One of the best parts of homeschooling is that you can take your kids places that let them experience the lessons they learn out of a workbook in person. They get to participate more actively in their learning on fun field trips, and the whole experience makes the subject they’re studying come alive in a way that a lecture or reading a chapter can’t. Here are some ideas to spur your field trip creativity for the upcoming school year.
- Living History Farm – Check out your local living history farm for live demonstrations of how people used to live in the area in the 1800s. Staff members dress the part, tell stories, and lead tours of the farm. Kids may get to pick cotton, pet farm animals, or even tour an old farmhouse. Washington-on-the-Brazos in Brazos County, Texas is a state park with a living history farm that features a homeschool day where homeschool students can enjoy the farm together.
- Drive-Through Safari Park – Take your kids on a different sort of zoo adventure. Drive through a safari park, and let the animals come right up to your car. Watch out, though! Those zebras and ostriches can stick their heads in open windows and bite. The park should have some printed information on the animals that your kids can read about as they travel through the park. Follow up on the trip by having your child research and prepare a presentation on her favorite animal. Or you could call the park before you go and find out more about the types of animals that are there or unique features or installations in the park that you could use to create a scavenger hunt for your kids.
- Natural Science Museum – The exhibits at natural science museums change regularly, and you can plan your trip to coincide with a particular topic of interest to your child or with a thematic unit he’s studying. Fossils, dioramas of ancient landscapes, and hands-on exhibits make natural science museums popular with kids. Some even have planetariums, so you can take your little Galileo to a show about her favorite topic: constellations.
You are not limited as a homeschooling parent to just the field trips that kids in public schools usually go on. Make your own field trip that matches your child’s interests. Plan a day trip to your state’s capital if your child really likes learning about government, or to the local library’s storytime if your child is really into books.
