Like many of the rest of you, I went from being a classroom teacher to also being continuous-education facilitator (perhaps a new state term?) of my own children in the blink of an eye. While I am still juggling the steep learning curve of being a virtual teacher for my brick-and-mortar students, I have had my own steep learning curve at home. 

This morning, we sat at the kitchen table and went through our “classroom norms” to start the day:

Breakfast eaten-check. Hair brushed-check. Teeth brushed-check. Pajamas changed into real clothes for the day-check. I double-checked…no pajama bottoms? Wow! We already had some of my “real” middle-school classroom norms beat! 

What ensued next was an hour of workbook time old school learning style. As my crew of four flitted from reading to math to being off-task to art to being off-task (yet again), I began to sense a new rhythm to what I had always thought of as learning. It wasn’t the same, but it was there. Learning was happening! A sigh of relief… 

My littlest proudly showed me her double-digit addition and then looked up with excitement in her eyes to ask, “Mom, is it hands-in learning time yet?” Hands-in learning was her personal take on hands-on learning. It has become my crew’s favorite part of the day. How could a continuous-education facilitator, let alone a mom say no to such a sweet request?

We could all use a little hands-in learning. There is so much for children to learn about the world around them and not all of it is found in a workbook, but certainly all of it connects to our Washington State Learning Standards in some way. 

Perhaps you would care to pass these ideas onto your students? Add some more of your own? 

A Handy List of Hands-in Learning

Put on a puppet show*Make a kite from newspaper and fly it*When playing a game, let someone else go first*Watch a spider build a web Do the dishes without being asked*Feed your pet and give him/her some extra love*Make your bed*Write a letter to someone you love and send them some cheer*Read to a younger sibling*Wash your hands frequently*Ask what you can do to help someone else at least once a day*Write a loving note to someone in your home and out it somewhere they will find it*Make a healthy snack for your family*Sweep the floor*Go for walk and get some fresh air*Read a good book*Sit in the sunshine and think of something you are grateful for and then go tell someone*Learn to sew a button on a shirt*Learn to whistle*Sit in your yard and identify birds by their songs*Learn to set a formal table*Build a birdhouse*Learn to bake a loaf of bread*Play dress-up *Make a meal*Experiment with soap bubbles and see what happens when you add oil*Say “thank you” and “please”*Pull back a rock and check out the bugs you find*Learn to draw a map of the 50 states*Build a fort out of pillows*Water the plants in your house*Write a letter and address the envelope yourself*Learn how to answer a phone politely*Interview your parents about what life was like as a kid*Put together a puzzle*Build a cairn by stacking stones on top of each other*Play charades*Write a list summer bucket list now*Go for a “sense” walk and notice what you see, smell, touch and hear (you might want to leave out taste…)*Practice how to solve an argument with compromise*Put on a play*Learn to play the spoons*Teach your dog a new trick*Learn some dance moves*Make up some dance moves*Show off your new dance moves*Write a short story to read at dinner*Play cards*Learn to juggle*Plant some seeds and watch them grow*Write a poem and act it out*Have a tea party*Write a song**Tell someone you love them and why*Learn to make real lemonade*Closely watch the bees as they visit new spring flowers*Do art-any art and a lot of it! 

Beyond the Washington State Learning Standards, many of these activities build the Social-Emotional Learning Standards of personal growth, including self-awareness, self-management, and a sense of one’s own ability to do things. They also extend children into their social circles and build social awareness, relationship management and engagement. And, they are just plain fun!

Hands-in learning, let the adventure begin!