It’s camping week over here at Moms Talk Network. We have a little  something for everyone. So grab your  flashlights, tent, sleeping bags, and marshmallows and lets plan  a wilderness adventure! Oh, don’t forget the chocolate and graham crackers, in my opinion dark chocolate is the best for out of this world s’mores.

Camping Can Be A Great Learning Opportunity

Who says homeschooling is just from September to June?

There are a few more weeks left of Summer.  Are you planning a camping trip in the near future?  If so, here are some fun activities to do with the kids:

Bird watching – Bird watching can be a lot of fun and adventurous. Nothing wrong with squeezing in some science. Make sure your child has a good set of binoculars. This will allow him or her to be able to search for the birds and it also makes it easier to identify the birds color and features. Notice what kind of habitat environment you are in, that will help indentify what kinds of birds you will most likely see.   The Homeschool Mom has a ton of bird resource information.

Scavenger hunt - Have the kids walk around the camp site and give them a list of five to  ten things they must find and gather. Think of rocks, sticks, leaves, flowers, bark, pine needles etc. When they return with their list of items have them create something creative out of all the things they found.  This helps your child be creative and use their imagination.

Learn to safely build a campfire – What’s camping without a campfire? Take the time to teach your child about safety campfire tips and visit How to Build a campfire . It’s also a  good idea to check out The Smokey Bear website as well.

Campfires are also a great way to cook your meals. Some of the best food is cooked over a campfire. I found a homeschool website that shares campfire recipes. Take some time and have a look around.

Sitting around a campfire is one of my favorite things to do while camping with my kids. Memories are created there. There’s just something about the crackling sounds and the flickering flames that bring a family closer together.

Whats the best thing about camping for you and your family?

What activities do you do with your children on a camping trip?

photo credit: timlewisnm

Can you imagine if your childs homework assignment was to watch episodes of the TV series The Simpsons? The school offering this type of teaching approach claims it helps students become critical readers and analysts of complex media text.

So how did I hear about all this?  I stumbled across the why homeschool blog.

I’m going to fill you in on what I read. Make sure to comment and put in your two cents at the end of this blog.

Father Starts a Petition

A father by the name of Joseph Reynolds 44 years old who is a Marine Engineer, started a petition after he learned that his daughter spent  six weeks studying  the famous Simpson cartoon. He believes children should be studying text with the highest quality and this just doesn’t fit the bill. His petition is calling for a return on conventional English lessons.

The School Defends Itself

Not only do they claim this type of curriculum helps students become critical readers and analysts of complex media text, they insist that they were just following  the National Curriculum, which require students study ‘moving image’ texts. They also say many other schools are using the Simpsons to teach English. They, along with many other schools, are using the Simpsons to develop analytical writing and thinking.

You can read more here  Angry Parents accuse school of ‘dumbing down’ English by showing The Simpsons in class.

Do you think this approach is dumbing down English?

Do you believe TV sitcoms belong in the classroom?

Would you use a TV sit com in your  homeschool curriculum?

photo credit: ?Bonard?

There are several different styles and approaches to homeschooling.  I will be covering a five part series on some of the main styles and approaches over the next few weeks. So if you are thinking of homeschooling now is the time to dig in and educate yourself. Lets get started!

Part One: The Unschooling Approach

There is no doubt many families today are taking their child’s education into their own hands.  Some are even choosing to unschool.  On my quest to find out what exactly is involved with unschooling I ran across this YouTube video by Dayna Martin, but first-in a nut shell here is a brief description of unschooling:

Unschooling – This philosophy is based on research by John Taylor Gatto and John Holt. This type of learning is child-led, and self-directed. The advantage to this type of learning is that it doesn’t require the parent to be someone else such as a teacher teaching on a planned organized basis. Parent and child live and learn together. Delight driven learning – as Dayna would say.

Do you Unschool your child? If so share with me why you chose the Unschooling approach. I don’t bite, I promise. I look forward to reading your comments.

Ever wonder where to find those fun green living eco lessons for your homeschooler?

As I started started surfing the web and digging deeper and deeper into this topic I see that there is a ton of information online available to our kids about creating a healthier environment.  If you ask me I would say it is quiet easy for a mom to get bogged down with all the different websites out there.

Well, I am going to save you some time and for the next few weeks I will be dedicating one day a week  to  highlighting eco educational  websites.  Sound Good?  Hopefully this will help you weed through all the great information out there.

Ecokids Is This Weeks Highlighted Website

Ecokids is a Canadian environment educational program for children.

This website is designed to educate and inspire our kids to become earth friendly. It is an interactive website that offers curriculum-linked material, fun educational games and activities for children and educators. Children are encouraged to be active on this website. They will learn and understand the impact their own actions and decisions make on our planet and environment.

They have a section just for teachers.

Nice. You do need to register in order to have access to this area. They have lesson plans, handouts with activities, environmental literacy resources, contests and calendars.

There is a teachers forum available with a discussion group.

They share ideas, resources and teaching strategies. I visited the page to check things out and I see that alot of great topics were posted. Ofcourse they were old posts but it was fun reading through all the great ideas that were shared.

So whats the downfall you ask?  The one thing I noticed was the grade level lessons only went to 8th grade.  Those with  fun high school age children will want to  find a more advanced educational website.

How about you? Do you plan on throwing in some green lessons for the upcoming  year?  If so,  do tell. Share your resources and ideas with the rest of us.
photo credit: _JuanaBanana