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Robotics in Your Homeschool

Robotics obviously have an important role in the future, so it makes sense to incorporate robotics in your homeschool. Even if your child is not planning a career in a field related to robotics, there are so many benefits to learning about them – and they are FUN!

 

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There are many benefits to incorporating robotics in your homeschool

  • A fun introduction to STEM
  • It’s hands-on learning
  • It’s creative and encourages innovation
  • Students learn problem-solving
  • Students learn to persevere when things don’t work
  • It equips students with tech skills they can use in future careers

But you may not know where to start. So here are some ideas based on my own experience (my one son built robots in middle and high school), and the experience of other homeschoolers I know.

Online Robotics Class

Robotics Workshops for Kids offers a free online workshop so that you can see what their classes will be like. Younger students can be accompanied by parents as they may need some help. If you love the free workshop then sign up for the class that teaches you to build Robby the Drummer robot. You will be mailed all the parts and then your child can follow along during the class to build and program it

Listen to my podcast interview with Vinod Agrawal, the owner of Robotics Workshops for Kids to learn more

   

Robot Kits

Some kits just have students building the robot. Some will have instructions to copy exactly and these are good for beginners as they can learn slowly.

Then it is good to progress to kits that also allow creativity as by changing things up and making their own version, students will be taking this to the next level. Many of these include the ability to program the robot.

My son had the Lego Mindstorms set. This now uses Scratch as the default programming language. Lego no longer makes Mindstorms, but the replacement is called Boost, and you can find it here.

Make a Robot from Scratch

A great way to learn more about electronics is to make a robot from scratch. Here is a simple one even elementary-age children should manage

    

Robotics Competitions

The most popular Robotics Competitions are hosted by FIRST. My son was on a First Lego League team in 8th and 9th grade and a few years later, I ended up coaching a middle school team for 3 years. The Lego Mindstorms robot is used for this competition. Teams consist of up to 10 students and if you ask around you are sure to find a few in your area.

Older students can participate in FIRST Robotics and FIRST Tech Challenge – also team events. Listen to this podcast episode where I talk to a student who has been competing in FIRST.

You may also find that your local community college or university hosts robotic competitions, and if you can find a Science Olympiad team to join, robotics is often one of the events.

As you can see, there are many options for adding robotics to your homeschool. Whether you include it as part of your curriculum, or add it as an “after-school” activity, it is easy to do even if you know nothing about robotics or coding.

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Meryl van der Merwe

Meryl homeschooled her 4 children and during that time started teaching at the local homeschool co-op. She still teaches there - as well as online at FundaFunda Academy. In addition, she coaches homeschool Science Olympiad and Quiz Bowl teams and an inner-city First Lego League team. In her spare time she loves reading and traveling.
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