Outdoor classroom Archives - Page 2 of 3

Nov 14 2013

Homeschooling boys

If there is one area I can claim experience and brag about results, it would be homeschooling boys. As a mom of only boys, boy-schooling has been my modus operandi for the past 20-some years, and where I’ve really earned my homeschool stripes. Though I have the privilege of working with both boys and girls in my classes and all of my work over the years, I could fill the pages of a book with strategies and tips about that have worked for the young gentlemen in our home.

Is there anything about homeschooling boys that makes it different from homeschooling girls?

Are there particular subjects boys prefer? Or methods of teaching/learning that seem to work best?

How do moms of boys manage to keep the house clean, the fridge full, and their sanity intact by the end of the day?

What are the secrets to getting active boys to complete lessons when all they want to do is throw rocks, play Mine Craft or build forts?

There is much to write about the differences between homeschooling boys and girls. But let’s get this disclaimer out of the way first:

Every child is unique. Not everything I say here applies to all homeschools and all boys. I know that. Please don’t write to me about blanket generalizations, stereotypes or discrimination. Some of my boys aren’t even always like this. Overall, however, there are known and documented similarities that many families notice when homeschooling boys. Those are the ones I’ll talk about here. Look for more articles tagged with boyschooling in the future, too.

Boyschooling 101

1. Handing the loud, messy or sloppy.

We have all noticed groups of girls playing quietly during park days while groups of boys wield sticks nearby. It can be helpful to make mental notes of situations like this, and then modify schooling efforts to better meet the styles of boys. For example, putting several homeschooling boys together in one room may not always be the best idea; that is, if you demand quiet or independent work from them individually. Forgetting to teach or reinforce things like neatness and organization, and still expecting good results is not a good idea with boys, either. On the other hand, if cooperative work and interactive play is what you’re after, by all means, go for it. But knowing what boys tend to be like can be helpful when planning curriculum and activities.

2. Satisfying the need to “do stuff”.

Reading about things in books and watching things on television can be really good stuff. Many boys enjoy how-to and reference books for this very reason. But, experiments performed outside with mud and explosives? Now, you’re talking boy language. Hands-on science activities, reenacting historical events, active language exercises, and building projects from the ground up are all ways to satisfy the boy need to do stuff. Keeping this in mind when selecting curriculum materials or a homeschool methodology may come in handy if you have boys.

3. Problems with laziness?

Everyone is lazy from time to time. Despite stereotypes, I don’t believe that boys are more lazy than anyone else. This is actually reflective of something else. Notice when parents observe that boys are lazy about tying shoelaces and buttoning shirts, yet are then surprised when these same boys cannot find a pencil or remember where they left the math book. Encouraging good habits, such as putting things neatly away, and establishing a consistent routine (supervised as long as necessary) is the “cure” for such laziness. If a child, particularly a boy, displays these characteristics, this is merely a message that parental intervention is needed at that time. Not all children master such skills on their own.

4. Keeping them active.

There are many ways to keep boys active throughout the school day. Frequent movement breaks is one (e.g., stretching or running in place). Multiple physical activity sessions split up throughout the day is another. Incorporating movement throughout the teaching of academic subjects works, too. Examples like doing jumping jacks while reciting math facts, racing to write letters on poster board or a chalkboard, and reading aloud while bouncing on a chair or a couch work well for some children. Holding school outside or at remote locations (like a beach, park, or playground) are good ideas, too. If boys cannot sit too long, finding ways to incorporate movement throughout is the key to a pleasant, productive day.

5. Handling the hungries!

No child should be expected to work when very hungry. Sadly, this is a problem faced by public schools. Homeschoolers have the advantage of taking snack breaks any time throughout the day. Depending on schedules and/or rules in your home, hungry boys should be allowed to snack during lessons or as frequently in between as necessary. Working snack breaks into block schedule systems works well for this. Antsy or unpleasant children are sometimes just hungry children. Making healthy snacks available throughout the day, even before boys even realize they’re hungry, can make a big difference in behavior and performance. Any parent of boys understands the need to keep food on hand, particularly during growth spurts. Inadequate meal and snack schedules work against a boy’s natural urge for nutrients and calories, so this must be addressed during homeschooling.

