Posts tagged ‘K-6’
Let’s Go Biking: New folding bikes arriving soon
Really cool Schwinn folding bike. Gotta love the back rack. Makes you want to ride doesn't it?
“Let’s go biking!”
We will receive five Schwinn folding bikes next week. These bikes form the foundation of a new bike program at the Goodman Community Center. I am very excited about this program and will start taking kids on trips as soon as the bikes arrive.
Why folding bikes? Well, they are much easier to store and they look really cool. The kids will love them. Plus Willy Street Bikes gave us a really good deal.
Stay tuned for more information on this exciting program.
Tell me what you think? Do you like to bike? Have you ridden a folding bike? What are your favorite places to ride with kids?
It’s beautiful day in Wisconsin. Unfortunately, Diane is stuck inside writing grants in order to take more kids outside. If you’d like to contribute to Get Kids Outside, please “like” this article. If you’d like to donate to Get Kids Outside, just email me with your donation amount and I’ll forward a Paypal link. Thank you.
Wheels for Winners: Kids earn a bike for service
Every kid should have a bike. Period. Biking promotes independence and fitness but most of all it’s fun.
Wheels for Winners is one of the coolest organizations on the planet because they put bikes in the hands of kids – and adults – that can’t afford them.
The program is easy.
Kids do 15 hours of community service and earn a bike, helmet, lock and license.
I just started working with five 3rd and 4th graders on this program. We’re doing jobs around the Goodman Community Center and they love it. Kids love being of service. It boosts their self-worth and teaches them about the world. Remarkably, one of my kids is doing the program just to do the service. She already has a bike!
If you know of a kid who doesn’t have a bike and can’t afford one, let them know about this program. Many organizations would be happy to work with you. And, if you can’t do service, kids can write 5 book reports instead. The reports don’t have to be scholarly, just enough to let them know that you read the book.
It’s a great program. Let me know what you think.
You can find Diane working with kids at the Goodman Community Center or at Schumacher Farm Park looking for pasque flowers. Register for this blog now and receive a free 11-page Bubble Activity Guide. Oh, and don’t forget to “like” what you see.
Big Trip Tomorrow: Must get Zzzzzzz
Tomorrow I am taking 45 people to Maple Syrup Fest at MacKenzie Environmental Education Center.
Tonight I will be in bed by 8 pm. Promise.
Preparing for a trip like this is exciting and tiring. The permission slips are probably the thing I hate most. They are a necessary part of working with kids, but paperwork is never fun for me. Then I worry about everything going well. What will the weather be like? Will everyone show up? Will the bus be on time? And on and on…. Of course, everything always goes just fine, but that doesn’t mean my brain shuts off. It doesn’t. This is tiring.
That’s why sleep is especially important before a big trip.
Well gotta get ready for bed. Goodnight.
As a teacher, parent or childcare provider, how do you take care of yourself?
When awake, Diane Schwartz is the Outdoor Education Specialist at the Goodman Community Center. She also manages Schumacher Farm County Park in Waunakee. Subscribe to this blog now and receive a free 11-page Bubble Activity Guide.
Maple Syrup Time: But will kids eat it?
Sap drips from a tree. It takes 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup.
March is maple syrup month.
It’s a magical time of year. Sap only runs when night temps fall below freezing and days are in the 40s. Once it gets too warm – usually by mid April – the season is over.
This weekend I’m heading up to MacKenzie Environmental Education Center in Poynette with a group of 35 kids and parents for their annual Maple Syrup Festival. We’ll eat a mess of pancakes with real maple syrup and take in the maple syrup making exhibits.
The kids will love the real syrup, right?
Sounds crazy, but some years ago, I treated some kids to real maple syrup and they didn’t like it. This blew my mind. How could the kids prefer the artificial hyper-sweet syrup to the lighter, earthy sweetness of the real deal? Easy. Kids are just used to the fake stuff. It’s sweeter and gooier. I grew up on Aunt Jemima and truth is most families can’t afford to buy real maple syrup anyway. Perhaps Nature Deficit Disorder applies to food too…call it Nature Palette Disorder.
