Have you thought about learning a new skill with your family purely for the sake of enjoyment? Homeschooling gives you the flexibility to venture out and explore other areas of interest kids might not have time to do otherwise. Many activities are easy to learn, fun to incorporate, and do not take a lot of time. Learning new skills boosts confidence and self-esteem while offering children positive outlets. Each of our children have different talents and skills. At home, children can pursue new skills they might not have thought about trying. This may lead to other interests down the road. Furthermore, when you learn together, children are also more apt to persevere through the learning process rather than giving up if it gets challenging.

Here are a few ideas to explore…

Have you visited an art shop and looked at beautiful hand-made pottery? You and your family can try your hand at making your own pottery. Pottery Wheel for Beginners by Mindware is an excellent introduction to pottery. It comes with a dual-speed, motorized pottery wheel with a foot pedal, 2 pounds of air-dry clay, sculpting tools, paints, brush, a spatter shield & an AC adapter. Do Pottery Art Studio by Faber-Castell is another option introducing you and your children to the art and history of hand-sculpted pottery. The kit contains everything you need including illustrated instructions.

If you want to dabble in a foreign language but do not want a big cost, try the Getting Started With … books by Armfield Academic Press for Spanish, French, Latin, and German. Lessons are short and taught in bite-sized pieces, written with the homeschool student in mind. Free pronunciation recordings are available online and includes an answer key. This might be a great way for a middle schooler to try a language or prepare a student for a high school language course.

Do you want to practice good hand-eye coordination? Try juggling. Both of my sons learned to juggle with Juggling for the Complete Klutz by Klutz® Press. It takes some diligent practice; but when they honed their new skills, they visited nursing homes where residents loved to watch. The set comes with a 52-page instruction book and 3 juggling bags. Take the process one step at a time; start with tossing and catching one beanbag in a nice arc. By the end of the book, you could be a juggling whiz!

If you desire to become a better vocalist, Alfred’s Progressive Beginner Singing Book with Online Audio and Video is a helpful resource. Targeting the slightly older crowd, this book is still designed for the absolute beginner. It covers breathing, posture, and tone production along with an introduction to the basics of reading music and copying melodies by ear. Free online access to video and audio for all book examples is included. Singing Method by eMedia is another resource to improve your singing voice. This DVD-ROM contains over 200 lessons covering topics such as introduction to singing, your body as the instrument, breathing, voice support, resonance, vowels, articulation, vocal onset and offset, legato singing, registers, expression, and sight reading. System requirements: Windows® XP/Vista/Windows® 7/Windows® 8; Mac OS X 10.4 or later. DVD-ROM required for both systems. Internet connection recommended for activation.

Have you desired to incorporate art instruction into your school day but just haven’t found the time? The Fundamentals of Beginning Drawing with Barry Stebbing DVD’s by How Great Thou Art offer gentle drawing instruction for the whole family. This DVD instruction comes with 6 enjoyable lessons. The author guides the viewers, drawing right along with them. Lessons vary between 45 minutes to over an hour in length. Materials needed for the course include a sketch pad and a 120-color colored pencil set.

Enjoy special family time by trying some new skills together. Who knows, you might discover a hidden talent! ~ Gina