Why take learning outside??

Today was one of my favourite days this year!  We were on an outdoor field trip and it POURED! I know, sounds like torture with 29 kiddos...soaking wet shoes and socks, drenched clothing...not to mention the awesome stage of semi-dry, sticky hot, muggy-ness (not a real word) when we got back to school.  None the less, I loved it!  And so did the kids.  Almost all of them said that getting wet in the rain was their favourite part of trip. LOL.  Love that!  I always say that it's us adults that have the hardest time with change and unexpected twists, kids just roll with the punches (so to speak).  So we had 29 soaking wet, happy kids when we got back to school :)

This is my favourite photo from the day.  Perhaps even my favourite photo from the whole year.  The student is so focused and engaged.  I am sure we could have spent a loooong time chatting about what he was looking at, what he was wondering, and what his thoughts were.  He was fascinated with using the binoculars, and with theBald Eagle babies he could see up in the nest (who can blame him!)

I have been hearing a lot about Nature Deficit Disorder and have wanted to do more reading about it.  I have had the Book "Last Child In The Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature Deficit Disorder" by Richard Louv on my reading list for a year now, but I haven't ordered it.  I have so many books on my list, my night stand is literally overflowing.  I am not sure where I stand on this issue, or whether I agree with everything Richard Louv has to say, but I am very intrigued by this idea and do think it is worth investigating and considering as an Early Childhood Educator.  I know that I believe children spend far too much time indoors, plugged in to electronic devices and playing with toys that prescribe their play for them, virtually eliminating the need for creative thinking (but that's a rant for another post).

If you are interested in reading more about Nature Deficit Disorder check it out here... 
(click here for link to Indigo.ca)

Back to our trip....
There is so much potential for learning outdoors, and the behaviours seem so manageable because the kids are engaged.  They are ready to learn and to explore, the trick is how to infuse the curriculum into these teachable moments.  This is an area that intimidates me...I think I need to jump in with both feet and give it a go.  I think if I stop to reflect and document our learning after each time outside I would quickly realize how much curriculum we are covering.  That was so often the case this year as we stepped into an inquiry based, emergent curriculum this year.  As I was walking around with my group today I kept thinking how much documenting and note taking I wanted to do so that I would remember all of the things the kids said, or asked, or discovered.  I knew I would never remember it all.

We are so fortunate in our area to have an outdoor facility that provides opportunity for outdoor education.  It isn't a huge facility, rather it is a chunk of land donated by a family and now being transformed into an amazing education center.  It has one full time qualified teacher, and many amazing volunteers (a lot retired teachers, or current teachers not employed full time).  They are just in the beginning stages of creating programming for classes, and we have been fortunate enough to be an unofficial pilot class for them as we were the first ones to ask to come back several times in a year (particularly once a season) to see growth, change and the many different learning opportunities this space provides.  I mentioned to them today about my dream of having "Forest Fridays" where my class would go every Friday for an hour or two and do all sorts of activities, some run by them, some run by our ECE teacher and myself.  Could you imagine?  Heaven :)

Here are some of the learning moments form today:

ZY was so proud that he used the legend to decipher what larvae he had captured from the river, and then used the insect book to discover what the bug would look like fully grown.  So much literacy and science going on here:)

Yep...that's me with the waders on.  I think it's a good look eh?  Not a bad day's work, trekking through the river digging up rocks and catching all sorts of critters.

Our learning tools today :)

Sifters, magnifying glasses, buckets, and identification books :)  All you need to explore the river.

One of our awesome Moms helping dig up the river rocks for critters.  I was joking with the Moms that it was hard to tell who was having more the fun, the parents or the kids LOL

Our guest teacher was showing the students a butterfly that had died, and then led a discussion about the similarities and differences between many butterflies.  

Another awesome learning moment.  On our Bird walk we went to see the Bald Eagle's nest that makes her home in the same spot each year.  Many of our SK students remembered last year when we visited.  Some students got to see the Momma Eagle fly overhead last year.  This year, both babies were popping their heads right out of the nest to say hello.  Students used their binoculars to get a good close look at them.  It was awesome!  If you look at the top of the photos, right in the center and down just a smidge you will see the nest in the tree.

Our guest teacher had a cool app on her phone that made the calling sound of each of the birds we were looking at.  I would definitely recommend getting this app!  I will try to get the name of it, and put it on this post in the next few days.

We found a lot of trees covered in Woodpecker holes.  Here a student is trying to see if she can hear the Woodpecker inside the tree.

I was doing some searching online for ideas of how to "do" learning outside (if that makes any sense).  I am a practical person by nature and wanted a "how to" manual to get me started.  I don't need a list of activities or lessons to copy, but I do want something to spark my ideas and some guidelines to help me know where to begin.  I came across this blog click here that seems to be loaded with great ideas.  I was particularly drawn to the review of the book titled "Dirt Teaching:A beginner's Guide To Learning Outdoors" By Juliet Robertson.  Looks awesome.  If anyone has read it I would love to hear your thoughts.  Should I add it to that enormous pile on my nightstand I was telling you about?

LOVE THIS :)