Follow the boyschooling tag for more articles like this one.

Meanwhile, you might like:

Free or low cost P.E. lessons

Learn like a tourist!

Nature Studies

Dec 10 2012

Go-alongs

Go-along. What a great expression! But, when I first started homeschooling, I had no idea what it meant. (Privately, I imagined things like baby blankets, footsie-pajamas, and outdoor survival tools.) I really had no clue. Go along with what?

Sheepishly, I typed a question onto a homeschooling Q&A board. Was I ever glad I did! What I learned was an idea that I ended up applying for the next 20 years. Perhaps you can use this, too.

A go-along is anything that “goes along” with something else. In the homeschool community, it refers to a book, material, toy, game, web site, craft, science experiment, field trip or ANY resource or activity designed to compliment, supplement, or basically “Go Along” with something else you’re teaching or studying.

For instance, if your children are learning about the season of WINTER, go-alongs might include things having to do with winter — or seasons, or snow, or cold places, or snowflakes, or anything at all!

Book go-alongs for winter might include:

The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater

Katy and the Big Snow by Virginia Lee Burton

The Bravest Dog Ever: The Story of Balto by Natalie Standiford and Donald Cook

Winter board games might include:

Don’t Break the Ice

Snow Tails

Harvest Time

Related winter activities could be:

Cutting snowflakes
Making artificial snow
Freezing water into shapes
Melting ice with salt
Making ice cream
Studying Antarctica or discovering cold places on a globe
Drawing polar bears
Looking at water droplets under a microscope
Baking snow-covered cupcakes
Making snow globes
Learning about the Winter Olympics
Watching “March of the Penguins” on DVD

…and so on.

The nice thing about go-alongs is that they allow children to extend learning way beyond the primary lesson you have planned. Keep adding go-alongs — or allow children to choose them – until (a) they’ve had their fill; or, (b) you have exhausted the time you planned for the unit.

Remember go-alongs as you teach, and as your students learn. Keep eyes and ears constantly open for opportunities to form learning relationships, bridge learning gaps, and make additional connections for your children. Expose them to many different resources, too, allowing them to make connections on their own, too.

Children gather facts and information, investigate topics of interest, and apply what they have learned in many different ways. Go-alongs help make it possible — and super easy!

Sep 22 2012

Outside the four walls

Often the simplest things — in the weirdest places – yield the most in homeschool. Remember the last time your child put water in sink? What about that time with the sticks and the empty tissue boxes? And could you have ever predicted what would happen to those cardboard tubes you were throwing in the trash?

In my home, I often find things that don’t belong, in places they shouldn’t be — turkey basters, wood scraps, balloons, pillows, balls, broken bars of soap, ice cubes, rubber bands — you name it. I don’t think I can remember a day when either a floor or table wasn’t almost entirely covered with confetti dots or scrap paper.

When I first started homeschooling, this bothered me. A lot. As a very organized mom and somewhat compulsive housekeeper, I tried to contain the learning in my home to make sure it only happened in designated places. I thought educational things should be kept in classrooms — not scattered around the home. I didn’t want timelines taped to my walls and tadpoles on my kitchen table! I was a product of traditional schooling and trained as a teacher myself. My beliefs came from learning within the four walls.

Luckily, it only took a matter of schooling my own kids for a few weeks to realize learning happened everywhere, and came in the most unexpected ways. Within months of establishing our first homeschool “classroom”, I began to “allow” learning to creep into other areas of our home as well (not that I could help it from happening anway). It’s funny when I think about it now. I’m grateful those thoughts of containment passed quickly.

Over the years, I welcomed (well…usually) opportunities for my children to learn within the four walls (our homeschool classroom) but also all over the place. I watched as my kids used everything and anything for learning — from the most structured, planned educational experiences and products I provided for them, to the most unexpected and impromptu life experiments they created on their own. They built reading nooks (a/k/a blanket forts) everywhere, dropped completed projects and those in progress just about everywhere, and left an endless variety of “stuff” on our window sills and counters. We continued to use homeschool curriculum for the most part, but my children learned from everything else in between.

I can’t even believe I did this, but I eventually dismantled our classroom entirely!