I will find out on Saturday what a new batch of kids think.
What real foods do your kids reject in favor of the processed variety. Think Velveeta and Oscar Meyer wieners.
Diane Schwartz is busy getting ready for this trip and enjoying the perfect Maple Syrup making weather. Subscribe to this blog now and receive a free 11-page Bubble Activity Guide.
No recess equals wild and crazy kids
I dare anyone to say that kids don’t need recess to learn. There is no better way to prove this than an old-fashioned rainy day.
Today was such a day.
By 3:00 pm (when we pick up kids from school for afterschool), they were jumping out of their skin. The noise level on the bus was loud and a few kids were standing up on their seats and acting crazy. I addressed the noise and behavior by using the “clap once if you can hear me” strategy. When I had their attention, I acknowledged their day and the lack of outside time.
Think about it. They had been in school for 7 hours without recess. When they got on the bus, all that energy exploded. It had to.
When we got to the Center, the noise and activity continued and it took
a while for the kids to calm down. Snack helped.
Meanwhile, the rain kept coming down with no sign of stopping.
We made it through the day, but hopefully, the sun will come out tomorrow.
The kids need their outside time and so do the teachers.
Pent up energy causes behavior problems and shorter attention spans.
Rainy days can be fun sometimes, but let’s hear it for recess.
Share your stories about recess and why it’s important. Have you ever had an outside recess on a rainy day?
Diane Schwartz is an Outdoor Education Teacher at Goodman Community Center in Madison. Today, she subbed in the after school and stayed inside with 19 K-1 students. Subscribe to this blog now and receive a free 11-page bubble activity guide. Thanks for reading.
Cave of the Mounds: A great escape from protesting or anything else
O
nce again, a major protest at the State Capitol coincided with one of my outings. I have to say that I was happy to be heading away from town. Protesting is noble, but it distracts me from what I love. For me, the best thing to do is to continue my work with kids and parents despite the chaos swirling around me.
It’s times like this when we need nature more than ever. We need to get away from the media and remember what’s really important. We need to be reminded of how beautiful our state is and it’s many natural wonders. We need to go to places right in our own backyards, like Cave of the Mounds, and experience one of those wonders.
Just 30 minutes from Madison, Cave of the Mounds remains a classic day trip. If you haven’t been there, it’s time to pack up the kids and go.
Cave "bacon" forms when calcite-rich water follows the contour of the cave ceiling forming drapery-like curtains. Note also the tiny stalactites.
The cave tour lasts about 1 hour and took us past beautiful cave formations: stalactites – or stalagnotites as Joan called them - hang from the ceiling; stalagmites – or stalagnomites – grow from the ground up. There’s cave “bacon” that looks… well… like bacon and classic formations like Polly the Parrot.
There’s no better place to get a sense of geologic time and the power of water. Water drips from the ceiling adding ever so slowly to the ‘mites and ‘tites.
Polly the Parrot formed when two stalactites dropped on top of a stalagmite, fusing them together into a parrotlike shape.
The cave promotes wonder and we all need that, especially when the world gets turned upside down.
I had just one small complaint. Just before leaving to eat our lunch, a staff member asked me to let her know if while eating we spilled anything on the chairs. I thought this was odd. Did she think we going to leave a mess? I don’t know. Other than that, our tour guides were informative and courteous, and of course, the cave never disappoints.
What are your favorite natural escapes within 30 minutes from home?
Diane Schwartz is busy getting ready for summer at the Goodman Community Center. Five new folding bikes will arrive soon and she can’t wait to start teaching kids how to safely ride around town. As always, subscribe to this blog now to receive a free 11-page bubble activity guide. Thank you for reading.
Why kids don’t walk and what we can do about it
I hated walking as a kid and would beg my mom to drive me places.
