Learning with LEGO bricks was an integral part of our homeschool!

What began at an early age (after seeing an older friend’s collection of bricks) quickly became an obsession. My son was definitely hooked on LEGO, and I found myself using it to teach us about everything—from geography and history to math and science.

I offered LEGO minifig writing prompts for free download (and still do!). We began a LEGO club in our basement. Bricks were strewn all over the house (and no, I don’t think I ever got a handle on how to store them!), and it was a blissful many years of play and creativity.

Through a series of beautiful events, LEGO has continued to be a HUGE part of my son’s life (as you will see in a minute!), and he’s continuing to learn about a lot in life through these simple little bricks.

FUN FACT:

Did you know that the plural of LEGO is LEGO? When speaking about these bricks in the plural, say LEGO. For example: “There are so many LEGO bricks on the floor - it’s driving me bonkers!”

LEGO Learning from Childhood to Adulthood

The LEGO Learning Continues

During the height of Grant’s LEGO obsession, we had homeschool family friends who decided to open The Atlanta Brick Co. What started as a little business has turned into a store with two locations and a robust online retail store.

Also, little did we know that the future winners of Season 2 of LEGO Masters lived around the corner from us—and they were employees of the Atlanta Brick Company. Watching the season and then interviewing them when it was finished was fun!

When Grant turned 16, he applied for a job at the Atlanta Brick Company. It’s a special kind of LEGO lover that works at this store. Grant was right in his element and has been working there off and on for the past four years. He’s gone to Mark and Steven’s LEGO studio to hang out, been to LEGO conventions to work the booth for Atlanta Brick Co, and met many Homegrown Learners’ readers when they visit the store!

So much fun stuff, right?

A few weeks ago, Mark came to our house and did a video tour of Grant’s MASSIVE LEGO collection. I wanted to share it with you! So many of you have watched Grant’s love of LEGO for years, which warms my heart. But it also warms my heart that this childhood interest has blossomed into something bigger; he is quite the collector now and is in this for joy and investment.

He has fully funded his collection through work, buy/sell/trade, and a lot of creativity. This entails research to keep up with the value of sets and tracking the value of his collection at the website Brick Economy.

My message to you is this: Encourage your children’s interests. Follow them where they want to go. Learn about what makes them tick. It’s worth it!

LEGO Resources at Homegrown Learners

Don’t forget about our many, many LEGO resources here at Homegrown Learners. You can find most of them on the LEGO Learning page.

Do you have a LEGO lover in your house?

Tell me about them in the comments!

You might also like:

Using LEGO to Learn Geography

Create Your Own LEGO Minifigure Printables

One of the most important subjects for high schoolers is personal finance.

Do your children know how to keep a budget? Do they understand the basics of insurance? The stock market? What is the difference between a 401K and a Roth IRA? How does credit card debt block financial freedom?

These are important questions, yet the average high school graudate is clueless about how to answer them.

If our children graduate from homeschool high school without a basic knowledge of personal finance, we are not setting them up for success. We have failed them in a major area.

The Importance of Personal Finance for Teens

Why am I so passionate about this?

Long story short… I’m married to a financial wizard. We’ve lived frugally and are 100% debt-free. We own our home and our cars and have no credit card debt. Our children are not acquiring debt to go to college. We are on track to retire early.

My husband worked for a large nonprofit debt counseling agency for 18 years. He saw the toll debt took on people’s lives - not just their financial lives but their personal lives. He counseled thousands of people about creating and sticking to a budget and helped them GET OUT OF debt.

Financial literacy was (and continues to be!) simply a part of our children’s lives. They received constant instruction throughout their lives. Things we emphasized:

Cultivating/discovering what they were good at - what would their vocation be?
how to practice budgeting in their daily lives
all about insurance, deductibles, etc…
how to start their retirement accounts
the pitfalls of credit cards
thinking about financial freedom and building wealth

A knowledge of personal finance enables us to tackle life with a sense of peace and contentment. It affords FREEDOM. It also allows us to be generous! We want these things for our children.

Personal Finance for Teens - The Class

When my son was in high school, a group of parents approached my husband about teaching a financial literacy/personal finance class. After using a popular curriculum for a couple of the classes, he decided he wanted to write his own course - which he then taught to a new crop of high schoolers.

At the same time, my husband Hal was starting his own financial coaching business. He has been coaching couples and individuals on financial empowerment and owning their money. His new course for teens and coaching business led us to create a new arm of Homegrown Learners—Your Profit Pro, dedicated to financial education for homeschoolers and their families!

After we had homeschooled our children all the way through high school, we had a good idea of what kind of course would be successful, practical, and achievable for students:

Live, in-person teaching with a lot of room for discussion and questions
A shorter time frame for the class - 6 weeks of teaching (with approximately 9 hours of instruction)
A community feature where kids can discuss with each other and assignments can be made
Smaller groups of students (maximum of 10 students per class)

And, after years and years of counseling and coaching, Hal came up with six core areas of importance in Personal Finance. The new course dedicates a week to each of these principles:

How to Register for Personal Finance for Teens

Registration closes August 10 for the Fall 2024 term.

To get on a waitlist, request a class time, or organize a group for a discount, please click here.

“Thank you for investing in me with your time and knowledge. You have been a wonderful teacher of personal finance. You have set me on a path I may not have started for many years through this class. Thanks for giving me the head start in learning to steward my wealth wisely.”

— Elijah, class participant

As we watch our own young adults make their way in the world, a knowledge of personal finance is what is contributing to their success. We’d love to help your children be successful as well!

LEGO Learning: Childhood and Beyond