Adding service learning to your homeschool curriculum can bring a whole new dimension to your children’s education. Service learning allows children to use academic knowledge and skills to address genuine community needs.
Nichole Burke of Homeschool Family Stuff says she is always looking for new ideas and projects for her homeschool curriculum. She finds that Youth Squad is an ideal program for homeshcool since all three of her kids can work together at their own level.
Service learning is rewarding for all children and can be especially beneficial to those in a homeschool setting. There are many reason to incorporate service learning into your curriculum. Here are the top five:
1. Children Learn Teamwork
Participating in a community service project teaches children about collaboration and communication both within their family and their community.
2. Children Can Build Relationships in Their Community
When doing a service project your children will have an opportunity to meet people outside their usual circles and build more diverse friendships.
3. Service Learning Adds Hands-On Experience
Community service is an easy way to incorporate hands-on experiences into your academic program allowing many opportunities for enrichment.
4. Children Can Connect Academics To Real Life
Service learning broadens children’s life experiences. They have an opportunity to discover and explore life lessons.
5. Children Learn Leadership Skills
Even very young children can feel empowered by taking charge of a very small project. As they mature, the scope of their leadership responsibilities can grow to include others outside the household.
The Youth Squad Program is Ideal for Service Learning
Youth Squad makes it easy for parents and their kids to participate in community service.
- Something for Everyone. There are 20 different programs within four interest areas: Animals, Environment, Outreach and Community.
- All Ability Levels. Rather than age or grade, the Youth Strong program progresses by ability Levels beginning at the preschool level.
- Online Curriculum. All programs are completely self-guided. Even the youngest participants will need very little assistance with the learning portion of the service learning projects.
- It’s Free. There are no mandatory membership fees, no subscriptions, no books or uniforms to buy. You can elect to purchase our patches as rewards for completed projects.
To get started, let your children choose a program Section together. If you can get them to agree on only one the rest is easy.