“You can walk,” she’d say and then explain how when SHE was a girl she had to WALK 100 miles just to get to the bus stop…”
Okay, I exaggerate a little, but I truly hated walking. Other kids got rides. Why do I have to walk?
Now, I’m grateful.
Truth is, kids don’t walk unless they have to and it seems like kids walk less and less with each generation. There are several reasons for this:
1) Kids live further away from school.
2) Residential neighborhoods are isolated from grocery stores and services.
3) Madison streets are busier than the streets I grew up on.
4) We love our cars.
5) Parents are afraid their kids will get abducted, lost, or hurt. This is the most troubling trend and probably the most restricting.
For the most part, Madison remains a safe place for kids. However, while many of our families live close enough to the center to walk, very few do. For many it’s a necessity to drive, but for some it isn’t. What’s especially troubling is when parents cancel their kids participation in outdoor activities because they cannot pick their kids up.
To address this I ask? Why not let older kids walk or take the bus home?
What a gift it would be for these kids to get home on their own.
Therefore, I’m going to start making this outrageous suggestion. This will likely raise other issues. For example, will kids need to be taught how to walk on their own? Probably. At the very least it will get parents and kids thinking about alternatives.
Will kids protest? Absolutely. But I can’t wait to respond with my own “When I was a kid I walked 100 miles story.”
Do you have any stories about walking with kids? How do you motivate kids to walk? Do you let them walk to the store, to school or elsewhere?
You can find Diane working on a grant proposal to start a biking program at the Goodman Community Center. You can also find her slopping through the mud at Schumacher Farm County Park looking for signs of spring. As always, register for this blog now and receive an 11-page Bubble Activity Guide.
Wisconsin Protest Meets Outdoor Adventure
Last week I canceled Ski club. Organizers also canceled most of Winterfest.
Not for extreme cold or lack of snow, but because of the protest at the Capitol.
It’s been a surreal week.
On Wednesday, Superintendent Nerad closed Madison schools because so many teachers called in sick.
On Thursday, many other principals closed schools due to teacher sick-outs. I canceled ski club because we had no kids to take.
On Friday, schools remained closed and people continued to swarm the Capitol in growing numbers. Organizers canceled Winterfest which was to take place around the Capitol on Saturday and Sunday. A few events moved to the Memorial Union.
Since I had planned to take kids to Winterfest, we went to the Union instead. To avoid traffic headaches, we rode the bus. This was quite the adventure for the kids. Little did we know that we’d be crammed on a bus with dozens of protesters heading downtown.
The kids loved it. They got to see how peaceful protesters behave and they got to see all the people around the Capitol. They enjoyed reading the signs.
“Beam Scotty Back,” was a favorite though they didn’t get the Star Trek connection.
When we got to the Union, the kids watched sky divers land on the ice, snowboarders compete and snowsculptors sculpt. We ate our PB&J outside. And of course, they ran around on the ice and acted silly. The big fun was collecting snow eggs from the ice, as they called them.
It wasn’t the same as Winterfest, but they didn’t care. Perhaps they got something even better. They got to ride a city bus and see a historic political event. Teachable moments don’t get much better and the best part is that I didn’t have to say very much. They just soaked it up.
Have you ever been a trip where the unexpected happened? Did you take your kids to the protests? Do let me know.
Diane Schwartz takes kids cross country skiing at Blackhawk Ski Club every week until March 4. You can also find her getting ready for spring at Schumacher Farm Park in Waunakee. Become an email subscriber today and receive a free 11 page Bubble Activity Guide for free.
Is it ever too cold to Get Kids Outside?
Thursday was cold, very cold. Temps topped out at about 10 degrees with a nasty wind chill.
As a result, kids at Lowell and Emerson Elementary schools had no recess – their second in a row.
Now, it was my turn. Would I take 11 kids cross country skiing? We did the week before and the kids froze because we were out in the open. Would today be a repeat?
After consulting with Molly, the lead instructor at Blackhawk Ski Club, I decided to go – even though my boss had already told the kids it was too cold. Molly’s plan was a good one – stay in the woods and keep ‘em moving by sending them on a scavenger hunt.
