Works for Me |

Works for Me

April 24, 2007 by Mary Owlhaven

This morning it was a lovely day and the little girls were itching to go ride their bikes in the driveway. But my two third-graders had to get some school done. What to do? I couldn’t let the girls play out in the driveway without me, but the boys would need me to help them with school.

The solution? We dragged two kid-sized tables outside, set them in the front yard under the willow tree, and called it our school room for the morning. Yeah, the boys were distracted at times by the girls playing and chatting. But thanks to the incentive of being allowed to play after school, the math got done a little more quickly than usual, and we all got to enjoy the nice day.

Springtime school under the willow tree? Works for me!

Posted in Family | 19 Comments

19 Responses

on April 24, 2007 at 11:30 pm Pastormac's Ann

Very smart! We’re back to winter-like weather presently, but may have to try this when the weather warms up again.
on April 24, 2007 at 11:43 pm jcn

i always loved having class outside in college! what a treat!
on April 25, 2007 at 1:16 am zoe

ooooh, I like the sound of that.
on April 25, 2007 at 6:01 am Carrie J

My son loves to do his math on our front porch swing when the weather is nice. I’ve even seen him out there with a blanket when it is cold. Seems to work well for him.
on April 25, 2007 at 7:38 am Vicki

I did that quite often when I was homeschooled…I will allow the girls to do that as well, when they get a bit older, so their focus is a bit better…
on April 25, 2007 at 8:11 am Lisa

Fun idea!! :o)
on April 25, 2007 at 8:24 am Paul Martin

Good strategy and keeps things positive. I was a school counselor in the elementary schools for 23 years –
on April 25, 2007 at 8:41 am Cammie

That is why I love homeschool!
on April 25, 2007 at 9:34 am Heidi

Sounds like fun!
on April 25, 2007 at 10:00 am Kate

I tried teaching a class of college English students outside, and discovered that my voice is just not loud enough to cope with two hours of Dickens outside. Also, we were reading ‘Bleak House’ and the sun really didn’t set the right tone! Glad it worked better for you.
on April 25, 2007 at 10:18 am Patty

Wish I could do that with my own…but it’s cold and rainy here in Chicago. School in the yard would be a wet and muddy mess. So we’ll just school in the messy living room instead 🙂
on April 25, 2007 at 11:03 am Christine

We’ve learned all over the stinkin’ place. Our favorite used to be at Starbucks (I got something yummy and coffee-like and the kids got cookies). Unfortunately, the pyramid scheme people started hanging out there and stalking me as soon as we were packing up. Ugh!
on April 25, 2007 at 12:53 pm shawnda

great idea!!!
on April 25, 2007 at 1:37 pm Jennifer

My kids love schooling outside!!! At the beginning that was their favorite part of homeschooling!!!

jennifer
on April 25, 2007 at 8:23 pm Beth

This post made me smile, Mary. I always love to hear about your resourceful and clever solutions to things. 🙂
on April 25, 2007 at 9:09 pm annkroeker

Wonderful. Did you drag your laptop out there for yourself, too?
on April 25, 2007 at 11:33 pm melody

Homeschooling, it’s about flexibility and we love it.
on April 26, 2007 at 5:23 am Fiddledeedee (It Coulda' Been Worse)

Very very good thinking. My biggest obstacle to homeschooling is trying to keep the toddler occupied while the girls work. We may be employing the “outdoor school” mode more often!
on April 29, 2007 at 12:47 pm samibear

I remember when I was in the 2nd grade in Florida, we had school outside under a tree. It was a treat. Great idea.