Do you go on field trips regularly as part of your homeschooling?

[Ginevra]

If yes, how do you organize/integrate trips into your plan? How much of a role does technology plan in your organizing?

 

If no, (but wish you did), what prevents you?

 

(When I say "field trips", I don't necessarily mean along with other hsers or co-ops. If you take your own family out for educational purposes, that is a field trip.)

[gardening momma]

Not much at all.

If no, (but wish you did), what prevents you?

Money--mostly gas money. There's lots of free stuff I can do...and I have a couple of books detailing what to do in this area, but when I think of the cost of gas, I stay home. I think it's ok if we go do some of this stuff, I doubt dh would begrudge the gas money for it; I just need to make myself do it. I tend to be a penny pincher.

[Mom2OandE]

We are planning too. Our first week we did a magic show on our first day just for fun. The third day we went to the Museum of Science and Industry after our work was done. Some of the field trips we have planned are as follows:

 

Science:

1. Monthly classes at the Aquarium in place of our usual science at home but still following our curriculum.

2. Scientist led field trips to a river, beach and pond.

3. 2 Disseciton classes at the Aquarium.

 

Social Studies:

1. Attend a play about voting.

2. As part of our state study we plan to visit Nasa in Florida, Georgia, Wisconsin, Dakotas, Minnesota, Illinois and possibly Louisianna. Maybe more.

3. A history event in regards to living in Colonial Times in a nearby city.

 

English:

1. 2 plays based on books we are reading.

 

A few other fun trips as well: childrens museums, zoos, science museums, movies based on books we read and possibly for the end of the year Universal after reading some of the Harry Potter books.

 

Oh wait my favorite - we are going to do a hydroponic garden in the Spring and will be going to Epcot to tour their garden and do a behind the scene tour!

[gardening momma]

If yes, how do you organize/integrate trips into your plan? How much of a role does technology plan in your organizing?

When we do go...the only technology I use is the internet...at home on my laptop. I don't have GPS or a smart phone or anything like that that I can use while we're out.

[*lifeoftheparty*]

Yes.

 

I plan the field trips for our CC group b/c we (DS and I) like to go with a group.

 

We are going on 13 this school year. So, about every 3 weeks but none in Nov. and only 1 in December.

 

I don't understand the technology question??? Most of my trips are set up by contacting the people by e-mail and submitting registration electronically. Is that what you mean?

 

I plan trips based on what is in our area and try to have them coordinate with what we are learning in CC. So, this year, we are learning Biology and Botany and stuff. So, we are going on some nature trips, the zoo, the aquarium, stuff like that.

 

But then I also plan trips that teach the kids about the world around them. Like, the fire station, the recycling facility, the landfill, hayrides, etc. Those are important too :) The kids always learn something, even on the fun trips, and, it exposes them to all kinds of career options.

[MrsMommy]

I try to plan something monthly. It doesn't always work out that way, but then again, there are some months where we go on more than one field trip, so I guess it all evens out. The only real roadblock to our field trips is admission to some places we'd like to go...there are just too many of us to pay large admission fees!

 

I either find things related to what we're studying (like going to Cahokia Mounds when we learned about the Native Americans, or hearing an astronaut speak when we learned about space), cultural events (ballet or music performances, usually), or something seasonal (like apple/pumpkin picking).

 

The only technology that I use for field trips is researching things online before we go!

[PeacefulChaos]

If yes, how do you organize/integrate trips into your plan? How much of a role does technology plan in your organizing?

 

If no, (but wish you did), what prevents you?

 

(When I say "field trips", I don't necessarily mean along with other hsers or co-ops. If you take your own family out for educational purposes, that is a field trip.)

 

We do, but not a ton. Like 3 a year. I try to coordinate them with our studies and we've taken advantage of a couple of homeschool days (which sometimes aren't necessarily related - we had fun nonetheless ;) ). Last year we went to the Georgia Aquarium in the fall (coinciding with animals/biology), the National Museum of Natural History in the spring (just basic history, didn't super-coincide with anything), and the botanical gardens the beginning of summer (coinciding with plants). We also checked out another museum's homeschool day last September.

