Homeschooling With YouTube And Audiobooks (Week 9 lesson plans and recap)
This is Week Nine in a year long series, all about lesson planning in an interest-led homeschool. Each week, I share a recap of last week’s plan vs. reality and then our new easy homeschool lesson plans for the upcoming week. This week, I am also including an overview of homeschooling with YouTube and Audiobooks.
If you have been following along for the last eight lesson plans (or even just caught one or two) you have likely noticed just how much of our learning involves YouTube videos and Audiobooks. Not a day goes by in this house (weekends included) without us watching a YouTube video together and/or listening to an audiobook.
This happened over time. At first, it was mostly because my son was so sick and it was the best we could do. Eventually, I came to see it as the best way to approach his learning and not just a necessary, temporary evil.
Here’s why.
Homeschooling With YouTube and Audiobooks
Because my son is profoundly dyslexic, he struggles with almost every formal approach to learning. YouTube gives him access to video based learning every single day across all of his interests. While this used to cause me some concern, over time, I have seen just how much he is able to comprehend and retain when learning things in this format.
The same is true for audiobooks. I remember being accused at one point of “cheating” by allowing my son to access reading through audiobooks – that it somehow wasn’t “real reading.” Not only is it the best way for him to access information, audiobooks actually have far more benefits than we give them credit for.
In homeschool circles, we celebrate “reading aloud” all the time. The benefits to language development and increased vocabulary are proven. Levels of comprehensive and complex understanding increase as well. Audiobooks are essentially reading aloud.
In short, I am not sorry that YouTube and Audiobooks are so much a part of our homeschool. If anything, I am sorry I didn’t let go and allow it to play more of a role sooner.
YouTube For Younger Learners
Many of you have reached out and asked for YouTube resources for younger learners as well. Because my son is 16, I realize that most of the links I share to videos in these lesson plans will not be appropriate for all ages. There are still wonderful family-friendly channels to consider for younger learners. Here are just a few that we have watched and enjoyed:
- Mark Rober – science and engineering
- Nat Geo – history, science, geography (you will need to pick and choose topics as some may not be appropriate for younger children, but there are plenty of age appropriate videos to choose from just the same)
- Nat Geo Kids – Same as above but already curated for a much younger audience
- Homeschool Pop – all topics, an interest-led homeschoolers dream
We have also used unit studies from The Waldock Way throughout the past few years. She includes a curated YouTube playlist in every unit study, appropriate for most ages. These lists have made it easy for me to find material on YouTube that is subject/topic specific. For example, we are currently working through her Human Body study and using the YouTube playlist included to help guide our learning.
I encourage you to watch these videos with your kids if you are able. Not only does this allow you to decide which content is suitable, but it leads to the questions and discussions that are so valuable in learning. In fact, I would argue that the discussions my son and I have about the content are just as important as the videos themselves.
Now, here what this all looks like in practice.
Last Week’s Homeschool Lesson Plans vs. Reality
Monday
The Plan
- Mapwork Continued From Last Week (add NATO Countries to current map)
- YouTube Video – His choice
- Infusion – 4 hours
- Current Events Discussion – read and discuss various news reports
What Actually Happened
- NATO mapwork
- YouTube Video – Dr. Mike Medical Myths
- Infusion – 4 hours
- Current events discussion
Tuesday
The Plan
- Driver’s Ed Online
- CTCMath
- Figurative Language Activities
- YouTube Video – His choice, something educational
- Online Voice/Music Lesson – one hour
- Current Events Discussion – read and discuss various news reports
What Actually Happened
- Driver’s Ed Online
- CTCMath
- Figurative Language Activities (see new post with all of the activities HERE)
- YouTube Video – Bizarre Facts You Didn’t Know About Edgar Allan Poe
- Audiobook – Edgar Allan Poe Short Stories
- Online Voice/Music Lesson – one hour
- Current Events Discussion – read and discuss various news reports
Figurative language (i.e. idioms, similes, metaphors, etc.) can be a challenge for many children with learning differences. When my son was in speech therapy, his therapist used a lot of flash cards and worksheets to teach him. This approach did not work. He was bored to tears and couldn’t keep track of all the “names” (i.e. simile vs. metaphor vs. idiom).
These 17 activities are how we practice figurative language in everyday, accessible ways. They’ve been very helpful for both of my children.
