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- 🐴 What lawnmowers and baby cows can teach us
🐴 What lawnmowers and baby cows can teach us
"The 50 Yard Challenge" turns lawn mowing into life-changing lessons for kids 8-17. PLUS: What Japanese first-graders and a calf named Laura teach us about natural learning.
3 Quick Bites:
🍎 Why every child is naturally wired for learning (and what blocks it)
🍎 The 1991 Japanese classroom experiment that pioneered project-based learning
🍎 How mowing 50 lawns is teaching kids entrepreneurship and community service
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💡 THOUGHT
MYTHBUSTING
The myth: Some kids just don't like learning.
The truth: Every child is born a natural explorer. They're hardwired for discovery.
What often looks like disinterest is usually just:
Too much structure
Not connected to the real-world application
Limited space for wonder
When given freedom to pursue their interests, a student’s natural curiosity flourishes.
📊 TREND
LESSONS FROM A CALF
In 1991, a class of first-graders in Japan raised a calf named Laura. They built barns, calculated feed costs, and made real decisions about her care – all part of their regular lessons.
The math, science, and economics flowed naturally. But the real learning came from facing decisions with actual consequences.
Three decades later, we call this project-based learning. Back then, it was just students learning from life.
🔨 TOOL
MOWING WITH A MISSION
Want to teach real-world skills, community service, and entrepreneurship all at once? The "50 Yard Challenge" invites kids ages 8-17 to mow 50 lawns for free – specifically helping elderly neighbors, disabled individuals, single parents, and veterans.
Kids earn different colored shirts for every 10 lawns completed. Hit all 50? They receive a full set of lawn equipment to keep their service (or business) growing.
What started in Huntsville, Alabama now has participants in all 50 states and 8 countries. Because sometimes the best lessons don't come from textbooks – they come from getting your hands dirty and helping others.
That’s all for today! See you tomorrow.
– Charlie (the OpenEd newsletter guy)
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