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Time outdoors
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Hi, I’m new to the forum, so I’m having trouble with the search function. I’m sure this topic has been discussed, so I’m sorry for bringing it up again.
How much time do you and your children spend outdoors? I’m working through the Early Years DVDs and the Living and Learning DVDs. CM suggested 6 hours, which seems impossible. How do modern moms with lots of kiddos make sure that everyone is outside enough? Do you go with your children? How does this change with the seasons?
We live in the Pacific Northwest and in the summer (June to September) my five (14 down to 2) spend all day outside, even lunch is served outside (about 8:30am – 7pm). They are mostly running around the yard and forested area next door. We also spend countless hours at the beach (we live on a small island). The winter is a different story. It is wet and cold so we spend about 1-2 hours outside daily (more if the rain stops) In the winter I spend more time taking them out for hikes etc. but in the summer and good weather they go exploring on their own (I spend time reading outside when my chores are done — I actually use summer to clean the house from top to bottom and paint the walls etc.) Last night Dad spent the night under the stars with the two youngest, they spotted satellites, bats, stars, moon and very noisey deer!
I think we need to take into account where Charlotte lived and when. 6 hours daily would not be practical in many families nowadays depending on where they are. In our case, we live in Northern Alberta and it is VERY cold for MANY months out of the year. It could be downright dangerous to spend this much time outside for many days in the winter! Also, where you live, if you live in an area where there is not a lot of outside free space, it will make it much more difficult to have outdoor free time for long periods of time. It would also require parents to be much more purposeful with nature study and outside times. Each family just does the best they can in the situation that they are in. The important thing is to realize the IMPORTANCE of outside, nature time for kids and to make a point of getting them outside as much as possible. Just don’t feel bad if it isn’t 6 hours a day, everyday! ; )
Just my thoughts on the issue.
-Miranda
Here is a relevant post. HTH!
http://simplycharlottemason.com/scmforum/topic/outdoor-time-4-6-hours-a-day-is-this-possible
My kids are outside quite a bit, even in snow/rain but I do not think that it would be six hours, maybe four. We got rid of our tv a number of years ago and that seems to help
Okay, I read all the responses in the other thread, and it was very helpful. Thank you for posting that! It seems that being outdoors with the children is what is needed, especially on the days that they balk at being outside. We have 8 kiddos, from 15 to 1, and we live in hot, southern GA. My mental hangup right now, is trying to plan out summers when it is so, so hot. My plan for the past several years was to school during the summer and take advantage of the fall and spring for outside time. What continues to happen, is that our family members who are in traditional school have a lot of expectations of us during the summer, and we cannot continue normal school at all. This summer, after experiencing it intensly last summer, I gave up trying to get any school done.
I’ve scheduled our terms for the coming school year, and we will do school from Sept to May, with only short, traditional breaks. That will give us an entire summer “term” off next year, when I can focus on the extra books or subjects that we want to add to our Heart of Dakota curriculum.
Another question – I’m trying to schedule our days and I’m wondering which is more important: 1) being outside MORE or 2) getting all lessons done in the morning
Right now, I’m not seeing a way we can get all of our lessons done in the morning, because of the toddlers. I’ve got a recess scheduled in the middle of school, but that means that we still have some work to do after lunch. This is for my children 9 and under. My oldest is 15, and pretty independent. He works all day, of course.
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