Open & Go Elementary Homeschool Lessons

If you need a quick lesson for your homeschool this week, then here are some ideas to get you started. Open and go elementary homeschool mini lessons will allow you to dive into some great content without having to find all the information yourself. Don’t stress about the prep! Instead, enjoy learning right alongside your children.

Geography

You may not have a year-long study in geography for your elementary students, but it’s a fabulous subject to deep dive into several times per year if you can. Geography affects our everyday life with maps, imports, culture, language, current events, and more! It’s an exciting subject that your young kids are probably naturally curious about anyway.

Check out these links for mini geography lessons to use in your homeschool. They include video links, instructions, and also hands-on activities to make the content come to life. And best of all? They’re completely open and go. You don’t need to spend all weekend preparing to use these lessons.

• Imports Scavenger Hunt
• Longitude & Longitude Mini Lesson
• World Maps Mini Lesson
• Grocery Store Scavenger Hunt
• The Earth’s Climate Mini Lesson (Note: This lesson is related to climate zones on the Earth and does not discuss climate change in the political sense.)

Art

If you’re an non-artsy mom, you might shy away from formal art instruction in your homeschool. But once you see how oil pastels and chalk pastels can make even the shabbiest artist look like a pro, you’ll be hooked! It’s really not complicated to have an art lesson in your homeschool with these resources. And the best part is learning right alongside your kids.

Math

If you’re looking for a quick elementary homeschool lesson in math, then you should consider using math manipulatives to tackle an abstract concept. Even if you can’t teach a new concept, you can use math mats and manipulatives to review what they already know. Math manipulatives simply refer to items that your kids can touch and kinesthetically manipulate so that they can see a concrete representation of an abstract math problem. 

We love Iwako erasers for this! But you can use anything that you have in your home, including:

• Lego
• Beans
• Cheerios
• Marshmallows
• M&Ms
• Counters
• Buttons
• Game pieces

Music

Young kids love music instruction! Even if you don’t feel qualified for this topic, there are so many resources available for homeschool families.

Consider checking out Music in Our Homeschool’s online courses, including:

• Musical Instrument Notebooking Pages
• A Folk Song A Week
• Music Lessons for Holidays and Special Days
• plus many more!

Music in Our Homeschool also has a membership program that you can check out for additional resources and lessons for easily teaching music in your homeschool.

Or, if you want a quick open and go mini music lesson, then here are several to use:

• K-2 Homeschool Music Lessons 
• Carnival of the Animals Lesson 

Narration of History Lesson

History doesn’t have to be complicated! Find a wonderful history book in a narrative style, or a historical biography, and read it with your child. Then, let them narrate! What is narration? It’s simply your kids telling back to you the most important events in the lesson. 

You’ll be able to get a great grasp on if your child understands what he’s reading. Because if a child can tell back the lesson to you, then you know they get it! Ditch the worksheets. Do oral narration, and then you can help them write the summary on their paper. Include a drawing, map, or timeline to complete the lesson. This is active learning and your child will remember this lesson because of the narration involved.

Wondering about this narration thing? You can grab a free narration cheatsheet at 4onemore.com and use it to create an open and go elementary homeschool lesson.

Narration of Science Lesson

Many parents are confused about how to teach science to young children! It really can be simple. Use their natural curiosity about the world around them to dive into science topics that they love.

Spend weeks watching bugs, reading about bugs, and collecting bugs. Draw them, diagram them, and then narrate back what they learn. You can turn mini science lessons into a complete DIY science curriculum when you add notebooking. Simply compile their narrations, drawings, and other science collections into a notebook, and you have a very active learning situation with very little prep from mom!

Grocery Store Scavenger Hunt

Even normal trips to the grocery store can be huge learning experiences. If you want your kids to learn the real life practical application of math, science, and geography, then check out a sample of the Grocery Store Scavenger Hunt or grab the entire packet. You can even use the assignments in this packet without taking the whole family to the grocery store. Check out Walmart’s online site for looking up prices!

Bible

Have you gotten into a rut with Bible memory and not sure how to set up an easy memorization system? The Bible Memory Box is a great place to start and you can also download Bible memory verse cards to get you going. It only takes a few minutes a day to review dozens of verses or catechism questions.

• Psalm 1 ESV memory verse cards
• Luke 2:1-20 KJV memory verse cards
• I John 1:5-10 ESV memory verse cards

What about jumping into a short inductive Bible study with your elementary kids? It’s amazing how much their little minds can grasp! It might even surprise you. The Inductive Bible Study Guide Sheet will give you a template to use for any passage of Scripture. This method works best for kids in 5th grade and above.

Pin this post for later so that you can easily find an open and go homeschool mini lesson on the days when you just need something different!