Experiential Education

When I was seven years old, my family and I packed our suitcases to join my Father on yet another business trip. While my Dad had to work most of the time that my Mom, brother and I accompanied him on these adventures, my parents saw these times as opportunities to provide my brother and I with an experiential education and spend time together as a family–even if that time was during a quick breakfast, lunch, dinner or on a weekend during the trip.

On this particular trip, we joined my Dad at a conference in South Carolina. In my first grade class, we were learning about ocean creatures, which my Mom kept up with fervently.  Maybe it was her prior profession as a teacher or her role as PTA President, but she was always aware of what was going on in our classrooms, even with the sparse communication that our teachers infrequently provided. She saw these trips my Dad was obligated to attend as an opportunity to provide my brother and I with an experiential education–in other words, bring our learning full circle by providing us with real world, tangible experiences.

Boy, did those times resonate for Andrew, my brother, and me. My Mom would take us to the library prior to leaving (this was pre-internet) and we would explore the fun things we would be able to do at the destination. I remember her laying out brochures and books all over our guest room. She would talk with our teachers and get the lessons we would miss to make sure that when she took us out of the classroom, we remained in line with the class and the experiences she provided were relevant to what we were learning in school and would only enhance anything missed.

During this particular trip to South Carolina, we were able to release baby sea turtles, explore tide pools and all of the critters that lived there, visit the aquarium and snorkel. I still remember staying up late to release the baby turtles and learning that this human interaction helped the species survive. I remember touching the bumpy starfish at the aquarium and learning that these creatures release their stomachs to eat. I loved diving down with my snorkel to dig for the clams whose bubbles floated up and tickled my toes. The special picnic dinners we packed to surprise my Dad when he returned from his meetings will always remain in the forefront of my mind. We stayed up late jumping on the beds, ate ice cream sometimes twice a day and explored and learned our hearts out. Andrew and I still recall these experiences today and can recall the teacher and lessons that we learned from in school that year that related to these family excursions.

Coming home from this trip when I was seven, I remember sitting in the back of the plane, counting my sea shell loot on the tray table in the dark. It was a late flight and my brother was screaming, which was rare for him, but the air pressure on planes frequently bothered his ears.  The flight attendant came back to us and told my parents that they were brave souls–it was late and we should be in our beds at home, getting ready for a normal Wednesday morning during the school year. I remember my Mom replying that she felt like this was worth it because of the experiences we had. I now know that she meant both the educational experiences, the family time and the life lessons we gained on these trips–not the twice daily black cherry ice creams, like I had then concluded.

When we returned to our classrooms, we were able to apply the information that we had learned and recall facts that were now real to us. Andrew and I were good students, and I attribute most of that to these magical experiences that allowed us to understand that learning is exciting.

In 2010, I had the most wonderful graduate professor, Dr. Kris Sloan. He taught two of the intro classes to an MAT, one of which was Foundations of Education. He passionately re-introduced us to the big players in our country’s education history and encouraged us to contemplate their reasoning. Many of these masters in education resonated strongly with me–and still do. But one in particular, whose theories and research made me recall so many wonderful learning experiences that illuminated subjects and ideas in my mind and heart was John Dewey. His theories provided validation through research and evidence of the benefits of experiential education.

I knew that these experiences were vital to fully grasping a topic and inspiring further curiosity and motivation to learn. Upon studying Dewey and “Dewey-ites”, I had support in theory and research. What also became evident through my twenty-something eyes as I implemented a curriculum in our first year of offering preschool at Lupine Lane (then called Mother’s Day Out) that provided these “outside of the classroom” opportunities was that when these times are with shared with others, the people involved grow closer through learning outside of their expected and comfortable environment. They provide a shared learning experience that ignites passions, relationships and motivation to learn more–yes, even in early childhood–perhaps even more so in early childhood.

As we have grown the last years, I have and will continue to reiterate the philosophical “why” and the benefits of the presence of field trips and events in our curriculum at Lupine Lane:

1. The experiential education component allows classroom learning to become real and full circle.

2. The trips allow opportunities for parents to spend time with their child during these learning experiences and understand their child in their learning and social environment, creating a deeper more meaningful connection for the child.

3. The trips also offer the incredible benefit of families connecting with other families at the school.

As we continue to grow, we will continue to evaluate how to best maintain this vital component of our school philosophy in a way that best serves the children. As always, we appreciate your feedback. Thank you for your continued positivity, participation in your child’s development and support of your child’s school.

Peace, happiness and smiles-

Lauren