This year my plans are similar. We're going to an art museum (which is free), some caverns or something of some sort (probably on a homeschool day), and possibly DC again, to hit up the National Zoo (which obviously has nothing to do with anything :lol: ) and the planetarium at the Air & Space. AFAIK that's all we're doing, but who knows... we took our kids to museums and stuff all the time and I think we would have done all this even if we never were homeschoolers. It's how I grew up, so it's just how I do things, I guess. :)

[GoVanGogh]

We have homeschooled six years and generally go on 30 or so field trips a year. This year has been slow - only 15 so far. (Jan-Dec school year.)

 

I actually leave a section of our school schedule empty so we can take advantage of field trips, as I believe it is better to learn hands-on as much as possible. We also do a lot of educational vacations. For a big vacation, I might plan a unit study around that region to 'up' the educational value. (Last year we went to Europe, so we studied the art, architecture and history of the region.)

 

Technology? I have a list of websites that I check out on a monthly basis. Does that count? But I also scan the newspaper's "Weekend Guide" every Friday morning. I keep an old-school list of possible field trips. (Ruled paper in my planner. :lol:)

 

 

Art:

I constantly scan the papers and websites to see what exhibits are coming up, then plan to study that artist or time period in our schooling.

Ex: Impressionist art exhibit, Mayan art exhibit, etc.

We also take classes at several local art galleries that offer homeschool classes and Saturday morning classes.

 

Literature:

I watch local theaters to see what is being produced, then we read the book, then see the play and do a compare/contrast between the two.

We are currently reading "Tom Sawyer" and will see the play next month.

This summer, we attended our first Shakespeare in the Park production, after reading the play. We will see another Shakespeare play this fall.

 

Science:

We keep memberships at a science museum and a nature center and attend as many lectures and guided hikes as time allows.

[angela in ohio]

When my dc were little, we did many. Now, with high schoolers and their academic needs and involvement in other things, we do less.

 

Much of my dds' education came from field trips when they were younger. We did day long trips to anything within reach, weekend trips with dh to cover everything other cities had to offer, and then vacation trips that consisted of one stop after another. My dc have seen every science center, park, historical site or museum, etc. in several states. :D We also did scheduled classes at different zoos, museums, etc., and we try to hit special events and exhibits.

 

We did some with organized groups, but more often we went on our own. We would seek out people who loved talking about their place, and it was easier if we were just a few. I also came to be more and more mortified by the behavior issues and such on homeschool field trips. :glare:

[Guest]

I don't understand the technology question??? Most of my trips are set up by contacting the people by e-mail and submitting registration electronically. Is that what you mean?

 

By this I meant researching on-line, or having an App that tells you about all the Civil War events or whatever like that. :)

 

I find that I don't utilize trips and activities as much as I wish mostly because I don't have a well-organized plan in advance and then I find it to be a pain to click endlessly through websites, trying to figure out my directions, admissions, gas money, where we'll eat and so on. I wonder if others would cite that as a problem as well. :bigear:

[rwjx2khsmj]

We took quite a few field trips (museums, plays, concerts, zoo, etc.) when we lived near a larger city. Though our opportunities here are more limited, we still incorporate field trips when we can. Most of the planning is done online.

[*lifeoftheparty*]

By this I meant researching on-line, or having an App that tells you about all the Civil War events or whatever like that. :)

 

I find that I don't utilize trips and activities as much as I wish mostly because I don't have a well-organized plan in advance and then I find it to be a pain to click endlessly through websites, trying to figure out my directions, admissions, gas money, where we'll eat and so on. I wonder if others would cite that as a problem as well. :bigear:

 

Oh, gotcha :) Well, I don't have a smart phone, so I just plan on the internet. We're only 26 miles from DC and less than that from Baltimore and Annapolis. We go places all the time, so that's how we find out about stuff. Also, talking to other moms and they will tell me about somewhere they went.

