I know that all parents have observed their children finding a topic, or an object, that just trips their inquisitive trigger and makes them go off on a tangent of exploration and research. Isn’t that just the coolest thing?! Their eyes light up and they talk excitedly about how they plan to go about their quest for knowledge. Their enthusiasm is contagious among siblings and friends. So, here is what I learned recently while following a group of homeschoolers online – parents are intentionally planting books, games, art supplies, bits of nature, recyclables, etc. around the house for children to discover. This deliberate process is a trend known as strewing.
What does strewing look like? Imagine a collection of materials with a sort of common theme (e.g. space, or reptiles, or castles, or farm animals…). The items might include topical books, art supplies, a cardboard box, and a magnifying glass. It seems to work best in an uncluttered area of the house so it stands out a bit. There may be a coffee table or a book shelf that typically has unnoticed items on it (i.e. boring, grown-up stuff that kids consider part of the background scenery). Kids notice novelty. When something isn’t where it should be, it gets their attention. And, when something interesting is in now in that place, their curiosity is piqued.
It seems the biggest struggle with strewing (for parents) is that it is hit-and-miss. You might place a game on the table that gets no attention at all. If the kids ignore the game for a week or so, you might prompt them by asking if they noticed it, but that is as far as you push. You have to let it go. The idea is for strewing to be student-led and delight-driven. But, when you do “hit” on something and the children run with it – awesome! Parent win!
Strewing is contrived and organic at the same time, sort of like hiding the elf at the holidays and watching the children delight at finding it in the morning. I like to think of it as planting a seed and watching it grow. Sounds lovely, eh? You really don’t have to be particularly creative to try strewing at home. You might find something curious out on a walk and put it in your pocket for later. This wee object could be a single-item-strew or it may inspire you to collect some books on the topic of birds (if you found a broken shell) or nocturnal mammals (if you found a curious clump of fur).
Strewing brings siblings together on a project, making it perfect for the off-school season or when you all need a brain-break from your daily curriculum. Older kids can do research, younger kids can ask interesting questions (and vice versa). Classical parents, Charlotte Mason fans, traditional homeschoolers, un-schoolers, fans of unit studies, even parents with kids in a public or private school can do this! Teachers do it in a classroom all the time. You have maybe already done it at home too, and now you know it has a name – strewing!
For the parent who thinks it sounds really cool, but just doesn’t have the time to assemble a collection of materials and see what happens, I assembled a Summer Strewing Bundle you can order and try (with free shipping). It could be that you let the kids open the box as if it just showed up – Gosh, whatever should we do with all this neat stuff? – you might say. Or, more sneakily, hide the box with the Rainbow Resource Center shipping tape & cute sticker (always a fun thing to arrive at the house), remove the goodies, find a spot in your home to strew the collection, and then wait. Wait for your darlings to discover these fun, varied, nature-themed books with a task to complete – the Nature Explorer’s Scrapbook. Wait for them to dig in, explore, problem-solve, read, and use these resources they haven’t seen before. Oh, and you will be adding some lovely new books to your home library too!
