All Blog Posts Tagged 'learning' (19)

SPRING April/May/June

How to Actively Engage Children with Nature through Art.

The first six years of a child’s life are really important in their development. Being in nature ia a really dynamic place in which to learn.

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Mission:Explore is a project that we in The Geography Collective started in 2008. Since then we've published three children's activity books and are currently working on our fourth. Each of these books are full of ideas to encourage more outdoor play and learning. A big part of what we do uses a much…

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Last month, whilst back home in Scotland, I heard about a primary teacher from Peebles who was running forest school classes. I was intrigued how she was able to incorporate such classes into the school curriculum and wanted to learn more. Here is my short interview I had with the wonderful and inspiring Annie Edgar. (Later in the week, I was fortunate to visit the forest where Annie holds the classes. I took my niece and nephews with me. We had the most magical time and…

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From the Project Learning Tree Site

Project Learning Tree

by Laura Duffey, PLT State Coordinator for Minnesota, originally for PLT's Branch Newsletter in 2010

Early Childhood (from Marlee Meshbesher, preschool teacher at St. David’s Center near…

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Over the past few years I've worked hard to overcome my fear of bugs.  Not that I was deathly afraid or anything, but I'll admit that they really creeped me out.  But, as I mentioned in an earlier blog post, my son Jack is extremely interested in bugs and seems to have a real knack for finding the coolest most colorful ones around.  …

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"Creativity," says Ken Robinson, "is as important in education as literacy, and we should treat it with the same status."







Creativity involves putting your imagination to work.









Being Creative In Nature - Trees and Leaves



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LINDSAY LOVES TO CHASE SQUIRRELS.

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of sharing time outdoors with a class from Peachland Elementary. I was visiting the school to help promote the "Let's Go Outside Revolution". Schools and teachers can play a big part in helping children connect with nature. Here are just a few of the topics we will cover for the video series.

• Bringing nature to the classroom.
• Green your schoolyard - start a vegetable…

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A couple of months ago, Jenny over at Let the Children Play wrote a super post about spies. As a child, even in my teens, I loved codes, mysteries and the whole concept of spying.



Now completely unconnected to this, I gave my parents an environmental art calendar last Christmas. One of the photos was of a leaf, with a… Continue

The nation’s favourite choir boy, Gareth Malone, returned to our screens to complete a new mission - decreasing the literacy gap between the sexes. To do so he has used the outdoors and a range of

unconventional teaching methods. Malone believes that school is not dynamic enough for boys and that by making lessons fun,…

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Despite the Government’s best efforts to sugar coat the harsh reality of the country’s financial situation, the idea that the ‘Big Society’ will offer a meaningful solution is proving a bitter pill to swallow for many people. Only time will tell whether phrases such as “the Big Society - a smoke screen masking impending deep cuts” materialise into anything other than…

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Building the Biggest Butterfly Girl Fairy House for Charity (part 2)

Getting kids outside and connecting with nature couldn’t be more FUN!

Upon arrival the girls were spotting all the Butterfly Girls hanging in the trees.

Once everyone had arrived I handed out some chalk and asked the children to draw their favorite animal, bird or…

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Another news bullet in about Government funding cuts pops up on my screen. This time it’s the Change4Life and Play England budgets that face the axe – a campaign and organisation that respectively centre on encouraging healthy lifestyles and children’s play. While I’m under no illusion about the dire state of the public finances and the need to cut necessary waste, the latest casualties concern me about what lies ahead for the future funding of the Learning Outside the Classroom… Continue

The UK Government have launched their plan for ‘Olympics style’ school games contests to introduce more children to the health and personal development benefits of competitive sport, backed by £10 million of National Lottery funding. I’m delighted; a renewed focus on young…

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How depressing it is to see another survey highlighting our growing isolation from the natural world (How we lost our way to the great outdoors, Harry Wallop, 9th June 2010, the DailyTelegraph). The findings of a survey conducted by outdoor equipment retailer Go Outdoors echo our research carried out among school… Continue

The new UK Government's proposed education legislation is a great opportunity to highlight the importance of outdoor learning in the curriculum.



In her speech, on the 26th May 2010, the Queen announced 22 pieces of legislation and one draft that will form the new Governments legislative agenda in this Parliamentary session. With all the splendour of the State Opening of Parliament out the way, its time for the Government to get down to business and to education looks set to be top of… Continue

The last three months have been an exciting time for The Countryside Alliance Foundation’s outdoor education campaign, with us making significant steps forward in our aim to get outdoor education onto the National Curriculum.…

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A focus on trolls can be a lot of fun. Trolls are part of Scandinavian folklore and any child who has read the films or read the Harry Potter books knows a little about trolls. This posting is the latest on I'm a teacher, get me OUTSIDE here!…

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Last Friday my son’s school finally opened its doors to welcome the pupils back for a seasonal start amidst the snow. It was - 13° Centigrade. Being in S2, appearances are important. One unspoken teen social rule is to wear the minimal amount of clothing that your parents will let you get away with. I reckon it’s a self-inflicted rite of passage. So MJ eschewed the fleece pullover, thermal underwear, spare socks and a pair of gloves that I strongly advised him to wear. He wore a winter coat and… Continue