It worked. The kids were not fazed by the cold and they had a great time on the scavenger hunt. No one complained. Plus, it was safe.
Blackhawk Ski Club isn’t exactly wilderness. There’s a warm chalet, hot chocolate and snacks. If kids wanted to go inside they could, but none of them did. They all stayed out for a full hour.
The kids had a blast and they learned something about the cold – if you dress right, keep moving and stay out of the wind, you’ll be fine.
Meanwhile, students at Emerson and Lowell Elementary schools learned to fear the cold. While safety is always important, I disagree with this policy.
When kids don’t get enough exercise, they are less able to focus and more likely to act out in class. Inside recess focuses on board games, not on being active. So, I suggest the following:
Why not let parents make the choice?
Why not base the choice on outerwear?
Why not let them out for a short time under the supervision of a trained teacher?
Why not structure a moving activity, such as a run around the playground?
It seems to me that going outside for recess is a lot like going skiing at Blackhawk Ridge: Kids are close to a warm building and there’s supervision.
I think we’re doing our kids a disservice by not teaching them how to dress for the cold.
What do you think? When is it too cold to go outside? What are you doing to help kids enjoy winter in Wisconsin?
Diane Schwartz takes kids cross country skiing at Blackhawk Ski Club every week until March 4. You can also find her at Winterfest on February 19 teaching kids and families the joys of winter. Of course, that will be a lot easier now that a warm front is on the horizon.
Devil’s Lake: Danger, Turkey Vultures & 2 Billion Year Old Rocks
Devil’s Lake is beautiful, but it can also be dangerous. So, it was with a healthy dose of caution that I took 9 kids on a 2.5 mile hike.
We went up the East Bluff Trail, down the Balanced Rock Trail, and then back to the North Shore along the railroad tracks. It’s a classic hike that I’ve taken dozens of times, but never with 9 elementary aged kids.
It was entirely different with kids.
Like I said, Devil’s Lake is gorgeous, but it’s also dangerous. Safety always come first with kids.
The hardest part of the hike was telling the Kindergarten and some first grade students that they couldn’t go. I stuck with older kids I knew who would listen and who would be able to keep up with the hike. This left a few disappointed, but I know they will have their day on the bluffs.
After a short talk about “staying on the trail” and “listening to the teacher” we were ready for fun.
We got to see turkey vultures gracefully flying near the bluffs and I got to tell my favorite turkey vulture stories.
“Did you know that turkey vultures pee on their legs to cool down? The uric acid also disinfects their legs. Why would you think that’s important?” I asked the kids.
“Because they eat dead things?” said Mary quizzically.
“Would they eat us?” someone asked.
“If we were dead, probably.”
“Gross!” they cried with looks of disgust.
“They also vomit if threatened by another animal. The other animal then eats the vomit and the turkey vulture can get away. Pretty smart bird, huh?”
“Ew!”
The 4th grade kids appreciated this fact more than the second grade kids.
As we hiked, we looked at fossilized ripple marks in the Baraboo quartzite left from the sandy beach that formed the rock more than 2 billion years ago. I don’t know if this fact sunk in, but at least it planted a geology seed. Devil’s Lake is a geological goldmine and it’d be great to spend more time on the geology. Today, however, we had to keep going so that we’d make it back to the bus on time.
Other than being slightly rushed, it was an awesome hike. The weather was perfect and the kids were troopers. And, no one tripped or slipped on the rocks.
I have to say that I was a relieved to step foot on the ground after descending the Balanced Rock trail.
Like I said before, hiking with kids is different because you never stop be concerned about their safety. Of course, I would do it again, I just would allow more time to enjoy the view.
Tell me about your hiking adventures with kids. What did you do that worked? What didn’t work? You can find me planning my next hiking trip at the Goodman Community Center. Like what you see here? Register for this blog and get a free 11-page Bubble Activity Guide. Just click on the home page and type in your email.