Did their messes still bother me? I’d be lying if I said they didn’t. Did I worry they learned “enough” or “correctly” when it wasn’t controlled (by me)? Definitely. But I began to see the value in complex learning gained in very simple ways. It was as if my kids knew what they wanted to learn and figured out ways to learn it, too.

Does this sound familiar?

I am sharing this experience for those stuck in thinking that learning only happens within the four walls, too. I can only imagine what my children might have missed — what fun and learning our entire family might have missed – had I forced my children to sit in our classroom all day.

[Image: Flickr]

Jul 05 2012

Accidental learning

There’s a dead bug on the sidewalk. The vacuum cleaner suddenly stops working. The sky looks a little weird today. There’s something growing in the fish tank. The TV anchor says something that doesn’t make sense.

And so it begins. How it ends is anybody’s guess.

When was the last time your kids were drawn in by something they saw? Something they heard? Or something that happened? Whatever it was, do you remember what they did? How they sounded? What they looked like? Pretty excited, were they? Remember how breathless they were, bursting with details? Remember how they talked about it later on, too?

Of course you remember. They do too. That’s the neat thing about accidental learning. It isn’t planned, but grabs their attention. The more engaging, the more it lasts. Chances are, moments like that grab hold onto your kids for a long time.

A friend recently told the story of her kids describing roadkill they’d discovered on the street. Her kids talked about it endlessly at the dinner table — in the most gruesome yet fascinating detail. Another mom told how a child discovered a flaw in some tool he’d been using, and spent the following days and weeks trying to improve it.

Kids get excited about different things. Sometimes we don’t know what those things are going to be. It’s fun to watch and interesting to keep track of.

Our reactions are important to how far the children will take the new learning, too. Blurt out one of those, “I’m busy right now…tell me later” and you’ve squashed all the fun. But give them an, “I wonder if…………….” and you’ll help keep those cognitive engines running a whole lot longer.

Ask, “I wonder if…” kinds of questions to keep the learning going

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Kids know when you approve and when you don’t. Avoiding the can’ts, don’ts (and all of that stuff we say about dirt and germs!) and we show approval of their investigations and support their exploration and activities.

Accidental learning is often the best kind. It’s unexpected and unpredictable. Kids get to decide where to go with it, and it takes them in many different directions. They like it, because they picked it. And when it has run its course, it ends, just as suddenly as it all began — an incredible cycle, really.

Seize every opportunity to support your learners if they accidentally stumble across something that excites them. As long as you remember they’re doing the learning, you can add your enthusiasm and connect them to extra resources, and help turn those accidents into something extraordinary indeed.

To your success,

Park days offer fun and support

When it comes to finding support and information, today’s homeschoolers have many options. Email lists, statewide membership groups and national information networks are just a few of the ways that modern homeschoolers manage to stay informed.

But there is another way, a sometimes under-appreciated form of homeschool support, available right in our own backyards. It’s called the “Park Day” and it takes place in just about every city and town across the nation.

Homeschooler park days are just about the simplest activity you’ll ever find — someone announces a date/time, and everyone else shows up at the same park or playground. You can’t get any easier than that! The low-key atmosphere and neutral location make an excellent backdrop for children to get exercise, make friends, and play sports or games requiring more kids than are usually available back at home.

Learning happens in the park, too — just watch a group of kids playing chess or hunting for insects! And as a side bonus, park days offer homeschooled kids the chance to see lots of other kids just like them, the feeling of being part of a larger group, and the ability to see themselves as nothing short of absolutely normal (just in case they didn’t).

And if that isn’t enough, park days have added-value, too. Because while children are hanging out and getting fresh air, homeschool moms and dads can get together, too. The exchange of ideas and information that takes place at park days can be invaluable, and the connections formed create a kind of network — sometimes even a life-line – for parents who need it, too. Many a new homeschool parent has learned state laws, where to buy materials, and where all of the best places to visit are located, just by attending a park day. And veteran homeschoolers benefit by having the opportunity to share what they have learned, reconnecting with old friends and making new ones, too.

Few things in life are such a win-win as the homeschooler park day. See if you can find one in your community!

(No park days where you live? Set some up by posting announcements at your local park, library and online community calendar. Spread the word among friends and neighbors, too. It may take a month or two, but it’ll happen!)

Image: Free Digital