Homeschooling Field Trips
One of the questions I was often asked when people found out I was homeschooling was how my child would ever go on a field trip. Unfortunately, this was often met with an “Are you insane?” look. I wish I had been more tactful when I was young. But I digress.
People have pigeon holed field trips into a specific situation in which a child goes to an educational place with a couple dozen of their peers where they have a set such a hurried schedule in an attempt to see everything that it generally precludes actually learning anything. It should also include an overpriced sack lunch, and basically provide a free day out of school.
I classify a field trip as any excursion outside of the classroom that provides a good educational opportunity. This essentially means any time we leave the house. Now, I am not one of those moms who goes to the grocery store and then claims it as a complete math class, but I can tell you that there is a lot to be learned at a grocery store — math (which is the better deal?), science (is this a healthy option?), time management (make a list), social skills (help that older lady unload her groceries). I could go on and on. The lesson here is that learning opportunities are everywhere.
My family of professional educators, however, pooh-poohed that philosophy, so here is a better answer. I can take my kid on a field trip any day I want to, and let’s face it, they will probably learn more if they aren’t distracted by all their friends running hither, thither, and yon. Suppose we go to the aquarium. We can take our time and see exactly what we want to see. If they are very interested in the sharks, they can read all about the sharks and watch the shark tank as long as they want to. They don’t have to be hurried on to see the jellyfish or the clownfish, which they may not even find interesting. One could argue that only learning about the sharks is not a well-rounded field trip. I would argue that, if my kid learns a lot about only sharks on their field trip, then it is a win, because they learned about something they love, and learning about things you love tends to inspire a love of learning.
I believe the best field trips are the ones that inspire curiosity to delve deeper into a subject. For example, if I take my kids to Andersonville (which, by the way, is completely amazing), at first glance, they see an empty field. But when they start to hear the stories of the men who suffered and see the remains of the wells that they dug with spoons and their bare hands in their desperate attempts to find clean water, they begin to see history not as words in a book that correspond to black and white photographs, but as actual things that happened to actual people in this actual place.
I believe my kids’ favorite field trip was what they believed was a vacation. We drove from Georgia to Colorado. This happened during the last two weeks before we were officially scheduled to start school, so we just started counting early. Lest you think I was cheating, let’s see what we learned every day.
Geography — The kids had to learn how to read a PAPER map. They had to find the town we were in and plot a course on the map from where we were to where we wanted to end up.
Math — They had to use the legend on the map to calculate how many miles we had traveled that day. (Mom also cheated and brought math worksheets to keep them busy on the interstate in Kansas).
Art — They had to draw a picture of the most interesting thing they saw every day.
Language — They had to write a short essay to go with every picture.
History — We stopped at one historical museum every day. Did you know they used stone fence posts in Kansas because they didn’t have trees on the prairie? One county is even called Stone Post County.
Science — I can’t list all 14 days’ worth of things, but we learned everything from how they built the St. Louis arch, to the near extinction of the American bison, to why there is an abrupt tree line on the mountains in Colorado.
If you are new to homeschooling, don’t let the thought of field trips intimidate you. Google will tell you lots of interesting things in your area. A Google search of your kids’ interests will also show you some really cool field trip opportunities in your area that are educational without being touristy. Remember that the purpose of a field trip is to have a fun and meaningful educational experience. It doesn’t have to be expensive or glamorous for your kids to really love it. Don’t get sucked in by the mainstream criteria for a field trip. Think outside the box. I know you can do it. If you weren’t already a bit of a free thinker, you wouldn’t be a homeschooler.
Thanks for reading, and Happy Homeschooling!
Leona
