Homeschoolers, how much time do your kids spend outdoors?

Question

We spent the weekend in various fun outdoor activities. It was great. We spent Saturday night in a cabin with friends. (It was a birthday celebration.) We slept in front of a fire. We went rock climbing and played on frozen steams, marveled at a wonderland of icicles that hung from the waterfalls and explored the moss and lichen that covered the ground. We wandered and roamed. My kid was under every fallen log and up any rock or tree that she put her hands on. I am pretty sure my heart actually stopped a couple of times. (Why do they always want to stand right on the edge of a two+ story drop? Why!?!) She seemed to be having such a good time. I remember loving playing like that when I was a kid. But I don't think I see as many kids outdoors as I used to. They all seem to have their "play" scheduled. That's why I'm asking. Thanks in advance for the answers.

Answer 1

My kids really outdoor types, my daughters were into theater, but they all were able to go to summer camp through scouting and YMCA and one was into agriculture, raising farm animals.  My son preferred video games but he was involved with Seascouting for 5  years.  We live in the city and had more indoor opportunies than outdoor but I am an indoor person myself so I didnt' mind.

Answer 2

its defferent for every family

Answer 3

A lot thankfully.

As Glurpy said, it is VERY cold here today.  (We live in the same province)   Right now with our windchill it's -49C.   We just spent 1.5 hours digging our car out of our driveway as it was snowed in very well.  

Last week it was beautiful and we spent the entire week skiing.  

My kids love the outdoors and we spend a lot of time out there.   We are close to the mountains and when spring hits we find it hard to stay with our school work.  Instead we tend to do a lot of hiking and climbing.

Answer 4

Not nearly enough I'm afraid.

We do better in the spring, summer and fall than we do in the winter.

Some activities: boating, fishing, hiking, backpacking, gardening...

We are in a rural area.

This last summer (late summer) we back packed to a waterfall... about 5 miles into the wilderness and camped overnight.  We have these self contained tent hammocks ... we were pretty much awake all night because we got ourselves worried about bears sneaking up an snuffling around underneath of us.

We have intended to do some skiing this winter but haven't yet - not so much snow where we are these year.

***UPDATE - Been out stacking fire wood (really!) - gotta keep up the image.

Hammock - be ready for sticker shock.  The one I have is the "deluxe" my son has one of the smaller versions we make mom sleep in the crook of a tree (just joking - she's not into backpacking).

My son has a goal of hiking the entire Appalachian Trail and has started practicing with day and overnight hikes.  We've got the full set of very light weight gear... we started by visiting a local outfitter owned by a guy who has completed the trail twice to be sure we got good information.

If you are serious about backpacking in the deep wilderness, the tent hammocks are great... they go up in a couple of minutes and to me are much more comfortable than ground sleeping.

They are also very light weight - important!

Don't forget your bear spray!

Answer 5

My kids play outside a lot.  We used to do lots of outdoor activities as a family but then I hurt my ankle very badly and it is still very sore and stiff after 8 months.  If I step just a little wrong it  hurts.  So I've been sidelined.  I am doing physical therapy exercises on it, as well as losing weight to lighten the load on it, and hoping that by summer I'll be able to be a part of the game again.

Today my kids are playing in the snow! :o)

Answer 6

I live in a large city. The kids have has much time in the backyard as they want to play. Some days can be over 5 hours; other days, like today (it's VERY cold), no time. If they're to be out front, they have to be supervised.

Because of living in the city--and with yearly reports of attempted kidnappings, children being hit by cars--, I'm cautious about where they can play. I can't just let them go and play however completely unsupervised.

Homeschooling definitely affects my children's free time. They have WAY more free time than they would if they were in school. They aren't in school all day with only 15-minute recesses, they don't come home with homework...

Answer 7

I feel that our kids spend quite a bit of time outside.  We are very close to mountains, a large river, and a reservoir so there are ample opportunities for outdoor activities.  My children do the typical soccor, track, and baseball, but we are also avid campers that enjoy fishing, hiking, and riding atv's.  

Those are a little more structured, but our children also have plenty of opportunities to play in the backyard building forts, digging in the dirt, and just exploring nature.  I agree that it seems children's play time is so structured anymore that they don't have time to just be outside and explore (which is hugely important IMO).

Answer 8

Sounds like Hannahs parents are sick of her and the little ones anyway.... just shoving them outside for hours on end... maybe you should go to school.

Answer 9

I know what you mean; when I was a kid, we were out every available moment-- from the time school let out until dark (running in briefly for homework or supper) and on weekends and vacations-- forget it; all day, every day.

I think the difference is that back then parents would just let their kids out at age 5 and 6 and just check up on them once in a while; nowadays you feel as  though you can't let them out of your sight much at all, so you have to make time to go out with them, unless you're lucky enough to live on a very kid-friendly block.

For us, we like to get out of the house at least a couple of hours per day, and spend that time outside if possible, depending on the season-- sometimes just about every day, sometimes two or three times per week.

