Outdoor homeschooling

[Iveyrock]

The weather has finally shifted here, and I anticipate us spending as much time outside as possible. I am brainstorming ways to prepare for that, both inside and out. I am thinking about things like a nature center in the laundry room (which has an outside door and a bathroom) with field guides and critter habitat type stuff.

I am also thinking about bins to take books and bare bones art supplies out, etc.

I am thinking about stuff to take in the car, so when we are at the park, or my family's woods, we have the basic stuff we would want.

We are pretty unschooley, and we do project work for the majority of our school. Chava's project *is* nature, so that should be easy But I probably need to figure out a way to help transition the other stuff to outside work. (the other kids are studying Titanic, and Ian just decided to switch to Great Mysteries, like Atlantis and the Loch Ness Monster.) So I am looking for ways to support outside time, as well as pull in other books/ideas, but not how to work in sit down school time.

Anything else? What do you guys do? I am in brainstorming mode, so the more thoughts (and pictures!) the better.

[backtobasicsmum]

[Peaceful Meadows]

I wish I had ideas but I don't. I'm watching and gleaning.

[Kiara.I]

Watercolour pencil crayons!!! That way art and nature journals can be done outside, and you can always do the adding-water part of it when you get inside again.

Having a good pencil case for each kid with their basic supplies would be good. Ziploc bags for transporting specimens home? Rulers, magnifying glasses...

Rope? The better to build forts/bridges with?

[cro]

When we're outside, I usually just let them explore as they wish without any extra stuff. Sometimes we're lucky enough to have a dead animal of some kind in our yard so we get to investigate it, watch it decay, and talk about everything that spins off that.

My kids don't do well w/ "sit-down" work outside, but I know some kids are content to read books wherever they're comfy.

Sidewalk chalk - that's one thing that did work for us. Spelling words, math problems, etc. were more fun when done in chalk. Until we run out of room.

[nutmeg]

Do you have a space for comfy reading? Chairs, pillows, blankets in the grass etc
Some baskets or bins to hold books and supplies near the door would be great.
Maybe a picnic table set out there for art space if they need room to spread out.

[deena]

Some of my best memories were of homeschooling outside, enjoying the beautiful New England autumn. My kids were young though so it looked more like play. like pushing them on the swings I had this monologue that I went through with each push that they loved. I said, "we live at 121 Sesame Street in the town of Arlington in the county of Manchester in the state of Colorado in the country of USA on the continent of North America on the planet of earth in the galaxy of the Milky Way." (Fictional examples of course)


Also, one time I excitedly pointed out a falcon to the kids. A man driving by then told me it was a hawk.

[Codi]

Bbl

[amanda1]

Sometimes we just take our books and papers outside to the picnic table and do the same things we do indoors. But, its amazing how much your kids can find and observe on just a simple walk in the woods.

[BarefootBetsy]

I do readalouds at the park so the girls can move about while listening. We do narration after every chapter so I know they're still listening and often they remember more when we've been reading outside than when we're inside

[Katydid]

My suggestion is to invite other homeschooling friends over to enjoy your awesome outdoor space with you. You know, in the name of socialization and all that.

[HomeyT]

super awesome thread!!! we have a playhouse (well it's more like a mini house for the kids), it's 10x10 with a loft! lol! dh went a little overboard. but it's a great space for reading…and playing... i'm going to fully equip it with it's own art supplies, nature books etc, maybe we can grow some flowers in the windows. shelves for all their nature treasures.

we found these seed organizers which were little tins with clear lids in a case, the kids love to collect specimens and put them in there. especially bugs. ew.

a garden is a great space to explore!

we have a regular 'walk' we take on our property, through trees, water, and it's great to see it change throughout the seasons. we often take note of it in our minds.

[mommylove]

A journal to draw pictures of and write about their discoveries.

[Iveyrock]

Originally Posted by Katydid

My suggestion is to invite other homeschooling friends over to enjoy your awesome outdoor space with you. You know, in the name of socialization and all that.

I'm pretty sure that's a crucial piece of the whole thing Did you see that we just got bee hives? And we have a hen sitting on eggs, and new chicks coming this week. Come see!

Originally Posted by mommylove

A journal to draw pictures of and write about their discoveries.

A couple of years ago we did a family nature journal, and that worked really well. I am trying to think of a good way to implement that again. In TX it was in our 'out and about' park stuff.

[HuggaBuggaMommy]

One year we did this as a project: http://www.nwf.org/How-to-Help/Garden-for-Wildlife.aspx Oh my goodness, it was so much fun. We planted native plants, flowers to attract birds/bees/butterflies, made bird, toad, and bat houses. Made different types of bird and small critter feeders. Built a pond and a birdbath. We had such an amazing time taking pictures, documenting, learning about the animals we were helping, about habitats and the things we were doing. It was one of our best homeschooling memories.

Ds1 used to love to do spelling on the swings. He'd swing, I'd call out words, and he'd spell them while he pumped.

We played boardgames outside on the deck (Sum Swamp was his favorite).

He'd read in the playhouse part of the swing set. Sometimes I would pack him a lunch and he'd go up there with his sketchbook, or bird book and binoculars.