Feel Free to Roam

• Homeschooling allows you to take advantage of outside resources, promoting a more hands-on, real-world learning opportunity.

• Traveling to places like museums to learn more about history or using your own backyard to conduct science lessons and experiments makes learning more engaging and enjoyable for your children.

• Worldschooling, or roamschooling, emphasizes learning through real-world experiences by visiting new places, learning about new cultures, and interacting with different people.

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One of the best aspects of homeschooling is that you can do it from anywhere. You can do school in a room set up to replicate a brick-and-mortar learning environment, you can allow your children to complete their schoolwork wherever they choose, you can take class outside for a more hands-on learning approach, or you can even take learning on the road. Children can learn and thrive in many different learning environments. I have found that a little combination of learning atmospheres works best for my family. Figuring out how you want to engage your students or how often you want to take learning outside of your home may take some trial and error, but trust me, you will never regret giving them those real-world learning opportunities.

Fresh Air

In today’s world, most of our day is spent indoors, sitting at a desk or looking at a computer. And that is how children in brick-and-mortar schools spend their day as well. However, with homeschooling, you are not restricted to a specific location.  Even while schooling in your home environment, you can take advantage of the outdoors. This can include holding class outside on a nice day, creating outdoor learning experiences, or just letting your child explore nature on their own. In fact, I have been known to have my children bring their laptops outside on nice spring and fall days to do their online classwork outside on the porch.    

Getting fresh air is important for everyone. Not only is it a mood booster but it also improves focus and concentration. This can lead to a better learning atmosphere and more memorable experiences.

Hands-On Learning

The outside world offers many opportunities for hands-on learning experiences. These can be lessons and experiments that you set up and oversee in your own backyard or local park, time when you allow your child to explore nature and the world on their own, or when you take your child to outside places and events like museums or story time at the local library.

If you are looking to add more outdoor activities to your homeschool day, here are some ideas that have worked well for my family:

• Science Experiments – Many science experiments can be done outside. In fact, some should be completed outside. Exploring chemistry with baking soda volcanoes, learning about solar power with homemade solar ovens, keeping track of the weather with anemometers and rain gauges, and investigating aerodynamics with paper airplanes and kites are all great outdoor science experiments.
• Science Lessons – There are a lot of science units that explore the outside world. These include seasons, animals, habitats – any subcategories of biology, ecology, and environmental studies. This presents a great opportunity to take your lessons outside and let your child experience and learn from the real world. Whether they are studying bugs in the backyard or you take them on a field trip to a farm, these learning experiences will make memories that help them retain information and keep learning fun.
• Social Studies Lessons – A lot of history lessons would do well to be learned in a more hands-on environment. Most cities have historical sites or history museums where children can physically see history, even art museums are great places to see history. These places make lessons come to life and make them more enjoyable.
• ELA – While you may not think of language arts as being a lesson that can be taken outside the classroom, don’t underestimate it. Even something as simple as having reading time outside. Have your children sit on the grass or on the porch and do their reading there. For younger students, use the resources outside to help the story come alive. Is there a bird in the story, have your child pause and listen to the birds around them, if you are reading – let’s say – the Three Little Pigs, have them pick up a pine straw, a stick, and a rock and see which is a better material for building. Adding material that they can physically see, hear, or touch to story time can help them relate better to the stories that they are reading. It also helps them better picture stories and can expand their imaginations.

Some good events to attend and places to visit with your child for an educational experience include:

• Museums – This is an obvious one but can include historical, art, aeronautical, space, or general science museums. Many museums have discounts for students and/or free entry days. This is a great resource to help lessons come to life and to make memories that they will carry with them throughout their life.
• Historical Sites – Many areas around the country have historical sites. These could be buildings that were built during colonial times that now can be looked at or toured, significant battle ground sites where monuments have been built, forts or other military encampments that are no longer in use, or historical landmarks. These can give your children a better understanding of corresponding history lessons and allow them to better picture the past.
• Libraries – Okay, so this one sounds a little odd, but most libraries not only offer weekly story time activities, but they also host many other educational events. We have personally been to readings from different cultures, interpretive dance programs, magic shows, wildlife presentations, art workshops, Lego meetups, and computer classes. These not only offer learning opportunities but also support social opportunities. Libraries have monthly calendars that you can pull up online. For a more in-depth look at how libraries can help on your homeschooling journey, check my blog Libraries are Your Friend!.

 Worldschooling and Roamschooling

Worldschooling, or roamschooling, is an extension of homeschooling that gained popularity in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s that integrates travel with learning. It emphasizes learning through real-world experiences by visiting new places, learning about their cultures, and interacting with different people. This type of learning can broaden children’s world views and allows them to learn by interacting with the world around them.

Roamschooling can look different for different individual families, just as traditional homeschooling does. Some families travel the world, while others travel across the nation. Some travel constantly in RV’s or other vehicles, spending the nights wherever they end up; some spend more time in each place, really immersing themselves in the culture or the local area; and others only travel sometimes or to certain places that they are learning about while spending a good amount of time at home. The main idea with roamschooling is to provide kids with a more hands-on, immersive, real-world learning experience instead of relying solely on textbooks and the traditional classroom environment.

No matter how you choose to homeschool your children, keep in mind that the world is full of possibilities. Right outside your door is a plethora of educational opportunities just waiting to be discovered. So, get outside, use those resources, and make those memories with your children.

Have you taken your homeschool lessons outside of your home? If so, share your experience with the community in the comments below.