balancing outside time with school time…

Viewing 4 posts - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • January 30, 2011 at 5:43 pm
    Tia
    Participant

    i’m reading Home Education and i have come to the section where she elaborates on the idea of young children getting their base for future scientific studies by being outside and observing.  my oldest is 7, so i feel like right now i can do a pretty good job of getting everyone outdoors frequently (when weather permits). 

    but i see it becoming harder in later years when my oldest is 10 and my youngest in 6…the younger needs to be spending a lot of time outside observing, but my oldest is supposed to be starting more concrete study.  i have a tendency to err on the side of “let’s all get outside in the fresh air!” which i imagine might cause a problem when they get older.  i am trying to train myself in the art of “doing what i ought” which means sometime we have work to do inside. 

    all this being said, how do you all who have older kids AND younger ones balance the indoor school time with the outside observation (play) time?

    January 30, 2011 at 9:13 pm
    houseofchaos
    Participant

    I wake up the olders before the youngers.   They have usually accomplished a lot of independent work while it is still quiet, before the little ones rise.  That way, we can all go out together for a time later in the day. 

    We change things around seasonally also – in winter our outside time is during the warmest part of the day, while in summer it is in the coolest part.  So in winter I would make sure the kids are working independently first thing in the morning, whereas in summer first thing in the morning is often our outside time. Then when the younger ones are down for a nap, that is often a good time for independent work.  It just works the best for us this way.

    Gaeleen

    January 30, 2011 at 9:21 pm
    6boys1girl
    Participant

    Even at 10, your oldest won’t be spending so much time on inside school work. Most of the “seat” work and reading should be done in less that 3-4 hours. That would leave plenty of time for going outside with everyone.

    I frequently send my younger crew outside in our backyard while my older ones finish their inside work. Then we do our nature walks and such in the afternoons or even in the evenings with Dad.

    My older two do get up earlier that the youngers to get some done then also. Even at 14 (9th grade) adn 13 (8th grade), they are frequently done by lunch at noon. If they aren’t, they have only 30 minutes to an hour left.

    Each year is different. You’ll figure it out as you need too : ).

    -Rebecca

    January 31, 2011 at 2:53 pm
    Tia
    Participant

    thank you! those are great ideas…i feel encouraged. 🙂 

Viewing 4 posts - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
  • The topic ‘balancing outside time with school time…’ is closed to new replies.