With many areas of the country quarantined, parents are starting to worry about their children’s education. While I assure you that a month of homeschooling will not irreversibly damage your children, I understand the concern. That is why Standish writes is going to present an article every day with a simple homeschooling idea that is fun for you and does not require you to learn “new math.”

Note: When I make suggestions, I add an affiliate link if I have one. I do not make suggestions based on whether I have an affiliate link, and the links have no effect on you.

For my first post, I want to refer you to a blogger who writes about the use of tabletop RPGs to help children learn vital social skills, math skills, and many other important things. While it may seem intimidating to learn a roleplay system if you never played before, the benefits are enormous, and this post gives some great ideas for starter games that are cheap and easy to learn.

Click here for the article on the benefits of tabletop RPGs in children’s education!

I have not played all of the below games, but I looked for kid-friendly games that should work for your family. Some links are affiliate, but I chose them because they seemed like good choices, not because I am an affiliate of the site. The site I linked to is simply the most common site for these types of games.

What if you only have one kid?

If you only have one kid, you may not want to get the neighborhood kids together during a pandemic. This is understandable, so we wanted to recommend some ways to play with your friends online. For this, we suggest creating a discord server and a roll20 game. If you have young kids, we suggest making one or two accounts for yourself, and logging on for them so they are not browsing the internet alone. That said, it is easy to create a free, isolated discord server for just your group. See this video or this tutorial to learn how. We recommend making a server with just your friends and neighbors for young kids.

To make a roll20 game, see the video below:

Where to Start

When you are ready to start learning, here are some games you can try:

• D&D 5e – a system for both kids and adults – the link is to a kid-friendly starter module, you may need these Basic Rules to play it
• Hero Kids
• Save the Day – a kickstarter, so you are supporting a small business
• The Fiendish Primer – good for ABCs and children of gamers
• Mouse Guard – let your kids play as cute mice, while facing dangers and learning
• Fuzzy Heroes– bring your kids’ favorite toys in to keep them hooked
• Witch Girls – great if your girl loves magic

Also see this blog post on cheap games that are good for kids.

Please note that tabletop RPGs are a great resource, but are by no means a full homeschooling curriculum. See future posts for more suggestions.

Please share to get this information to more people, and leave a comment if you have questions or suggestions to improve the article!