Benefits of outdoor school - educational benefits

There are pedagogical benefits to being in nature - but we can work to reinforce them through the organization. We have done this at outdoor school courses and with Active Summer courses in Guldborgsund Municipality at Hejmosegaard. Whether the focus is on the farm's animals, the water hole or outdoor life, there is an educational benefit that is common to the courses:

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1. Staying in a natural environment offers some benefits that are highlighted in reports (1) as:

   • Fewer conflicts

   • Calm children

   • Concentrated children

   • Children who immerse themselves

   • Children playing long games

   • Children who are transformed from being restless to being calm

2. This is in accordance with our observations and contributes to us being able to offer courses with reduced standards for groups that normally require massive pedagogical effort from the staff. Flow, nearest development zone, Regio Emilia the third educator

3. All courses involve physical activity and the use of tools or techniques so that the children actually perform a piece of work for which they can take credit and gain recognition. The execution of the physical task is not described in advance in all details, so the children must show creativity and ability to work together to solve the task, even if individual considerations must be taken into account, e.g. allergy, without a child experiencing being excluded from the task. This promotes inclusion and counteracts stigma.

4. Our courses in Active Summer are today organized so that they strengthen unity and camaraderie between the children. Where the competition in "Home to the Farm" on TV aims to primarily reward the individual performance, the children themselves judge each other and are rewarded for participating in the joint venture in our course. It provides surprisingly positive experiences for the kids.

5. Age and gender are less important when you have nature as a common arena. Big children like to help little ones, and boys and girls can easily pitch a tent, shovel shit or weed poisonous plants together without causing conflicts. Curiosity and ingenuity can all show, and you can share that.

6. The domesticated animals that roam freely on the farm all the time (chickens, pigs and cats), form a natural background for remembering to show consideration for other living beings (do not run, do not make noise, do not perform sudden movements), and are thus helps to anchor a calm behavior, which can influence the behavior in other contexts as well.

7. The documentation of the course using photos, which are posted on Facebook and website, helps to form an identity for the children and maintain the good experiences they have had and participated in. It makes it easier for the children to remember the course and take the experience with them. in the subsequent everyday life, where it can be shared with family, friends and others.

8. A selection of these photos is also included in the diploma that is handed out after the course, and which can be printed and hung up so that it can be viewed independently of electronic platforms. A diploma on the wall or bulletin board can further maintain experience and learning from the course and help to make positive behavioral changes easier to transfer to everyday life.

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In addition, each course also involves a concrete learning that relates to the topic, e.g. poisonous plants, differences in feed requirements, wildlife wildlife and safe handling of fire by lighting fires. The specific learning can also be linked to various curricula for both day care and school by appointment.

But even if you make your own courses and just use the facilities in Hejrede Fritidsland as a framework, you can expect to get good results with children's experience of happiness and self-esteem .

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1) Source:

How is pedagogical work justified in nature? By Niels Ejbye-Ernst, Cand. pæd., VIA UC, The article was written for and published on Udeskole.dk in 2011, see http://www.skoven-i-skolen.dk/content/hvordan-begrundes-p%C3%A6dagogisk-arbejde-i- the nature