Homeschooling our kids isn’t necessarily easy. Oh, I know, there will be days when it seems to be, but eventually there are hard days. Days when the kids don’t want to do school, days when we don’t either. Or maybe it’s the opposite. Maybe most days the kids don’t want to do school…or it’s us.

Then there are days when someone isn’t feeling well, a mid-day emergency has come up or the weather has derailed our plans.

It’s okay to change our plans! That is the beauty of homeschooling – we get to be FLEXIBLE. Below I share a list of ways you can still homeschool on a bad day. I am using my affiliate links in this post.

How to Homeschool on a Bad Day

Educational Dvds and Audio Books. When my boys were in the younger grades I borrowed educational library dvds a lot and sometimes we listened to audio books. If you don’t have many or any educational dvds/cds of your own why not pick up a few next time you’re at the library picking up books? You don’t have to use them; but, you’ll have them in a pinch. Here’s a list of my favorite math dvds from the library.

Mad Libs. I love Mad Libs and both my boys have seemed to enjoy them over the years. I think these are both fun for kids and a great way to teach grammar while actually using it by creating fun stories.

You might be surprised to know there are many different themed Mad Libs books out there! I found a huge section of them at a local store we have called Ollie’s (similar to Big Lots).

Math-drill worksheets. Just print off math worksheets that review the level skills your child is at and call it a day. While there are probably a lot of sites out there to find math worksheets (and other subject worksheets) my favorite go-to math worksheet site is Math-Drills.com. It’s free.

Copywork. Give them a poem, scripture or something else to copy. Teaching them to copy exactly what they see: punctuation, capitalization, structure line by line, teaches them how to write right!

Craft day. Get out the crafts and let the kids be free to use their imaginations. You just need to provide the materials. If you’re not crafty don’t let that stop your kids from discovering their crafty side. I suggest making sure you have a nice variety of miscellaneous items in stock. I shared what was in my craft box in this video.

Library day. Go to the library, hang out, read there, participate in library events, or just grab some books and dvds and head back home. Ask your librarian (or visit their website online) to find a listing of age appropriate events offered. My boys have participated in a number of educational library events over the years.

Read. Yep, just that simple. Encourage them to read something themselves or you read to them. Let them play with Legos or draw/color if their attention span is short. Take turns reading:  you can start, then pass the book to the next child and so on. If the story talks about a recipe or craft you may want to let the kids try to recreate that recipe or craft themselves.

DIY dry erase workbooks. Okay, so you can buy these and you can make your own. I have done both! You can see how I made diy dry erase workbooks here.

Creative assignment/research.  Let them pick out a topic that interests them and then show them how and where to research. If you have books on hand make sure they know where to find them. Let them know which websites they can look at online to get information. Youtube can be very helpful. I would just advise caution when letting kids use the internet.

House-cleaning or yard cleanup day. Life skills, life skills! They need to be taught how to care for a home, inside and out.

Cooking lessons. Hey, they need to know how to feed themselves, too. You can do this, mom! Start small: how to boil an egg, how to make toast, how to make a sandwich, how to use the microwave, etc.. While you don’t need to buy a book, here is one you may want to check out: Cooking Class: 57 Fun Recipes Kids will Love to Make (and Eat!)

Health and (Fire, First Aid) Safety. Pick out some safe videos on Youtube that are age appropriate that demonstrate/teach on hygiene, health, and fire/first aid safety if you’re in a pinch.

Since junk food is a big deal in our home (I have picky eaters) I plan to look for some videos for my kids that demonstrate why things like white sugar and white flour are not healthy and what that kind of food does to our bodies.

Nature walk or scavenger hunt. Make a list of things you’d expect to find out in nature and go for a walk searching for them. When my kids were younger sometimes I’d give them a bag or bucket to collect their “nature” in during our walks.

Do you have anything to add to this list? Tell us in the comments!

If you liked this post you may like the one below: