We learn best when we're awake, ready, welcomed, and encouraged. When we can breathe, relax, organize our thoughts, and connect to something real. We learn best when we can ask questions, use real life examples. We learn best when we can actually experience life and living - when we move freely and express our uniqueness!
These reasons are why we believe in outdoor education. It gives school learning, which is so often connected with sitting at a desk inside a classroom, a much-needed and long overdue breath of fresh air. If we want our children to be successful in an ever-changing, fast-paced, environmentally sensitive and diverse world, we really should be rethinking what schooling looks like. Sitting at a desk all day crunching meaningless algorithms and writing about the weather while you're sitting inside is hardly connecting our students to the world they will grow up in, and someday be the leaders in! Here's just a sampling of benefits of taking the classroom outside: 8 Benefits of Learning Outside 1. Creativity Bright colours, crisp lines, and everything moving, changing, adapting, and living to liven up the senses we use to learn! The natural world we live in can refresh our view, open up our natural senses that enable us to create, listen, and explore. Being outside can inspire new perspectives on familiar topics, giving something we thought we knew or completely understood a fresh new look. It can bring a critical eye (or ear, or nose!) to whatever topic is being explored and inspire innovative, imaginative, and creative juices to flow. It sparks the imagination and keeps it flowing. How can a room with 4 walls, no matter how brightly lit up and decorated, compare? 2. Physical Activity Wide open spaces. Free to move, to wiggle, to fidget, to twiddle or tap. To feel the Earth beneath your feet while feeling the wind on your face is enough to keep you awake, engaged, and energized. No need to use stationary bikes to get your energy out, or handheld devices to capture our attention or entertain our fidgeting hands that are just bursting to dig into something. Just get outside! 3. Calm Mind The quiet call of a bird in a forest. The wind rustling through the leaves. The water stream rushing over the rocks. You can buy these sounds on iTunes to get in touch with your inner self, calm the mind, or focus for study time. However, you could also simply go outside and save a few bucks. The effects of the sounds of nature are obviously soothing and relaxing, and they can allow our minds to calm and refocus. Reading a book, writing a story, drawing a sketch, solving a math problem, mapping out ideas – whatever it is that could be done quietly at a desk can easily be taken outside, and not only calm the mind, but also strengthen the ability to focus. 4. Natural Curiosity Why is the sky blue? What is this plant called? Why does this bug look like that? What’s that sound? What’s over there? The questions are endless. And honestly, they should remain that way. The natural curiosity of a child is proof of their instinct to learn, and they natural motivation to want to learn. Exposing them to the outside world around them, filled with many interesting, provoking things is the perfect platform to spark imagination, questioning, researching, exploring, and answering. Letting a child’s questions guide the force of learning will only inspire them to keep learning, without fear and with a welcoming environment to take it into their own hands. 5. Real Life Relevancy A flower first starts as a seed, then develops roots, a stem, and a bud. A caterpillar builds a cocoon and transforms into a butterfly. The Earth rotates around the sun, while also spinning round and round on it’s own axis giving us day and night, and also the four seasons in a year. What better way to experience and build understanding of these concepts, and many more, than to get outside and explore them, first hand? Certainly not by looking at pictures of them in a book or on the Internet! The more connected a concept is with a tangible and meaningful experience, the more likely we are to care, engage, and take pride in understanding them. 7. Earth Connection We want our children to grow up caring about the environment, because we’ve experienced the effects of the mistakes and massive power the environment has. Pollution, endangered habitats, endangered species, global warming, natural disasters, depleting natural resources – the list goes on. We know generations growing up today need to invest in the environment, however to do, they need to experience it. They need to know it’s power, it’s relevancy to our daily lives, and our dependence on it. They need to be outside to know what’s outside, and how to protect it, build it, and sustain it. 8. And lastly, our apologies, but we’re just going to be blunt and put it out there... Get the heck out of the classroom and EXPERIENCE learning. Experience life! School should be full of experiences that are engaging, exciting, and thought provoking. Experience your senses, the world around you, and the gift of being able to expand your mind while embracing the very world we live in and depend on for life itself!
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Active means literally, just that, active. Moving your body. It doesn’t have to mean professional sports, intense training sessions, or daily workouts. It can mean running around, jumping, climbing, rolling, dancing, playing, stretching, balancing, walking, and the list goes on. It can be enjoyed with others, or blissfully enjoyed alone. We all know staying active is a key component to keeping our bodies healthy. But how about our minds – the way we learn, the way we remember things, the way we handle emotions?
As adults, we tend to put activity into sports or workouts. However, kids seem to turn anything into active play. In the mind of an eight year old, for example, there’s a possibility for anything, literally anything – a toy, a stick, a plastic bottle cap – to become the centre of fun, free active play. Somewhere along the way, us adults forgot that there can be pure joy in activity - the adrenaline rush and thrilling exhaustion that comes from actively playing something that you’re fully engaged in. Not thinking about what to make for supper, or to check your emails, but actually focused on having fun while moving your body. Perhaps it’s the rush of juggling work and life, the responsibility of managing a family and a home, whatever it is, we’ve forgotten what it means to just enjoy being active, let it be a natural part of our lives. To do something good for our bodies, good for our minds, and good for our souls. For children, growing up is tough when you’re expected to learn everything – how to read, write, compute, express, listen, create – while sitting! It’s goes against the very natural urge to turn something into free active play. To get your hands dirty, to test the limits, to satisfy your curiosity, or to practice life skills you see your parents doing every day. Imagine the potential if children were encouraged to get up out of their seats to learn? Imagine our own potential if you could spend time everyday just walking, running, climbing, stretching, etc.? Perhaps, even, in the fresh outdoors? 4 Surprising Perks of Active Free Play Reduced Stress The more engaging the activity, the less you can think about the stresses in your life. Active free play, like running, climbing, etc. takes a mental capacity that helps you to clear your mind and engage in something tangible and achievable. Also, for many of us, having control over how competitive you make your activity can reduce the stress level. Competing against yourself and your own goals can be a greater motivation to keep up with it everyday, and it can reduce the chances of comparing yourself to others, which for many children, is hugely beneficial. Time Together Find yourself spending time together in front a television screen? How engaging is that? Finding time to spend some active free play together builds character traits, positive learning experiences, and connections between family and friends. A simple game of hide and seek, capture the flag, or tag in the park. A walk to the playground, a swim at the pool, or an afternoon at the beach. It provides interactive, face-to-face time where children learn more about the people in their life, who they are, and the world we live in. The more time we spend staring at screens, the less we know how to communicate with each other, empathize with others, know about ourselves and our families, and take delight in a sunny day or a shared laugh. Get together, get moving. It’s about time, wouldn’t you think? Increased Productivity & Creativity A clear mind gives you space to start fresh, look at things from a different perspective, or sharpen your critical eye. It gives you more room to remember things, play out ideas, and build a concrete understanding. Taking time to engage in something fun, exhilarating, and active can be just the mental break you need to sort through ideas in your head, make sense of things, and let solutions take fold for problems at work, school, family, etc.. Honestly, free active play, as any kid will show you after recess, lunch, or gym class, can be just as supportive and conducive for a learning child as could be for a working adult. Imagine your potential! A Happy Healthy Boost Get that adrenaline flowing, endorphins releasing and you’re on your way to a happier, healthier you. Not only will regular activity that is free of stress and full of fun get your heart rate going, but you’ll feel better, too. Your body will be stronger, less stressed, and more able to relax, let go, and simply enjoy experiences life has to offer you. Your food will digest more regularly, your body will fight off infections faster, you’ll sleep more soundly, and you’ll gain a strong appreciation for life, learning, and the world we live in. Sounds wonderful, eh? So, this spring, don’t be too hard on yourself about hitting the gym or signing your child up for every sports team – being active can be so much more than that, and can be friendlier on the wallet, too! Make an effort to find time to make physical activity something you enjoy, but also something that benefits your life. Make it meaningful! I’m off to walk to dogs and the little one! Inquiry-based learning. Sounds thrilling, doesn't it?!? We're actually NOT being sarcastic! We're serious.... It's probably the teacher in us, but seriously, we get giddy with glee when we get to discuss Inquiry-based learning (IBL). It even has it's own initials. It's THAT cool. Seriously, it really is something to get excited about. We're going to try to convince you of it here. Not only is it an educational model that is used in leading schools, worldwide, but it also is proving, rightfully so, to create strong, independent critical thinkers who are capable of learning and applying deep concepts, It's adaptable for varied learning styles, student-centered and focused on the process of investigating for learning. It is a refreshing and rewarding way of teaching and learning, and is a shift we hope to see more schools working toward to best suit their students' needs. What is IBL? IBL (Inquiry-Based Learning) is an approach to teaching and learning that brings student's questions, observations, ideas, and investigations about the world to the forefront. The teacher's role becomes a facilitator for bringing life to their student's curiosities and guiding them from wondering to actively pursuing and applying new understanding. The teacher works with the various learning styles, interests, and abilities in the class, building from students' prior knowledge, observations, and questions. Projects, themed-activities, and skills are planned based on the students interests. Learning can be hands-on, investigatory, researched, play-based, and much more. Critical questioning, higher order thinking, and a focus on the process of learning and representing information are essential. In many ways, through this approach, students gain a deeper understanding of the world around them and how to interact and work within it, also they often learn more than the expected curriculum outcomes and are better prepared for vast and ever changing future. For more information about IBL or see resources we love, see here, here, and here. We could talk about the benefits forever. It is this reason our school teaches in this way. However, here's just a taste of why we feel you should be excited about it, too! 8 Reasons to get Excited about INQUIRY-BASED LEARNING: 1. Retention & Understanding When the new thing we have learned stems from knowledge we already had, observations we made on our own, or questions we asked because we were truly curious, we actually want to the know the answer. It is this motivation that drives IBL and why it is so effective - it follows a natural way of learning. When our ideas have are treated with value, our confidence rises, we invest more of ourselves into the idea at hand, and we build knowledge that connects to us. We make room for it because it has meaning to us, We remember it. We use it and apply it. We appreciate the process it took to learn it. It isn't just a series of things to know for a test, it's useful in real life and serves a purpose. 2. Real Life Problem Solving When was the last time real life handed you a sheet of division questions to solve and turn in? Or a research project on orca whales, just to practise those researching and writing skills? Hmm-mm, exactly the point. Real life isn't black and white like that, it's not as simple as complete, submit, receive results. It's filled with multi-step questions, meaningful problems, and complex situations that require background knowledge, understanding of skills and strategies, perspective and application of concepts. It's not at all like a checkmark (or an x) on a sheet of paper. IBL focuses on problem solving, and both the theoretical and real life skills needed to tackle actual problems and questions. It places importance of investigating ideas, applying concepts, and reflecting it's practicality. It creates learning that is purposeful, meaningful, and applicable to real life. 3. Collaborative Working with others, at some point for everyone of us, has become a fact of life. We may not like it or everyone we have worked with, but where would we be if everyone did everything alone? When we learn with others, we gain from their strength. We experience other perspectives. We hear things we may never have heard, value things we may never have valued. We learn how to respect, listen, empathize, share. We observe, discover, and internalize values and traits about ourselves. We learn how to communicate, compromise, criticize, and comment. IBL inherently creates experience that teach concepts as well as these many interpersonal skills. Through the process of engaging, questioning, researching, investigating, representing, sharing, and reflecting, IBL develops opportunities to learn how to work with others, as well as building strong, independent traits in ourselves. It unlocks a power that is invaluable for each learner growing up today in a world as ever-changing as it is. Skills in collaboration are lifelong and essential. 4. Motivation to learn Interested, Engaged, Challenged. Without interest, we are never really connected to what we are learning. And if we're not connected, we're most definitely not engaged, which means we don't really care to be challenged to think critically. If we truly want children to carry with them the skills, strategies, concepts, and knowledge about the world that they learn in school, we need to work with their unique interests, their own questions, and their already budding observations. When their own ideas are valued in this way, and used to inquire deeper, learning, both their motivation and appreciation for learning increases, without question (Ha, that's a most definite intended pun for anyone who's keeping up with this!) 5. Supports Multiple Learning Styles Using a student-driven model such as IBL means the way in which information is discovered and represented can also work with each learning style of the students. Which, I must say as an educator, is absolutely wonderful! It allows a student to completely embrace what they are learning, in a way that connects with them and their abilities. It is hands on or note taking or acting or speaking. It can be outside or inside. It can listening, viewing, reading, or creating. It can be really anything that represents knowledge in a critical and complex way. It invites creativity, imagination, innovation, and a feeling of limitless possibilities. It allows students to go deeper in their understanding and it allows teachers to create meaningful learning experiences that are fun, engaging, supportive, and cross-curricular, bringing out interpersonal and personal skills in their students that are so rarely emphasized and difficult to teach in traditional teaching models. It truly fosters individuality, independence and a respect for learning, in all of it's shapes and forms. It creates perspective and a welcoming environment for change, diversity, and expression. Students learn to work together, among each other, and on their own, gaining from each experience and applying it to critical questions about their learning. 6. Exceeds Standard Curriculum Outcomes Would you rather skim the surface of a topic and then move onto another, or deeply explore a topic, perhaps uncover sub topics within it and then connections to other topics that naturally lead into another topic? Which would work better for you? Which scenario builds knowledge worth getting involved in? Which seems more interesting? We believe the deeper the understanding of a topic, the more questions come about, the more critical thinking starts to form, and in consequence, the more information is explored. Often times through teaching in an IBL approach, students' curiosity sparks an investigation guided by the teacher that builds such a strong understanding and motivation to learn, that students will piece together so much more than a quick answer to their original inquiry. Students develop a deeper understanding of various topics that all relate and have a meaningful connection, which goes much further than any standard curriculum. 7. Critical & Independent Thinking
Today's world is unpredictable and changing by the minute. Preparing students to be successful in that world is daunting, to say the least. IBL offers learners one of the most invaluable skills that will undoubtedly create lifelong abilities to make smart choices, work within a diverse and ever-changing world, and make a positive impact on our future. IBL focused on critical thinking - asking deep and complex questions, sharing perspectives, challenging facts and opinions, digging deeper into understanding and truly thinking at a higher level about our world and how we live within it. It goes far and beyond worksheets and quizzes. IBL places students at the forefront. The focus is on the process of learning, the why's and how's,. It stems away from having teachers at the front of room giving answers. For in the world we live in, it's not simply the answer that matters, but why and how that answer works. 8. Never Outdates Itself We'll leave you with this last point, if we haven't convinced you yet. As the world changes, so does what needs to be taught. But in an IBL model classroom, the information is always what students are seeking. The focus on the process of learning sets itself up to never outdate itself or go out of style. It will change, flex, adapt, and work with whatever group of students, wherever they are in the world, whatever resources are available to them, and whatever the world they live in looks like. It utilizes the world around us, whatever world that may be, both past and present, to inform us and teach us. The truth of the matter is that IBL learning replicates our most natural way of learning, so innately, it'll stick with us, no matter what weird turns we take along the way. |
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