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Outdoor Activity Ideas

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Outdoor classrooms are wonderful for adding to the science curriculum. However, they are not available at many schools. Just because your school does not have an outdoor classroom, it does not mean that you cannot have outdoor science instruction. There are many activities that you can do with your students without having an outdoor classroom. I have listed some ideas below. Be creative and adapt them to meet your needs. · Go on an insect hunt. Give students bug catchers and magnifying glasses and head outdoors. Students will love turning over rocks and digging around for crawly creatures. After several … Continue reading →

Tips for Managing Outdoor Instruction

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Many teachers are reluctant and even fearful of outdoor learning centers or outdoor class instruction. While the outdoors can open more opportunities for misbehaving and minor scraps and bruises, teaching outdoors can be a wonderful experience with the right rules, guidelines, and preparation. Every school that encourages outdoor exploration and has an outdoor classroom area should have a set of rules that the staff has agreed upon. Having a set of rules that is consistently used throughout the faculty and staff can make the outdoors safer and easier to manage by the teachers and students alike. Materials should be checked … Continue reading →

Outdoor Classrooms- The Teacher’s Role

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In a previous article, I discussed my school’s outdoor classroom. An outdoor classroom can be a great addition to any school campus. However, just having the building and area does not enhance student learning. Teachers must take an active role in making an outdoor classroom meaningful for students. The ideal situation is to have a member of the faculty assigned to the outdoor classroom. However, most districts do not have the extra teachers or staff members to cover such a position. Therefore, it may work best for qualified teachers to take turns taking students to experience the outdoor classroom. The … Continue reading →

What is an Outdoor Classroom?

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My school’s recent project is an outdoor classroom. The building has been built and additions to the area are always in the works. We are currently working on grade level gardens. Our outdoor classroom is a covered pavilion area and storage section with a large paved walking track around it. The track goes into a wooden area and back out again. The track has signs to point out facts about the trees and plants and other natural occurrences. The gardens will be along the sides of the walking track. Each garden has a special theme. The kindergarten theme is fairy … Continue reading →

Why Some Parents are Unschooling Their Kids

Unschooling is a form of homeschooling that involves less structure and more child-centered learning. Parents who are unhappy with the way that learning is presented at schools have been turning to the unschooling movement as their solution for what their child’s education should be like. Unschooling has some similarities with homeschooling. In both cases, a child stays home and receives his or her education there (instead of in a classroom at a school). Each educational style allows parents to be very involved in what their child is taught. Parents can set the speed that information is presented in order to … Continue reading →

Shortening Summer Vacation

Know how to shut down an unruly kid in record time? Tell him that his school is shortening summer vacation. I’ve never seen a mouthy child go silent as quickly as I did last week while watching the evening news at our neighbor’s house.  Education leaders recently began serious talks about lengthening the academic year here. Of course, all my neighbor’s rowdy kid heard was:  “Next year, public school kids across the state could be dealing with a much shorter summer vacation.” The news reporter’s last three words nearly triggered an aneurysm in my neighbor’s kid. My child attends parochial … Continue reading →

Sales at Barnes & Noble, Bath and Body Works, Sears, and More!

Going shopping this weekend? Here is a quick roundup of sales and deals that are going on this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Read over this blog before you head out the door, and you could end up saving some money! Barnes & Noble is doing a special deal that lasts for four days, only. Get a free $20.00 Barnes & Noble Gift Card when you buy Nook HD or HD+ with your MasterCard card. Here’s how this deal works: Go to an actual Barnes & Noble store to make your purchase of the Nook HD or Nook HD+. At the … Continue reading →

GreenHouse Foundation

The latest season of “The Voice” just wrapped and Cassadee Pope from Team Blake was named the winner.  Cee Lo Green’s team didn’t produce the winner, but Green, who was a former member of Gnarls Barkley, is still a winner.  He apparently takes is last name very seriously because he and sister Shedonna Alexander have founded the GreenHouse Foundation. The GreenHouse Foundation was founded to promote “green” education for disadvantaged children in school districts.  The groundbreaking ceremony was held at Green’s alma mater – Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy.  The students there received a donated greenhouse in which they can grow … Continue reading →

Back-to-School Motivators

Like mother like daughter. When it comes to back-to-school, my daughter and I are on the same page. I’m not singing “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” and my kid is not tailgating at the bus stop. Instead, we’ve been desperately clinging to the last days of summer vacation, squeezing in as many outdoor activities as possible before she is forced to remain indoors for nearly seven hours per day. It’s not that my child hates school; it’s just that she enjoys summer more. Ditto for the Mama; only I don’t make a habit of verbalizing my personal … Continue reading →

Education All Around

Did you get to view the Northern Lights this weekend? Millions of families from coast-to-coast aimed their eyes at the sky to catch sight of the rare and electrifying light display known as the aurora borealis. Thanks to a powerful solar flare, kids and their parents were treated to a night sky painted with streaks of blue, yellow, purple and green. For many moms and dads, Mother Nature gifted them with a chance to teach their kids about science outside the confines of school. The bright dancing lights made for a perfect teachable moment in the great outdoors. It was … Continue reading →