Learning

Winding Up
by Pat Lansmann

All around nature is gearing up; birds are returning and setting up house, buds are ready to burst, even the wind is stirring things up, waking everything from its winter nap. The outdoors is calling to your kids anyway, so why not use this opportunity to harness that wind and their energy for some exciting science lessons while providing your kids with some very needed outside time. Then get down to the nitty-gritty as April rolls around bringing Earth Day’s yearly celebration. A trip to the library, craft store, a nature walk and quick visit to a local nursery or home improvement store and you’ll have all you’ll need to make Spring learning a breath of fresh air that your kids will really dig.

See Scales
Estimation is an important math skill. A fun way to introduce your kids to this skill is to teach them to estimate wind speed. All you need is to download the Beaufort Scale from MountWashington.org. The scale that bears his named was devised at a time when miles per hour was an yet unknown concept. Beaufort, as a rear admiral in the English Navy in the early 1800’s, saw the need for a system his sailors could use to measure the speed of the winds. Your downloaded version not only states visual conditions, but gives helpful graphics that will interest your kids. Just take them outside and have them look at the prevailing conditions, compare it to your downloaded chart, and have them estimate the speed of the wind. Check your local newspaper, newscast, or web weather to check for accuracy. Even try keeping a log for a month to see if their skills improve.

Blown Away
On one of these incredible Spring days take a nature walk and have you kids hunt for a branch that will be the anchor for some wind chimes. They’ll need one sturdy branch, about a foot long, from which to hang their “chimes.” Shells or metal washers make good chimes. If using shells, first glue the string to the shell, then when dry, tie the string to the branch. For metal washers, tie one end of the string through the hole of the washer and the other to the branch. Make sure the items are tied close enough to each other that a breeze will make them touch. While your kids are tying, read the The Wind by Robert Louis Stevenson, or Who Has Seen The Wind by Chistina Rossetti. Books of their poetry are easily found in the literature section of your library. After reading the selections, point out how music can be made not just from instruments, and the actions of the wind, but even by the way a poet uses words.

Down To Earth
As April arrives, begin preparations to celebrate Earth Day. This day to honor our home falls on the 22nd of every April, and one of its features is to encourage us to “reduce, reuse and recycle.” In previous generations, recycling was not something you did; it was a way of life. You’ll not only teach your kids ecology but a little about history, how their grandparents, and great-grandparents lived by showing how to reuse what we now think is trash. By reusing, we save energy to run factories, and gas to fuel trucks that transport goods. Check out Ecoart by Laurie Carlson, available at bookstores or on-line retailers. Her book gives over 100 ideas on how to turn the disposable into art: plastic jug watering cans or masks, egg carton flowers, twig picture frames to name a few. Many of her suggestions make nice kid gifts from the heart and nearly guarantee your kids will always have something to do and the stuff with which to make it. Click onto EnchantedLearning.com for some more fun crafts you can make with your kids with things normally found around the house. Or go to ABCTeach.com for older kids to find downloadable word searches and more.

Family Roots
You could also celebrate Earth Day by showing your kids the value of trees by planting one your family has picked out together and holding your own private celebration. Perhaps you could gather the kids under your favorite large tree and read Trees by Joyce Kilmer. Her poem has a famous first two lines (you’ve probably quoted them at least once in your life) but reminds us in the following ten lines that these magnificent creations can not be duplicated by man. Then go to BorealForest.org and read all that trees do for us and you’ll show your kids what a wonder are trees, our forgotten, quiet giants.

Earth, Wind, and Fire
In the hustle and bustle we call our lives, we’ve all heard the adage “less is more.” If we take the time to make a craft with our kids with left-over items, or read to them under the outstretched branches of a tree that shades them in the summer, not only will you warm their hearts, you’ll never have to tell your kids less is more. You’ll have given your kids a bounty: What a beautiful bud will unfold as your kids learn to appreciate the natural world around them while they hold the hands of most important people in their lives-you.

Pat Lansmann, Writer & SuperMom
Pat graduated from college with a B.A. in English and a restless creative spirit. She left the workforce after fourteen years to raise her first of three children. She and her husband educate their children at home, through activities such as gardening, arts and crafts, woodworking, cooking and pet care to personalize, enhance and extend the children’s academic experiences.