What is game schooling

So, what is gameschooling? It is pretty simple. It is taking games and using them with intentionality to teach your kids. That was quick and easy, wasn’t it? Now, we can get into the why of gameschooling. There are many amazing reasons for teaching in this way. They are all very linked together, but I will break them up for you in bite sized portions.

Experiential learning

Games give you the opportunity to simulate a concept or topic in a way they couldn’t experience otherwise. For example, you can learn about terraforming a planet, but you can’t really do it. However, if you play Terraforming Mars, you can simulate the experience.

Games give you the opportunity to simulate a concept or topic in a way they couldn’t experience otherwise. Click to Tweet

Abstract Concepts into Concrete

Board games can turn abstract concepts that they are learning into more concrete ideas. It helps student to better understand material that would otherwise seem distant or unrelatable.

Relation to Material

Subjects from other times and places can sometimes be hard to relate to. How do they affect my life now? Games covering these topics bring those times and places to the present and allows the players to experience them in a different way.

Drive to Learn More

The game brings interest to the kids and they may develop a desire to learn more. You don’t have to push hard for continued learning, because they want to learn more about what they have been experiencing first hand.

Knowledge Retention

Games reinforce the learning that is taking place in your school day. Your kids read a book, do a project, watch a documentary, and then pull it all together with a game. You are reaching all those types of learning and the knowledge will really stick.

Build Problem Solving Skills

Getting your kids to think out of the box while problem solving can be hard. Games build creativity in problem solving. They must use trial and error to get the best outcome and be successful in the game.

Learn from Mistakes

When kids feel like there is a possibility of failure, they can sometimes freeze up. Games help them practice making mistakes in a positive way. The game is only so long, and they can make loads of mistakes, without real life consequences. When it is over, they can see what will work better next time. They get to practice learning from mistakes instead of feeling disabled by them.

Student Engagement

Some kids fight the whole learning process. They don’t want to engage and are very negative about it. Bringing out a game can help them to enjoy the process of learning more. It may even spark that drive to learn more that I mentioned up above.

There are so many ways to gameschool! Some people use games as the curriculum itself and some use games to supplement and reinforce their more structured school day. We are somewhere in the middle. Do you use games for school? Leave a comment and let us know your favorites and how you use them.