Balancing outside time with school

[mommyofgirls]

In trying to stay in accordance with CM philosophy (as well as common sense that small children need to have plenty of time outdoors), how do you balance outdoor time with school? i have found i am going to have to re-do my schedule to allow for more outside play and was curious how you all handle this. obviously, there is schooling that has to happen (unless you are an un-schooler...which i am not ), but i tend to think outside play is equally as important. this is our first year of kindergarten, where school has to happen every day, so i find myself having an internal struggle with how to balance it all...

[zookeeperof3monkeys]

We do school in the mornings, if we don't then we tend to get busy doing other things and never get back to our school work. My kids have a loose schedule, breakfast, pick up house, school until about 11:30. Then, it's quick pick up, lunch and outside play time. I encourage them to look at the plants, bugs etc while outside. We look up anything we find ( if we don't know what it is)in our nature books.We try to go to our local botanical gardens regularly, and the natural science center.In the winter, we go to the ymca and swim for our playtime After playtime, we finish up any remaining school work. Then we do seasonal crafts or watch an educational video. We have co-op one afternoon a week and a homeschool play date another afternoon each week.

[Carrie]

As my boys have gotten older and our school day has gotten longer, we do make sure to always take a morning recess (to make sure we get outside every day during the "nicer" part of the day). All of my boys do go outside together for at least 45 min. and the rule is that we go out no matter what, unless it is pouring rain or is below zero.

Having this rule takes away any discussion of whether we are going out today or not, and it also is forces the boys to do a variety of activities outside as our seasons change! If the weather is beautiful, the boys head out again when school is done. So, we spend a lot of time outdoors!

Blessings,
Carrie

[momto3girls]

[quote="Carrie"]As my boys have gotten older and our school day has gotten longer, we do make sure to always take a morning recess (to make sure we get outside every day during the "nicer" part of the day). All of my boys do go outside together for at least 45 min. and the rule is that we go out no matter what, unless it is pouring rain or is below zero.

This is encouraging to hear. We live with the same type of weather that you do. Minnesota. Sometimes it is hard to get them out the door when the weather turns cold. But, if it is always expected it would be a lot easier.

And, it is pouring rain right now so they had to cut their recess short today. Oh well...

[Heather]

I also think being outside is SO important. One of the wonderful benefits of homeschooling is more time for our children to be outside, explore and just "be kids".

I actually have one of mine get a bit of outside time in the morning before we start (if it's nice). My middle son (age 7) has an abundance of energy . We live in a cul-de-sac. I often will tell him that I want him to walk 5, jog 5 and skip 5 laps around the neighborhood before we start school. It sounds silly, but it really helps him focus if he's had some time to MOVE before he has to sit down for a while.

The we take a break around 10:30 for a outside recess.

In the afternoon if it's nice (above freezing), they know they are going outside! I'd say once a week we go on a long hike as a family. We have wonderful state and local parks that we try to take advantage of. To me, hiking is endurance activity that counts as P.E. hours.

The great thing about HOD, is that it incorporates movement. We're not sitting all day by any means. We move from the table, to the couch, to the floor, etc. My middle son has mentioned several times how he loves moving around with HOD!

Heather

[Happy2bMommyof3]

We always find it helpful to go for at least a brisk 20 minute walk in the morning before school. We are in GA and it is very hot right now, so after our walk everyone comes in to cool down and the younger ones are just tired enough to sit still for a story and pay attention (their wiggle is temporarily tired out) . After school, we go out for playtime as long as the kids can stand the heat. During other times of the year we enjoy longer walks before school discovering nature and longer playtime outdoors after school.

[Carrie]

These are all terrific suggestions! I just wanted to pop back in and mention that when our backyard is soggy due to melting snow or too much rain, we have our kiddos head out to our driveway with their Razor two-wheeled scooters (not electric) but just good ole' foot powered. This is great exercise for them too!

Blessings,
Carrie

[creekmama]

Our outside time changes depending on the weather. It is really hot here in NC right now, so we go out in the morning before school for thirty to forty-five minutes of bike riding, swinging, walking, digging, whatever. Then we go out again after an early dinner. Looking forward to cooler weather and a single, longer play time around 3:00. DD5 will also be starting a noncompetitive preschool sports program in September.

[holyhart]

In the morning during our school year, my kids must make their beds, get dressed and eat breakfast. After they are done eating, they must go outside for about half-hour to "get the wiggles out". We also often eat lunch outside on the deck and occassionally we will do school outside on the deck as well. Not sure if that will work out quite as well for us this year, as we got 6 chickens this spring and they can be quite the distraction! (they are funny little birds!) After the afternoon rest/nap time they go back outside to play for awhile before dinner.

During winter, they don't go out for as long of periods of time (unless their neighborhood friends are out....then they forget about the cold!....although, they don't come out all that much due to being in PS and homework and such). When it's been raining for days on end, as long as it's not a cold rain, we put ponchos on the kids and they still go out to play.