Six Fun Ways to Incorporate Your Pool into Homeschooling & Virtual Learning

Homeschooling and virtual learning are on the rise and a necessary part of American life during safer-at-home orders in many states. If you're new to it – and so many of us are -- you're probably looking for ways to make lessons fun and engaging.

An excellent way to keep kids from getting bored by their at-home school routine is to mix things up. Show them there are other places to enjoy their lessons--like the pool! Not only will they continue to learn, but they also get to enhance their swimming skills. Here are excellent ways to incorporate your pool into a learning plan:

1. Teach measurements and fractions.

Playing in the water is a great way to teach children about measurements. Take some buckets and measuring cups. Ask how many teaspoons can make a cup, and how many containers can make a gallon. Also, how many gallons do you think could fill this whole pool?

2. Explore what sinks or floats.

Sink or swim? This one always makes the kids happy. Ask them to find a few things they think will float, and a few items they think will sink. Older children are mostly right because they understand density and buoyancy, but this is a great way to encourage younger kids to think. Sometimes the things we believe will fall to the bottom end up floating to the top!

3. Use waterproof cards to teach math.

You can combine a waterproof deck of cards with the classic card game war. In a pool without a filter, throw the waterproof cards in. Ask each child to swim and get as many cards as they can. The faster they get the cards, the bigger advantage they have over the others. Now play a traditional game of war. Turn any game of war into a lesson on subtraction, addition or multiplication. Ask each player to pull out two cards and solve the equation. The child with the highest score wins the cards.

4. Set your kid's inner photographer free.

One of the best investments you can make as a pool owner and homeschooler is a waterproof camera. Not only do many waterproof cameras today take excellent photos, but it's also safe enough to go anywhere with your child without fear that it will fall into the pool and break. Besides learning how to frame shots, they are also improving basic hand-eye coordination.

5. Use some educational bath toys.

Educational bath toys like foam letters and toy fishing don't need to be limited to the bathtub. Take them to the pool for some education and fun. Toss letters out in the pool and have the kids swim to catch the letters and spell a word. This is an excellent way for children to be physically active, have fun and learn while staying cool in the summer.

6. Read aloud at the pool.

Take your read-aloud book to the pool to stay cool and still get some reading done. Allow the children to stay in the pool while you read sitting on a step of the pool. This is a great way to relax and enjoy your summer reading list when choosing to homeschool at the pool. Let the kids have a turn and read something from their curriculum. You may consider waterproofing their reading materials.

Pool Troopers.