HomeSchooling

Outdoor Hour Challenge. III.

January 31, 2012 /

The Outdoor Hour Challenge has really helped direct our time spent on nature hikes each week.

And since we joined the challenge already in progress I decided to take their advice and walk though the “getting started” challenges listed on the website.

It’s been good advice.

It’s reminded me of the hows and the whys of using The Handbook of Nature Study as our guide and it has served me well to give me direction and accountability in what I am attempting to accomplish through our weekly jaunts outside.

Last week we used our words to describe what we saw and heard.

On this walk I choose to combine both challenges 3 and 4.

Challenge 3 was creating a time and opportunity for your students to draw what they had seen.  We’ve been using Nature Journals, albeit irregularly, for three years now so I felt adequately prepared in that category.

Challenge 4 was to choose a focus for our family’s weekly nature walks.

Not that we are bound to only talk about or look for that item of interest on every walk, but having a focus will help us delve deeper into a particular area of interest.

We wandered down the driveway, considering our options.

We saw the first daffodil.  (What in the world?  It’s January – right?)

We gathered rocks.  (I tried to allow the children to admire their treasures without telling them how abundant gravel actually is.)

We got distracted.

We found a bird’s nest.

We admired a ray of light.

But in the end I think we all knew our focus before our feet ever hit the dirt.

It’s Bergen’s obsession.  It’s every Keigley kid’s favorite.

Birds.

Our focus will be birds.

Luckily, on our walk Bergen’s hawk-like eyes spotted a red-headed woodpecker atop one of our trees.

Which provided us an easy focus feature to draw in our nature notebooks.

As the kids drew in their books, I was reminded of the words of the author that I had just read –

“The book should be considered the personal property of the child and should never be criticized by the teacher except as a matter of encouragement; for the spirit in which the notes are made is more important than the information they cover.”

 

 

Have any of you guys been taking the Outdoor Hour Challenge with us?

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6 Comments

  • Barb-Harmony Art Mom

    February 1, 2012 at 5:08 pm

    I love reading the introductory pages to the HNS because you are so very right…we get our batteries charged and we refine things every time we go through it. I am really enjoying your posts and getting to know your family. I will look forward to seeing some entries about birds now!

    Thanks so much for joining the OHC.

    • LaceyKeigley

      February 2, 2012 at 9:29 pm

      Thank YOU – I am so honored that you take the time to come over and read – I really mean to figure out the whole blog carnival thing but I just haven't made time for it yet! 🙂

      The kids are loving our new consistency with Nature Hikes and I am loving a sense of direction and accomplishment.

  • Sally

    January 31, 2012 at 12:19 pm

    we're with you, just not logging it right now. love your reflections, though! hey, do you know about the Cornell Backyard Bird Count? It's in a couple weeks, and you literally watch and count for a little bit, then turn in your results. fun stuff!