Exploring Education Beyond Four Walls!

As a passionate educator committed to providing comprehensive learning experiences, I recently organised an interactive session with my class of 9-year-olds in primary school. During the session, we delved into the exciting world of outdoor learning and encouraged the children to express their individual perspectives and preferences on learning through outdoor activities. I was interested in discovering what the outdoors meant to them, how they perceived learning in an outdoor setting, and how it could shape their future learning opportunities.

I posed several questions, such as:

• How do you enjoy using the outdoors as a learning tool?
• What are some activities that make learning exciting to you?
• Can you share your favourite outdoor learning experiences so far?

The responses were genuinely eye-opening, with the children expressing their love for hands-on experiences, connecting with nature, and the sheer joy of learning beyond the classroom.

Diving a little deeper and drawing upon their interests and imaginative minds, we discussed the following:

• If you could choose any topic to explore in our outdoor sessions, what would it be and why?
• How does spending time in nature improve memory and understanding compared to being indoors?

Their responses were perceptive and provided direction and increased purpose for creating our future outdoor lessons tailored to their interests.

In a world that's becoming increasingly digital, it's heartening to see young minds craving and cherishing the tangible experiences the great outdoors offer and completing plenty of writing in the process. In future lessons, I will adapt this further and build on their curiosity and overall interests.

Let's continue to nurture a love for learning that extends beyond the confines of four walls! 🌳