Many students learn real-life financial skills in classroom exercises where mock stocks are traded, mimicking current market activity. Similarly, health and home economics classes sometimes outfit students with life-like robotic baby dolls in an effort to convince teens to avoid pregnancy.
Students participating in Fantasy Football can learn math skills, strategic planning, management and other skills via owning their own Fantasy Football team. According to ESPN reporter Colin Cowherd, the average Fantasy Football enthusiast spends 9 hours per week managing his team. Few high-school-level math programs expect that many hours of study. Fantasy Football is absolutely free. Players participate online, via ESPN, NFL Rush, Yahoo, FaceBook and in other internet forums.
Playing Fantasy Football for Kids
In Fantasy Football, team owners choose real players based on their current statistics. Player's statistics change during every real game that is played and players earn fantasy points or fantasy dollars whenever their teams do well. Players, called owners, join leagues with other players.
For homeschoolers, a Fantasy Football co-op may help meet social as well as academic needs. Kids can form their own leagues and create a local Fantasy Football club, where teams compete over pizza instead of online.
Choosing Fantasy Football Leagues and Team Players
Fantasy Football leagues come in many forms. Rules and regulations are strictly adhered to and taken very seriously. The three types of leagues are redraft leagues, keepers and dynasty leagues. Each has its own distinctive draft procedures and rules of competition.
Team owners draft players using either an auction system, or a pre-determined ranking order which reverses each season. Homespun leagues can opt to form a draft system of their own. Working out the details is part of the education. Leagues appoint commissioners to ensure that rules are being followed.
Using Fantasy Football for Schoolwork
Encourage players to keep a Fantasy Football notebook or journal. Like in a unit study, using charts, graphs, time-lines and other graphic organizers to predict outcomes and chronicle the season can help a student show what's been learned and to interpret the lessons visually and verbally.
In the homeschool world, unschooling families make a lifestyle of following the children's interests. Knowing that all “school subjects” are rooted in real life, hobbies like Fantasy Football are valued for the educational lessons they provide for kids who enjoy the activity. Parents whose kids are involved in Fantasy Football can take heart. To learn more about the educational aspects of Fantasy Football, ask a player to explain the game.
Lisa Russell - Lisa Russell is a freelance writer and mom of six daughters. She blogs about their life at lisarussell.org
