Homeschooling Activity: Down the Beach!

by Marcia
(Queensland, Australia)

My children and I love the beach, and what better place to set up school! I have two very active boys, 7 and 9 years old. Conventional schooling has labeled them ADHD, as they do not like sitting still for hours on end or being confined.

I have been homeschooling now for nearly 18mths and we love it. I do most of our schooling activities outdoors and the boys respond so much better. And the beach is our favorite place of all.

Anything subject can be tackled down the beach, we write in the sand, I set maths problems on the sand using stones and pieces of driftwood, or even rubbish. We do environmental studies, cataloging the amount and kinds of rubbish (and of course take it home afterward).

We do science experiments, build volcanoes collect shells and then find out more about them later by going to the library or getting on the internet. We find sea creatures and learn about what they eat and how the reproduce. We learn about different kinds of seaweeds and also the different kinds of seedpods we find washed up.

We have done a weather study, measuring rain, and tides, we have set up a mini olympics down the beach and met with other homeschoolers in our area.

Really there isn't any subject that you can't introduce outdoors! I have learnt so much since we started homeschooling, things I would never have thought about before. So it isn't only the kids that are learning - I am too!

If you don't live near a beach, you can go out into the bush or even your local park. You would be surprised what you can find outdoors that can become a lesson or project.

I hope some of my ideas will inspire someone else! I just wish I had started homeschooling earlier instead of struggling with a school system that my boys could not cope with, and made them feel bad.

All the best,
Marcia