On more than one occasion, my kids have said, “Remember when we learned about ____?”.

3- Learning is internalized

Seeing the animal we are studying or hearing it’s sounds, helps to lock the memory in our consciousness.  My girls remember that story, better understand the time period, or connect with the sadness of war because seeing and hearing what we are learning as we are learning connects that learning.  Understanding is cemented when it is attached to a feeling. And we feel when our senses are aroused.

Let me give you some examples.

When we were studying Helen Keller, I googled youtube videos to actually see and hear Helen Keller.  We read that one of her goals was to learn to speak, even though she was deaf and blind.  Can you imagine? Who knew this rare footage of Helen Keller existed?

I was also able to put the movie about The Miracle Worker on hold at our local library directly from my smart phone as soon as I had the inspiration.  This may not have happened if I had to rely on my memory to do it later when we got home.

At the beginning of the year, we learned about the Tasmanian Devil.  For moms and dads out there, remember ‘Taz’ on Bugs Bunny?  We read about their blood curdling screams and were actually able to hear it for ourselves. We watched several videos of screaming Tasmanian Devils.

Other fascinating videos and sound recordings that enhanced our learning of animals include whale sounds, watching how sidewinders move, and viewing the largest snakes in the world.

Have you ever wondered when reading the Bible, what the Jordan River looks like?

Or maybe even curious as to the size of Noah’s Ark?

One book we read, entitled, “Hero Over Here” (by Kathleen V. Kudlinski) was about a young boy during WWI whose family survived the flu epidemic. Teddy, the 10 year old main character, talks about his brother going off to war singing “Over There”.  I googled it so we could hear the song he mentioned. We hummed it all day long.  It made the book and the time period come alive!

During this same lesson we read about Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s inaugural address.  It makes you pause when you actually hear President Roosevelt say to our nation, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” Especially in the context of the sadness, poverty, and fear going on in our country at that time.

When we studied the Civil War and read about the rebel yell of the Confederate soldiers when they attacked the union troops, I googled to see if we could hear it.  It isn’t the “Yeehaw” you think of.  It is a cause to pause. It’s sound is chilling, unearthly and animal like. It gave us chills as we imagined these fellows coming over a hill to battle.  What rare footage we found of actual civil war soldiers giving the rebel yell!  Here is another confederate rebel yell. We found this video showing how there is an art to the yell, how it has cadence, and how the rebel yell is taught to historical civil war re-enactors.  Fascinating!

When we studied Redwoods trees in California, it was hard to explain and describe the size of these trees. And the one picture in our science book didn’t do them justice.  You really have to see the images to truly understand just how huge these giant Sequoias and Redwoods grow.  It took less than a minute to find images online on that comfy couch.

We are currently studying the Great Depression.  During our history study, we learned about the song, “Brother, Can you Spare a Dime?” Listening to the song alone isn’t nearly as meaningful when you don’t have the background of the Stockmarket Crash of 1929, information about the railroads, soup kitchens, the skyscrapers that were being built and Roosevelt’s New Deal. However, it complimented our American History Art study in such a unique way as my girls had just sketched a skyscraper, a house out west by a railroad, and other important paintings and photographs of the time.

And as my girls were in pre-school, I found this to be especially true when I taught Alphabet Smash.  In my new book coming out this Spring, Alphabet Smash ebook version has hundreds of links on hundreds of topics.  Such as watching a juggler, listening to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, or making crayon cookies. All designed to animate, liven, and spurn interest in learning that create memories in a fun and simple way.

We know intuitively that we need to guard ourselves and our kids against the pitfalls of computers.  And we also know that you can’t believe everything you see online.  But sometimes we need to see the benefits of this type of learning in our kids and our homeschools.  What better way to teach our kids how to learn?  Not even the sky is the limit.  Embrace the technology!