Wednesday
The Plan
- Physical Therapy – 2 hours
- Driver’s Ed Module
- Audiobook and Discussion
- Science: Human Body Study
- Figurative Language Activity, continued
- Current Events Discussion – read and discuss various news reports
What actually happened
- Physical Therapy – 2 hours
- Audiobook and Discussion – Edgar Allan Poe
- Science: Human Body Study with Dr, Robin and The Waldock Way
- Math Word Problems (see this recap for examples)
- Drivers Ed
Thursday
The Plan
- Audiobook and Discussion
- Social Time with friends – 1 hour
- Art class – 1 hour
- Rock Climbing with friends – 3 hours
What Actually Happened
- Audiobook and Discussion – Edgar Allan Poe
- Social Time with friends – 1 hour
- Art class – 1 hour
- Rock Climbing with friends – 3 hours
Friday
The Plan
- CTCMath
- Driver’s Ed Module and Quiz
- MapWork Continued
- Current Events Discussion – read and discuss various news reports
- YouTube Video – his choice and educational
- Science: Human Body Study
What Actually Happened
- Created our own cypher and sent encrypted messages to one another (see explanation below)
- Ancient Egypt – Scarab Beetles
- Current Events Discussion – read and discuss various news reports
- YouTube Video – Fish Biologist
- National Geographic’s 15 favorite images on Instagram
On Thursday, we finished The Gold-Bug by Edgar Allan Poe during our car trip. This lead to most of our Friday being a deep dive into two of the most fascinating parts of the story. First, the use of a cypher to encode a treasure map and second, the historic accuracy of a “Gold Bug” in ancient Egyptian culture. It was one of those interest-led days that resulted in a ton of learning.
Our Homeschool Lesson Plans For This Week
Monday
- Mapwork Continued From Last Week (continue to add NATO Countries to current map)
- YouTube Video – His choice
- Audiobook and Discussion
- Infusion – 4 hours
- Current Events Discussion – read and discuss various news reports
Reference Notes: Every Monday, my son has subcutaneous immunoglobin infusions. Because of this, our Monday routine is very light. We do the minimum and prepare for his medical treatment in the afternoon.
Tuesday
- Driver’s Ed Online
- Everyday Math Word Problems
- Ancient Egypt Study (if he’s still interested, if not, then back to American History)
- YouTube Video – His choice, something educational
- Online Voice/Music Lesson – one hour
- Current Events Discussion – read and discuss various news reports
Reference Notes: Tuesdays are our first full school day of the week. Because my son always feels better post-Monday’s infusion, we typically do a large percentage of our more traditional homeschool work on this day.
Wednesday
- Physical Therapy – 2 hours
- Driver’s Ed Module
- Audiobook and Discussion
- Science: Human Body Study
- Figurative Language Activity
- Current Events Discussion – read and discuss various news reports
Thursday
- Audiobook and Discussion
- Social Time with friends – 1 hour
- Art class – 1 hour
- Rock Climbing with friends – 3 hours
Reference Notes: We spend Thursdays in lessons mostly outside our home. My son attends a program on Thursday afternoons through a local private school.
Friday
- CTCMath
- Driver’s Ed Module and Quiz
- MapWork
- Current Events Discussion – read and discuss various news reports
- YouTube Video – his choice and educational
- Science: Human Body Study
New Easy Homeschool Lesson Plans And Updates, Every Week
Additional Resources For Strength-Based And Interest-Led Homeschooling
Research shows that a learner allowed to spend the most time studying in areas of strength, tends to perform exponentially better in all areas including the areas of weakness.
These resources will help you get started.
Looking For More Homeschooling With YouTube And Audiobooks Lesson Plans?
Here’s every week’s lesson plans and recaps since the beginning of the year!
My son is nine, dyslexic and gifted, so audiobooks and YouTube are also the bulk of our instruction, so he can receive the content level he needs without the reading getting in the way. His absolute favorite channel is Extra Credits History. It’s geared towards high school/adults, so definitely preview, but the content and the humor is excellent. We also love Mark Roper and Science Max.
My son is 8. We also listen to audiobooks every day…and I’m amazed at how much information he retains from them. I try to pick books that go along with the periods of history we are studying. My son also enjoys YouTube videos for learning. We like BrainPOP, Freeschool, and Art for Kids Hub. I look for history and science videos that go along with our weekly lessons. I really enjoy them, too! For our family movie nights, I also try to find movies that go along with what we’re studying. Last week we watched Apollo 11 since we were studying the space race. It makes our learning so much more rich!