8 FUN Interest-Led Activities For Homeschool Language Arts

“...to assemble together, to READ, to LISTEN, to LEARN, to fear the Lord your God, as long as you will live.” ~Deuteronomy 31:11-12 

We see a pattern with the kids that we have taught in the past, with our own children, and with the kids we presently teach, which is:

Interest-led educational experiences drive creativity, bolster motivation, and instill an intrinsic love of learning -- especially in Language Arts, as it is the foundation of the learning process.

A few years into our homeschool journey, we heard this declaration from a veteran homeschool mom: You are the master of the curriculum, it is NOT the master of you! This is a declaration that we wish we would have heard earlier. It gave us peace of mind to switch it up when things weren’t going well, to embrace our freedom in curriculum choices.

We understand that even when an educational approach, method, or curriculum has become boring, burdensome, and/or bothersome, it’s easy to listen to fear and stay in that space because it feels safe. We have been victim to the idea that we needed to plow through in order to not “miss any targets or create gaps,” because “don’t the curriculum developers know better than we do?”

We are here to encourage you that if it’s not working, it’s ok to break out and make connections between your child’s passions and the topics they study. This is a great way to learn, and fun to teach, and we’ve got specific ideas to help you accomplish that. 

Take a look at 8 homeschool methods we used, and get busy being creative and enjoying language arts!

Homeschool Language Arts Activity No. 1: Innovative Alphabet Book

Use blank construction paper labeled w/ one letter per sheet. Have the child attach pictures, draw, and/or create any representation of items they discover that begin with the matching letter. 

Some years after this book was completed, my nephew borrowed it to learn the alphabet. Imagine how fun it must have been for him to find out what his cousin's favorite things were for each letter. Before it was assembled into a giant book, it started with posters on the wall.  We started this project in PreK, made our way slowly and thoughtfully through the alphabet and displayed the posters on the kitchen wall for the few years which it took to complete. We have a small kitchen but it was a good commitment! 

Homeschool Language Arts Activity No. 2: Paper Bag Books

Use a paper lunch sack and write or glue a printed riddle on the outside of the bag. Answer to the riddle goes on the inside of the bag. Use pictures, drawings, or just the word as the answer. Have each page (bag) spiral-bound at an office supply store. Voila, you have a book your kids will want to read over and over, AND possibly become motivated to write their own riddle books according to their interests/studies.

Homeschool Language Arts Activity No. 3: Sweetie Treatie Scavenger Hunt

Make a series of clues that your child will read to find a well-deserved treat. We found that it also motivates kids to write, so that they want to make up their own clues, too. (Members of our online community have access to detailed lesson plan and PDF of decorative clue cards.)

Homeschool Language Arts Activity No. 4: DIY Mini-Books from blank paper

Use any size blank paper and fold to create “pages” to the size of your choice…mini-books are fun! Have the child draw on one section of the page saving room for words to be written about the picture. Help them as needed. We started these when our kids were very young and wrote all the words for them. As their skills increased, our support lessened until they were proficient writers. That’s many years of a schooling journey and a large library of homemade books they could actually read.

Homeschool Language Arts Activity No. 5: Audio books with an active listening activity

We had countless sweet times spent together listening to audiobooks in the car. Our conversations made me feel like we were our own little book club. We also used audiobooks in the house for independent reading time.  To keep focus and increase comprehension, they did an active listening activity like creating the scene with Legos, stuffies, Barbies, or drawing in a reading response journal. We found audiobooks for free online at Librovox and on CD at our local library. 

Homeschool Language Arts Activity No. 6: Nature, Field Trip Journals

We used these journals to respond to field trips or nature outings after we would get home. We collected artifacts to attach inside such as: brochures, schedules of events, tickets, pictures, etc. Any token to help remember the experience and what was learned.

Homeschool Language Arts Activity No. 7: Timeline science board/wall charts/books

Our history timeline work started with using science fair boards, where we attached index cards with drawings to display evens in history.  Then we transitioned  to a wall chart and then eventually through the upper years from the wall chart to a timeline book in which longer narratives could be added. Nothing was more powerful than that wall chart to provide a firm grasp on the concept of the timing of events in history.

Fair warning: I’ll never forget the sense of mortality that hit me when I attached to our kitchen wall the timeline chart I made which spanned about ten thousand years and was divided into century-long sections. Seeing that one small 100-year section and realizing that it represents only some of my life on this planet had me awestruck over the next few years that we had it displayed.  What a powerful lesson I wish I would’ve learned myself at the young age in which I was teaching it to my children! 

Homeschool Language Arts Activity No. 8: Scrap paper/fun writing tools

Keep these stocked up someplace for easy access to encourage kids to use them anytime to do artwork or make special cards/notes. Unique writing tools, sets of crayons, colored pencils, and markers make it even more fun! (Shop clearance and after back-to-school sales!) This is also a great way to reuse and recycle fliers and such.

Conclusion:

With these ideas, especially when one journal is kept for multiple years, it offers an organic evaluation process. At any time, looking back through the pages shows progress made and gives a chance to notice where improvement is needed. This is not only motivating but also develops an intrinsic love of learning. 

The three big concepts we worked on creatively throughout all of these methods were…listening and responding, reading, and writing. That is Language Arts! The ability to communicate intricately in these ways was given to us by God. It’s what sets humans apart and also binds us together. 

Look at the scripture from Deuteronomy 31:11-12:

"When all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God at the place he will choose, you shall READ this law before them in their hearing. Assemble the people—men, women and children, and the foreigners residing in your towns—so they can LISTEN and LEARN to fear the Lord your God and follow carefully all the words of this law."

This is God’s issue for the Israelites related to the public reading of the law. He told his people “to assemble together, to READ, to LISTEN, to LEARN, to fear the Lord your God, as long as you will live.” We believe those are His plans for modern day Language Arts right there in your homeschool. His plans are always the best plans. We want you to lean into that. 

It’s exciting for us to share these interest-led, creative methods, and we agree that if we knew back then what we do now, we would've spent more time on them. Blank paper turned into Language Arts is TREASURE! We can say with confidence, by seeing the results in the current achievements of our own kids, that these interest-led, creative methods of teaching Language Arts increase achievement, support the development of an intrinsic love of learning, and certainly bring the fun to homeschool days. We’re excited to imagine the ways in which they enhance your journey as well!

We're here to help!

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