In the education world, there is a new term that describes a specific style of student engagement: place-based learning. Your children's teachers may use this method in class, and you also can help your kids gain knowledge through place-based learning. Here is some information to get you started:
What is place-based learning?
Edutopia explained that this style of learning helps students engage with the world around them. Kids don't just learn about natural science, but also they study history, the impact of their actions, and gain communication skills and even a better understanding of themselves. Educators can use place-based learning in any subject. Here are a few examples:
- A geology teacher may take students to a local park to discuss change over time. The class will talk about plate tectonics, glacial melting, earthquakes or even fires – any natural event that may have occurred on the land that changed the geology.
- A history educator will likely spend time teaching the class about certain areas of the world and the important events that happened there.
- A homeroom teacher might work with students to learn about their community. The class could go on field trips to talk with older people who have lived in the area for a long time and can offer insight into what has changed during their lifetimes. Students may volunteer at local charities and organizations to get a look at different parts of their surrounding culture, like homeless shelters or nursing homes.
How can you implement place-based learning at home?
What subjects do your kids love? Let's say they are super interested in weather. Your family may already watch the weather together, have a sensor outside of your home so you can tell the temperature, and understand dew point and cloud types. To take this to the next level, consider giving your kids an assignment. Have them each pick a far-away locale and do some place-based learning about the weather there. Your children can create their own mini almanacs for the cities they chose, noting average precipitation, famous natural disasters and the like.
Or maybe your kids are more into art. Pack up their favorite paints, crayons, clay and glitter glue and head to a place in your community. Once there, encourage your children to use their creativity to represent where they are via their chosen medium. You may end up with a statue of the local firehouse, a drawing of the neighbor's dog and a cotton ball copy of a passing cloud.
Make sure your kids aren't just recreating what they see. They should think about what is going on at the firehouse as the volunteers clean the trucks with soup and water. Talk about what cloud types blow by and the breed of the dog next door. These more in-depth chats will help your kids learn to ask questions and not take things at face value. When it comes time for Common Core State Standards testing, your children will be used to the queries they have to answer.
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