We do most of our book work & projects in the morning... we usually go out in the afternoon, be it to the park for a play date with other HSers, the library, the hands-on children's museum when weather is foul, etc... on Thursdays they have co-op and we rent a place with a big fenced-in yard w/a playground so they run out between classes and on their breaks, then usually spend a couple of hrs at the playground when classes end, so it's almost all day.

We also like to go on walks sometimes after dinner or occasionally wake up early to take a walk through the local nature preserve or go on a photo excursion.  

We camp about 4 times per year as well, twice with our homeschool group and twice with our religious group.

Your trip sounds wonderful, btw!

Answer 10

I was lucky to grow up in a neighborhood with lots of kids.  I played outside almost everyday.  Especially during the summer, mom always told us to go outside and play while it was 'nice'.  She would have us go outside and we were not allowed to be coming in and out all the time, so once we were outside it was usuallly for good.  Which was fine because normally we would get in someone's pool or sprinkler.  Once the other kids got home from school there was always someone to play with.  As I grew older, I didn't play outside as much, but my friends and I still talked outside where we could be around everyone else.  My parents still own the house I grew up in but the kids in the neighborhood are never outside.  It's really sad.  Our street used to be so loud with kids running around playing games, parents yelling at their kids to come eat dinner, now it's quiet all the time.  My little sister is an indoor kid.  She is usually so busy with lessons, schoolwork, practicing instruments, church, that she hardly ever plays outside.   Then again, there are not many kids in our new neighborhood either.

Answer 11

I hate when the kids can't get outside! The weather has been really wet here lately and time outside has been limited. I am so glad today is pretty and dry for a while at least because we're skipping school for them to play outside. They've been cooped up for 2 weeks and driving me nuts. Outside is my sanity keeper.

We live in a rural area and don't do any classes right now because we're too far from anything. We're hoping to move to a large city soon so when we do we're signing up for gymnastics and karate for the two oldest kids.

Sounds like ya'll had a great weekend! We rearranged the living room and caught up some laundry. Oh and filed our taxes.

Answer 12

Hi

my daughter is home ed and 15..cos she isnt at school she is always out most of her friends are over 16 so she is out AL the time!!!  

with mates out in town, at the gym, swimming, all sorts...its up to the kids really and she gets out far more than the kids stuck in  the classroom!!!

Answer 13

If Mum had her way, it'd be 16 hours a day, every day!

Most days, we're probably outside between 6 and 12 hours a day but when Dad's mustering, we might be outside for up to a week at a time. Then we just sleep in swags under the stars.

Nobody in our family has any scheduled play, even the little kids just get chucked outside and expected to make their own fun and games.

When it comes to us kids, Mum always reckons we'll come back when we're hungry or when we want something.

(We live on a pastoral property in a remote area)

Answer 14

I live in an urban area, and depending on the weather, I spend between 1-6 hours outside.

I'm in the Northeast, so when it gets cold, I can't wander around outside and read. At least, I can't do that and avoid leaving a trail of flakes that was once the skin on my hands.

When I'm in rural areas I usually can't wait to get outside, unless it's *really* freezing.

When I'm in suburban places I get really sluggish and end up staying inside all day, because it's too weird outside. Suburbs scare me.

Kids are spending more time inside for two reasons. The first is that they have ungodly amounts of homework and are convinced that their fourth-grade report cards are going to have a marked effect on their college chances.

The second is that parents are way, *way* too overprotective. I'm only 15, so it's not like I have a lot of world experience, but I remember that when I was on the playground and I got hurt, my parents brushed off any over sized chunks of debris and then put some Neosporin on it when I got home. In winter, they stuck me in a parka and tossed me outside. I seem to be fine.

My cousin Vince is a few years younger than me. He was with us, in a place in the Catskills, around December last year. To go outside and shoot some cans for a few hours, I put on a sweater, parka, hat, and shoved a pair of gloves in my pocket for the walk back. To go across a shoveled porch, down some shoveled stairs, walk across three feet of shoveled walk way, and come back, Vince's parents made him put on long johns, snow pants, boots, and his jacket.

You should protect your kids when they're actually in danger. Otherwise, they'll think everything is a threat.

Answer 15

I live in the suburbs of Chicago. My boys have all grown up spending a lot of time in the outdoors. For structured activities, they have all participated in Boy Scouts. On a daily basis, they bike ride, roller blade, walk the dogs, walk or ride to the library...being outside is a daily activity, with time varying from an hour to sometimes even overnight (sometimes they sleep in the yard!)

I know my kids have more free time being homeschooled. My youngest is a high school sophomore. He spends about 3-5 hours on school work (including his guitar). The rest of the time he is outside or working on computer 3-D art or programming or hanging out with his friends. He also heads over to his grandparents house one or two afternoons a week to work in their garden or help my dad with things dad can no longer do around the house.