This post is sponsored by our friends over at Legends of Learning. All opinions expressed here are my own. 

Supplementing Curriculum with Legends of Learning 

Summer is winding down and it’s finally time to start planning our curriculum for the new school year! It’s a common misconception that unschoolers don’t use any sort of curriculum. My family practices child led learning, but it’s not a free for all. I follow my children’s lead, and then tailor their education around their interests. While researching curriculum I look for books, manipulatives, and various online educational resources that align with their curiosities. This coming school year I’ll be adding Legends of Learning to our homeschool curriculum as a valuable Science resource. Of course, Legends of Learning can be used in any traditional school science classroom, too.

LegendsofLearning.com is a science website for parents, teachers, homeschool educators and students. There are over 1000 curriculum aligned science games for elementary and middle school students. As a homeschool educator I signed up for a teacher account. That way I can add each of my children and monitor their progress as the school year goes along. Classroom teachers can use it to monitor all of their students in one place.

There are games categorized under Earth Science, Life Science, and Physical Science. There is a wide variety of subject matter under each topic. I love that there is a curriculum to go with each game so that I can ask the kids questions and assign vocabulary words. There are also other suggested games under each curriculum so that you can add more practice for your children to master the subjects. Legends of Learning is always free for teachers and students. 

We still have a few more weeks until our official first day of school, since we always start back up after Labor Day. But BabyCake was excited to try out Legends of Learning to see how she would enjoy it. My children and I love the outdoors so I was happy to see the Life Science category filled with topics that actually complement our unschooling outdoor exploration very well. I assigned a playlist for her, and she logged in and got started. Her favorite lesson under the Life Science category was “World of Cells”. She enjoyed learning how cell structure is created in plants as well as in humans. She told me that she really likes that after she learns the vocabulary, she moves on to play a game based on what she learned. She said it feels like she’s just having fun instead of feeling like it’s school work. She’s eager to move on and try the next lesson in the playlist with little effort on my part.

We’re still harvesting vegetables from our garden through the fall, so there are several topics under the Life Science subject that I can assign and create a playlist for my children to do. The perfect games that fit are under Plant Structure and Function, and Plant Growth. Those games cover the plant structure and reproduction,  photosynthesis, cell growth, pollination, what organisms are necessary to garden growth, and more! Each game also lists the time it takes to play so that you have a good estimate of how much time your child or student will take to complete the lesson. Once I’m done creating my specific playlists, and add all of my students, I give them a special code to enter that’s specific to me along with their username that I create and they can login to play. I track their progress along the way. It’s an exciting way to learn and retain the different science concepts. 

I really like supplemental materials that are not only educational, but fun. That way learning doesn’t feel difficult or forced. Children can easily retain the information they’ve learned and enjoy doing it at the same time. One of the best parts about Legends of Learning is that it’s FREE! For more information and to get started, head over to LegendsofLearning.com and create your account. It only takes a few seconds to have an awesome, online science curriculum supplement at your finger tips! If you aren’t a homeschool parent, definitely shares Legends of Learning with your child’s teacher so that they can have access to this amazing resource as well. 

Have a wonderful school year!