How to Incorporate Minecraft into Homeschooling
Game-based learning is a powerful tool for any homeschool curriculum, and it’s favored by families and educators alike. Whether you’re educating a high school student or a seven-year old, the Minecraft: Education Edition platform provides an unmatched opportunity to foster creative thinking skills. Playing in Minecraft also reinforces skills like problem solving, project management, and teamwork, making it easy to understand why so many school programs have used it for coding and STEM lessons.
If you’ve been considering the world of Minecraft and want to help your student get the most out of the experience, here’s the information you need to help them succeed.
What Is Minecraft?
Students and grown-ups alike can get lost playing in the three-dimensional worlds of Minecraft. Currently accessed through a Microsoft account, the platform uses Java programming. Many parents and educators look to Minecraft not only as a video game, but as a creative outlet, an avenue for adventure and exploration, and a world for learning and multi-player collaboration.
Far from a “boring” syntax coding course, Minecraft gives kids a glimpse into a virtual environment and the opportunity to customize it as their own world. As kids explore and create, there are opportunities to learn and code. Players can work as individuals or in a multiplayer environment to build, troubleshoot, create objects, and explore.
How Can I Use Minecraft for Homeschooling?
Teachers and homeschooling families love Minecraft and use it to help foster many fundamental skills. Printables, workbooks, and worksheets are available to help many families make the most of the experience and leverage Minecraft as an educational resource, but courses at TheCoderSchool can also help take the Minecraft experience to the next level.
Homeschool groups use Minecraft education accounts to:
Introduce coding concepts
Coding in Minecraft provides gameplay opportunities, problem-solving exercises, and creative thinking challenges. Minecraft teaches coding using Java, which is a common language that beginners can learn easily, and continue to leverage for future coding projects and applications.
Improve language arts skills
Educators can lean on Minecraft when they need to build reading, creative writing, and public speaking curriculum. Students can be encouraged to talk about their worlds, write descriptive overviews or tutorials, draw maps, and give presentations of their creations.
Minecraft servers can also be used to connect different homeschool families, whether they’re friends in your homeschool group, or students in a co-op on the other side of the world. Allow your student to be a tour guide for their own world in a multi-player setup, or let them create a travel manual to help their friends explore the pixel-rich space they’ve created.
Explore STEM concepts
Lesson plan opportunities are abundant when you begin to consider how you can use Minecraft as a homeschool resource. Building structures and interactive experiences allows young learners the chance to express creativity in engineering, architecture, and design. Not only will they be putting Minecraft math skills to use when calculating building materials and constructing buildings to scale, but they’ll also learn from trial and error about the origins of building materials and other scientific theories.
Learn about history
Many educators lean on Minecraft for history lessons, encouraging a student to do research on a historical landmark and rebuild it in their Minecraft world.
Build personal character
Students learn about teamwork, project management, and cooperation when building structures and cities in Minecraft. They’ll need to be reminded to pace themselves, as the best worlds aren’t created quickly, but slowly and strategically over time. Young learners will benefit from learning patience and as they experience trial-and-error in engineering and coding.
Find Kids Coding Classes Near You
Give your kid a fun schooling experience by using Minecraft in your homeschool or after-school curriculum. While Minecraft: Education Edition is a great place for homeschool families to start, live classes through TheCoderSchool can also make it easier to help educate on coding for beginners so students get the most out of the game.
With locations across the United States and flexible courses, including virtual learning, in-person classes, or private Minecraft coding camps, we strive to provide new challenges and opportunities for the next-gen to take their curiosities with technology to the next level.
Find Minecraft camps and classes near you and get in touch with the educators at TheCoderSchool today if you have any questions.