Improving literacy by going outside

Learning outside the classroom is said to improve the speed of learning. But does that apply to literacy?

Recently the point was made that children learn twice as fast and cover four times as much ground when learning outside the classroom compared to what they achieve inside.

Clear evidence to support this claim is hard to come by, but there does seem to be a strong feeling that learning outside the classroom can result in longer retention of what is being taught.

The reason is probably that activities outside the classroom are by their very nature more varied and more unusual than lessons inside the classroom. Perhaps also, because beyond the classroom we deal with the real world rather than representations of the real world through books and film, children retain the information they gain and develop their enthusiasm for the work more rapidly.

All of these factors were taken into account when we put together our “Outdoor Learning Pack”.

The pack contains over 100 outdoor activities that each seek to motivate and engage children. These activities cover text, word and sentence level objectives, and are based on games which offer a playful attitude to learning.

The activities can be undertaken with small groups, pairs, whole class – and they most certainly encourage independent thinking.

Better still The Outdoor Learning Pack costs only £49.99+VAT and the materials can be used over and over again.

There is more information on www.thinkingchild.org.uk/outdoor-literacy-pack/ or you can call 0844 332 0123 for a chat.