The 5 Best Video Games for Homeschoolers

Not long ago, video games were seen as a brain rotting activity that makes children inactive and unable to think of their feet. This perception is continually changing as schools adopt video games into their curriculum. Educational video games can be a great alternative to educational toys and teach children different skills such as cognitive thinking and practical life.

As parents, incorporating video games into your homeschool activities helps children identify what they are invested in. Studies stipulate that video games such as the ones discussed below can be used to achieve substantial success by changing certain areas of the brain. Check our selection of the 5 best video games from homeschoolers…

Montessori Crosswords – iPhone, iPad, iPod touch

Montessori Crosswords is an enjoyable phonics game that is loaded with hands-on Montessori tested activities. It helps children aged between 3 and 10 years to improve their reading, writing, and spelling skills.

The game has a set of 320 word-image-audio-phonics combination and a movable alphabet that allows your child to form words. This is in-line with the Language area from the Montessori Method by Dr. Maria Montessori.

Montessori Nature – Android phone or tablet

This game can be played on a tablet or Android phone. It is ideal for children aged 6 years and above. As the name suggests the aim is to encourage children to connect with nature. Indeed Montessori Nature features a garden where children can plant, grow, and sell their crops.

Maria Montessori thought that this kind of activity was essential to help children explore the natural world, though it is loosely connected to Montessori toys. As the plants grow, children tend them and gain Practical Life skills. If little-ones have lots of interest in the game, they might get drawn into planting a garden of their own.

National Geographic Challenge – Xbox 360

The National Geographic Challenge is perfect for young explorers who love to learn facts about the Earth. It teaches geographic curiosities, history of the world and civilization, and the secrets of humanity.

It has 4000 in-game questions, some of which will keep the learners on the edge until they answer them correctly. This game has 5 modes of play including single player and multiple players. It allows up to four players; hence whole families can play the game together with the children, allowing the adults to explain the hard facts to young ones.

Montessori Math: Multiplication – iPad, Android, iPhone, iPod touch

Learning how to multiply the regular way can be monotonous and quite boring for a child who shows little interest in Math. With this game, children and homeschoolers have 4 strategies through which they can solve multiplication problems including the traditional vertical approach and contemporary bead grouping methods.

Homeschoolers can break the monotony of one method by switching to the other. The step-by-step processes in the game build a solid understanding of the process. When they get answers correct, children earn intrinsic rewards in the form of points for the monster lab.

Minecraft – Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Windows, Xbox One, Linux, Mac, Nintendo Wii U, Nintendo Switch

Minecraft is a sandbox game available in both tablet and PC editions for children of every age and also on a lot of game consoles. It fosters imagination and creativity in players as they explore the world and customize it to create anything that they imagine, using building blocks.

In this creative adventure, players are dropped in the middle of nowhere, and they have to build their worlds and fortresses from scratch. Children will learn to put in lots of effort and work smart to get great results.

However, you’ll have to be careful as Minecraft is played online, and children will be at risk of being exposed to adult content on the web as they explore different worlds.

To put it in a nutshell video games for homeschoolers break the monotony of conventional learning by presenting concepts in unique ways. There are lots of benefits that homeschooled children can draw from educational video games especially when they are in-line with the infamous Montessori pedagogy, such as some of the 5 video games discussed above.