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Homeschooling Online with BrainPOP is Easy for Parents and Fun for Kids
Have you ever tried to teach your children a concept or topic that fell totally flat? I have definitely been there before. I have wanted my kids to grasp something in our homeschool or to get really excited about a topic, but once I presented it, they didn’t get it. Like at all.Â
I was recently scouring the web for supplemental videos that could help my children learn about Labor Day. Unfortunately, I didn’t fully preview the video, and the content wasn’t quality or engaging. Before I realized it, both my kids had completely switched off their attention from the video we were supposed to be watching to a silly squirrel playing outside our living room window. You know how it goes; once you lose your student’s attention, it can be challenging to get them engaged again, especially elementary students.Â
Like many of you, I don’t want to send my children to public school, but I still need help occasionally when it comes to teaching and homeschooling. I am still honing in on my teaching skills, and even though we are not replicating public school at home, I need teaching resources to help keep lessons fun and engaging. Because regardless of your method of homeschooling, kids should be inspired to learn.Â
Searching for Quality Resources to Help You Teach Well
I needed a quality resource to help me drive home certain subjects and topics. But, I don’t have hours to preview educational videos, search for printables, and plan exciting lessons. While searching for options, I heard about BrainPOP. BrainPOP offers an all-in-one supplemental solution for homeschool curricula for kindergarten through 8th grade. Finding BrainPOP was like hitting the jackpot! It was just what I needed to help support me as a homeschool teacher.Â
As you know, lesson planning can be complex for some parents, especially if you aren’t sure how to start planning a lesson or if you aren’t sure what to include in a lesson. An excellent way to quickly put together a solid elementary or middle school lesson would be to lean on BrainPOP.Â
Before we go any further, let’s decide if BrainPOP would be a good fit for your family.Â
Homeschooling Online with BrainPOP Would Be Great for Families Who:
- Work from home
- Prefer an online learning platform
- Do not like textbooks
- Need extra time in the dayÂ
- Feel overwhelmed with teaching multiple children
- Enjoy learning topically
- Want a replacement for YouTube or a different platform for watching educational videosÂ
- Need teaching resources to help reinforce lessons or topics
- Have a limited amount of time to plan
- Are looking for a solid supplemental resource
- Want to incorporate more fun in their homeschool
What Exactly is BrainPOP?Â
BrainPOP is an online learning platform for kids from kindergarten through 8th grade. BrainPOP offers multiple options when you sign up. You can choose from BrainPOP Homeschool Jr. for grades kinder through 3rd, BrainPOP Homeschool for grades 3rd through 8th, or BrainPOP Homeschool Combo (the best value if you homeschool multiple ages since it includes k-8th).Â
BrainPOP offers supplemental videos and coordinating educational content so that you can create customized lessons for your homeschool. You can assign lessons to each child or create a classroom where all your students can learn the same topic.Â
There are over 1100 lessons to choose from, and from subjects such as:
- Math
- Science
- Arts & Music
- Social Studies
- English
- Health
- Engineering & Tech
- Reading & Writing
What to Expect While Homeschooling Online With BrainPOP
There are so many fantastic features and benefits of homeschooling online with BrainPOP! Let’s chat about a few of my favorites.Â
As I mentioned, I want to ensure my children comprehend specific lessons. For example, when we would watch a YouTube video to reinforce something we had learned, it would be challenging to determine what my children retained. But with BrainPOP, you can create a lesson with a video and add additional activities like a quiz to see what your child took away.Â
The follow-up quizzes to videos from BrainPOP are an excellent addition to our homeschool routine because I wasn’t even aware that my kids were not fully comprehending certain things.Â
Now, they can watch a video and take a quiz right afterward. The quiz results are available to me, so I can see what they did or didn’t grasp, which can better help me decide if we need to continue learning that topic or if we can move on.Â
If your family doesn’t administer tests or quizzes, that’s ok too! You can add other activities to your lesson, like coding, games, graphic organizer, making a movie, additional reading, vocabulary, printables, and more!Â
Another fantastic feature of BrainPOP is the way you can create assignments. Planning lessons and assigning them to my kids has never been more straightforward. It’s incredible how quickly I can find a topic and create an assignment in just a minute or two. Â
I have really enjoyed planning and creating lessons with BrainPOP! It is the perfect replacement for searching the web to find videos to coincide with your studies. There are so many topics to choose from too.Â
Homeschooling Online with BrainPOP is Excellent for Seasons When You Need Extra Help Teaching
One thing that came to mind as I have been using BrainPOP is how much it will come in handy on days when I am burned out and need a break! It is nice to have a way to keep your children learning while you get to take a break from teaching and lesson planning when you need to. Or, if you are in a season where you need to outsource your homeschooling online, I can see this being a real time saver.Â
I also work part-time from home, and recently my workload has been pretty heavy. We enjoyed a lot of BrainPOP during that time, and our learning never stopped! My kids have been requesting that we do more BrainPOP! Pick a topic, create a lesson, and your kids will enjoy the rest. My kids love it, and I know yours will too.Â