Disneyland homeschool schedule, all the ideas for bringing the magic of Disneyland into your home learning model.
Ready to make the most of your homeschool day? Let’s bring a bit of Disneyland into the home classroom with resources and learning ideas that incorporate Disneyland Resort and Disney theme parks around the world.
Visiting Disneyland Resort has always been a favorite learning activity for homeschool families to see in person how story lines are developed on paper, then to screen and then into life-sized attractions. We saw this play out in the last few years with the re-imagineering of Pixar Pier at California Adventure Park.
There’s no better time than now to dive into the process of creating and bringing imaginative ideas to life. Presenting a new kind of home based learning: Disneyland homeschool.
Disneyland Homeschool Physics and Math
Middle school and high school students will thrive in this free Imagineering course developed by Disney that’s perfect for Disneyland homeschool.
The series includes 32 videos where Disney Imagineers demonstrate skills needed for building theme parks and telling stories. Disneyland homeschool students will learn:
- story development
- conceptual design
- math
- physics and engineering
Students will see how all these elements come together to create immersive experiences found at Disneyland Resort, then be tasked to try it out at home.
Learning units include:
- tutorial on engineering software
- interactive exercises
- video demos and more
This Disneyland homeschool program is flexible, your middle school or high school student can try a few lessons or complete the entire course. Hands-on components keep students engaged and help them explore new concepts to bring Disney stories to life. Get started here.
Disneyland Homeschool English
Reading fluency and comprehension is so important. Keeping kids on grade level can be a struggle when homeschooling for the first time. Here’s some tips to help you keep your child on track:
- Read 30 minutes per day, minimum
- Read from this collection of Disney stories for kids of all ages; everyone loves a good story especially if Mom or Dad adds their own voices and special effects
- Have older kids read aloud to you and have silent reading each day; teens might enjoy the book I’m currently reading on the life of Walt Disney.
- Of course we can’t forget Kingdom Keepers book series.
When reading is complete, let’s put those reading skills to work. Depending on age level, have your child answer these questions verbally or in essay form:
- Is the story true? Why or why not?
- Where does the story take place?
- Describe the main characters
- What is one problem the main character needs to solve?
- How would you have solved the problem differently?
- If you could be any character from the story who would you be and why?
And while we’re on a reading kick, I’ve been meaning to pick this book up for myself after seeing the premier presentation of it at D23 Expo and later on Disney+: One Day at Disney.
Disneyland Homeschool Foreign Language
My daughter is in her 4th year of French and her continued education requires she practices frequently. Most Disney films have the option to switch the language by dubbing Spanish and French as well as displaying captions. She’s watched Frozen (which of course reminds me of the Frozen musical at California Adventure) and Disney Pixar’s Cars so far.
I suggest dubbing in the language your child is learning and displaying the language in closed captions. That way they can read and listen to the language, repeating familiar and unfamiliar words as they go.
I had trouble getting Disney+ to play movies in French even when I switched the language, so for now we’re relying on DVDs. Anyone have tips for me to switching the language on Disney+ and having the audio dubbing actually work? Would love your tips!
Disneyland Homeschool Art
It all started with a mouse. Animation is one major component of the Walt Disney Company and many of us love brining the beloved Disney Characters to life at Animation Academy inside Disney California Adventure Park.
Lucky for you, Disney animators have created a full series of Animation Academy videos to practice your art skills at home. All you need is pencil and paper. This is a great activity for learners of all ages, from preschool to adulthood.
Let’s start with just a few of our favorite characters to meet at Disneyland Resort:
- Animation Academy Mickey Mouse
- Animation Academy Buzz Lightyear from Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters
- Animation Academy Maleficent from Halloween Time at Disneyland
- Animation Academy Daisy Duck
- Animation Academy Woody from Toy Story Midway Mania
- Animation Academy Sally from Haunted Mansion Holiday
What other Disney Characters do you love to draw at Animation Academy and Disneyland homeschool?
Disneyland Homeschool Physical Education
Now that I’ve been both a teacher and a learner during this period of Disneyland’s closure, I know it’s more important than ever to get my family outdoors (if possible) and getting exercise.
Some days we’ve had favorable weather and can play in our yard, but other days it’s been cold and rainy. The good news is there’s plenty of ways to get in Disney-inspired exercise even when you’re not counting steps at Disneyland itself.
- These 10-12 minute Disney workout videos will get you moving and are themed after Disney classics like Peter Pan, Mulan and even Moana. Let me know which ones you try!
- Go offline and print some of these Disney inspired workouts from Pinterest.
- Mousercise anyone? If all things retro are totally in, why not get a good laugh and excersize at the same time with this 1983 throwback.
We’ve scheduled a full day of learning and even had a laugh. I think we can just leave this Disneyland homeschool session right here with Mousercise and call it good, don’t you think?
