Miacademy’s Homeschool Electives for Elementary Students

One of the best things about homeschooling your elementary school student is the flexibility it provides. Homeschool families can customize every aspect of their child’s curriculum, from selecting books at a just-right reading level to studying scientific concepts that truly fascinate them. Electives can enrich any curriculum by allowing your student to follow their interests and even build new skills.

The Importance of Elementary School Electives

Early childhood is an incredible time for learning and development. In fact, young children’s brains grow at a faster rate than during any other time in life. This rapid growth can make it easier for students to master skills like learning a second language or reading music, if they start early.

Electives allow your child’s interests and hobbies to take center stage in their education. This can…

1. Increase their confidence: When students pursue their interests, it can improve their effort and self-confidence.

2. Deepen their learning: Elective courses create hands-on opportunities for students to apply their learning. As a result, these classes can often improve student performance and lead to better learning outcomes.

3. Build cross-curricular connections: Studying an instrument can show students how music theory relates to math. Or studying illustration can help them discover the connections between art and history. Electives create rich opportunities for cross-curricular learning and connections.

Since elementary school electives support social-emotional learning, they also allow students to practice and develop valuable interpersonal skills. For homeschool students, electives can become a meaningful chance for the entire family to both bond and learn something new together.

How to Choose Electives for Homeschoolers

Choosing homeschool electives is no small task! There are plenty of courses to choose from, and each can enrich your child’s educational experience in a different way. Some things to consider when choosing electives:

1. Let your child decide. Electives are a great way to incorporate your child’s interests into their curriculum. Their input can be an invaluable tool when choosing electives, and it can help ensure their buy-in to each course on their schedule.

2. Understand your family’s schedule and plan ahead. This can prevent last-minute crunches or missed requirements for the school year.

Consider after-school activities and field trips. These experiences can be an amazing way to enrich your child’s elective curriculum. Think about ways to incorporate extracurricular activities, like clubs, sporting leagues, and volunteering, into your student’s electives.

Miacademy’s Online Homeschool Electives for Elementary

Elective classes can boost your student academically while also helping them explore or discover their interests. Miacademy has a variety of elementary electives that can become an enriching cornerstone of your student’s curriculum. Here’s a list of the types of electives for elementary students:

Music

Our music courses expose students to different elements of music, including instruments from around the world and how to create their own.

• All About Instruments: In this course, students learn about cultural instruments like the rainstick, didgeridoo, and dulcimer. 

• Song Writing: Let your student’s creativity shine in our Song Writing course! Students will learn to write and arrange songs, including how to compose accompanying music.

• Music Reading: Students in our Music Reading course learn about notes, rhythm, music symbols, and famous composers. Plus, learning to read music has tons of academic benefits for students!

Art

In our art courses, students will explore a variety of mediums and influential works of art from around the world.

• Art Class: In our beginner-level art curriculum, students will explore different mediums, including painting, printmaking, collage, and mixed media.

• Art Around the World: In this course, students explore the art and culture of different countries and regions around the world. They’ll have the chance to explore traditional art styles like Chinese watercolor and Indonesian batik.

World Languages

Our World Languages course has four different foreign languages for students to study! From German to Spanish, French, and ASL, your student will love the immersive language experience our World Languages course offers!

• My First Spanish Lessons (REVISED 2023): My First Spanish Lessons provides students with an introduction to the language by teaching them greetings, emotions, body parts, and numbers.

• American Sign Language: Our American Sign Language course makes learning ASL fun and engaging for kids! Students in this course will learn basic words and phrases, such as numbers, colors, emotions, family words, animals, and more.

• Beginning Spanish: In our Beginning Spanish course, students will learn advanced vocabulary, including colors, foods and places that will help them hold basic conversations.

• Beginning French: In Beginning French, students will learn vocabulary such as colors, numbers, food, and places that will help them have everyday conversations in their new language.

• Beginning German: Students in our Beginning German course will learn useful German words such as colors, numbers, food, and phrases to help them navigate everyday situations.

Elementary School Life Skills

Our electives for elementary school students don’t only focus on fine arts and language — we also support kids as they develop everyday skills! Our Life Skills curriculum teaches students how to complete simple self-sufficiency tasks, such as making healthy habits, preparing a snack, and more.

• Life Skills 1: Our Life Skills homeschool curriculum can help students become more independent! It explores topics such as organization, hygiene, self-care, shoe-tying, and more.

• Fit and Active: Our elementary physical education course teaches students how to stay healthy and stay moving in fun and creative ways!

• Intro to Typing: Typing is one of the most essential modern skills. Our typing course helps students improve their typing speed and accuracy.

Biblical Studies

We also offer a variety of Biblical Studies electives for families who want to incorporate regular Bible study into their curriculum.

• Bible Stories: Learn about Bible stories from both the Old Testament and New Testament.

• Bible Basics: This course introduces students to the Bible, including how to use their Bible to find and read scripture.

• Scripture Memory: Students in our Scripture Memory course learn about some key Bible verses.

• Jewish Bible Study: This course introduces students to important Jewish Bible stories.

• Jewish Holidays: In this course, students learn about Jewish holidays, like Hanukkah and Passover.

More Homeschool Elective Ideas

There are a plethora of unique opportunities for students when the world becomes their classroom! When considering electives for your elementary student, don’t limit yourself to only the curricula you can find online. Consider the learning opportunities that the world around them has to offer, too.

There are so many activities that can become electives, from sports to music and even volunteering! Can your student join a kids’ program at a local aquarium as a marine biology elective? Can they volunteer at an animal shelter to learn about responsibilities, pet care, and life skills all at once? 

They may even be able to sell handmade crafts to learn about economics or survey wildlife to learn about the environment. The world is full of amazing learning opportunities that can become dynamic homeschool electives!

Miacademy’s Homeschool Elective Curriculum

In addition to a strong core subject curriculum, Miacademy offers lots of fun electives for elementary students to explore! Each course includes a variety of engaging activities that keep kids motivated. Our lessons pair exciting and accessible learning videos with interactive practice games, hands-on exploration, and extension activities to support the diverse learning needs of every child. Each lesson also features a self-paced and automatically graded assessment to make your homeschool recordkeeping a breeze.

In addition, many parents celebrate our curriculum for our secure online community! Students can interact with their peers online in a completely safe and moderated environment. Our community features can also enrich your student’s learning by creating real-world connections with their peers. For example, students can express themselves by filming videos, practice creative writing for the weekly newspaper, and even learn about commerce with our business simulator. 

Our curriculum is flexible and completely customizable. You can also control all access to our community features to create the most appropriate experience. Additionally, you can assign your student any course or individual lesson from across our entire K-8 curriculum to align with their interests and learning needs. Plus, our team is constantly creating new courses, so there’s always something new to explore with Miacademy!

Updated 2/5/2024