Orienteering Made Simple An Instructional Handbook

The purpose of this book is to help teachers begin an orienteering program using a simple step by step approach.  The book is divided into 3 sections.  The first sections includes simple fun activities that are done indoors to get the students familiar with simple map reading skills.  Section two involves outdoor map reading skills and encourages more advanced map reading skills as well as recognizing map symbols.  The last section involved more advanced map reading skills in order to recognize landforms, contours and to make smart route choices.  The materials supplement at the end of the book has all of the handouts and game cards that are needed for all the lessons and activities in the manual.  This book takes away the anxiety behind trying something new by doing all the preparation work for the education or group leader.  Not all the activities need to be done in order to have a successful program.

There are enough activities to do for 10 – 12 weeks.  A field trip to a local orienteering site is a great way to finish the course and is sure to be a fun outing.  I hope educators and group leaders will take the challenge and try adding some variety to their program.  The fun and challenge is here for the taking.

I have been teaching physical education for 17 years and I have written several new programs for the PE curriculum.  I like to design creative programs that encourage cooperation, problem solving and decision making.  Over the years I have had numerous opportunities to try new programs and make the necessary adjustments or changes in order to make an activity that is fun and challenging.  I myself am an avid athlete and I like being active.  I am always interested in new challenges and because of this I try to bring this same enthusiasm for adventure to the classroom.