 

Also, the Columbia Homeschool Community posts all their field trips on their calendar, so I cheat and see what they have done for the past few years ;)

 

Planning outings is just one of those things I enjoy doing :) I plan everything and make fliers for the group, all they have to do is sign up and pay, if there are fees- and show up, of course :)

[angela in ohio]

By this I meant researching on-line, or having an App that tells you about all the Civil War events or whatever like that. :)

 

I find that I don't utilize trips and activities as much as I wish mostly because I don't have a well-organized plan in advance and then I find it to be a pain to click endlessly through websites, trying to figure out my directions, admissions, gas money, where we'll eat and so on. I wonder if others would cite that as a problem as well. :bigear:

 

Not really. Once you've done it a few times, you learn pretty well where the usual info is kept. I make a note of the cost and the hours, pop the number in my phone's GPS, and we are off. If we are going to more than one place (weekend trip, etc.,) I usually map our route out in Google and print it for the car. Then I write the hours and fees on that.

[Wheres Toto]

We do monthly field trips with our 4-H Cloverbud group (that I run). In addition, we have a membership at our local museum, go to Liberty Science Center, the zoo, nature centers, we went to Museum of Natural History in NYC a couple of weeks ago. Upcoming we have trips planned to go fossil hunting with a couple other homeschoolers and I'm hoping to visit the Statue of Liberty.

 

We do one every month or two so not too frequent outside of 4-H.

[6wishes]

We belong to a local homeschool group and one of the units of service is to organize field trips. So, we have taken part in some of those, but not all. My biggest reason not to has been the age/schedule of younger ones. The 3yr. Old goes to half day preschool, and the 2 year old is just at that age. This year though,I have vowed to do more. We are doing a nature club once a month at a local arboretum, then we'll do a pumpkin patch place/apple orchard. We also go to plays about 4times a year at the children's theater because they offer school shows during the day at discounted prices through our homeschool group. I would much rather do this then spend money on a movie :)!

[besroma]

No, but I would like to.

 

Gas money is a factor, as well as having little ones who would not be as interested as the older ones (in historical field trips).

 

I hope to plan more next year! :tongue_smilie:

[lea_lpz]

I try to do a field trip once a week, but most often it isn't place that requires money or a more then a 30 minute drive. Sometimes it's local. We'll take a walk on our local walking trail or drive to a near by county park to explore and hike but we are fortunate to have 2 camping grounds within a 15 minute drive, a very well kept walking trail and a huge biking trail. Occasionally, like maybe every couple months, we might do a more costly experience. We went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium a week ago and we will sometimes go to San Francisco or San Jose to hit a museum or zoo. But mainly, we do free stuff. There is a free old working farm that is close by that is free, as well as you pick berry farms and orchards. We're 30 minutes from the beach. Life is good. We pack a picnic, and in 30 minutes or less we can be somewhere, and even SF and Monterey are only a half hour away.

[Farrar]

We take an insane amount of field trips. It helps being in DC, I think. I have a blog I refer to a lot called Kid Friendly DC. They sum everything (or nearly everything) up nicely. I appreciate that. I used to use a website called Go City Kids that listed events, but it was bought out and slowly got worse and worse. And the local homeschool lists post a lot of events, which is cool. All that is specific to here, but I feel like other areas must have things like that.

[Ellie]

If yes, how do you organize/integrate trips into your plan? How much of a role does technology plan in your organizing?

 

If no, (but wish you did), what prevents you?

 

(When I say "field trips", I don't necessarily mean along with other hsers or co-ops. If you take your own family out for educational purposes, that is a field trip.)

For many years, we left the house every.single.Thursday for a field trip. Most of the time it was just the three of us. I rarely did field trips with my support group (no co-op) unless it was on Thursday or it was a great field trip that could only be done with a large group. Sometimes I invited a very few people to go with us, and only if I needed a group, in which case I hand-picked the people I wanted to go, and just the minimum required.

 

There wasn't "technology" when I was homeschooling. :) I relied on the newspaper, my AAA tourguide book, Sunset magazine, and so on. Sometimes we worked on Camp Fire badges; sometimes we found something that related to something we were actually studying; mostly we just left the house. :)

 

One of our field trips was a bus trip from San Diego (where we lived) to Virginia (where my family lived). It included Williamsburg and the Outer Banks. That one did take longer than one Thursday. :D

[AngelaNYC]

We try to do 2-4 field trips per month - usually with the homeschool group. I consider them a big part of ds's education. As far as technology, the hs group corresponds mainly online, there are usually prep pages found online that go along with the trip/class/tour, and of course, signing up and organizing these classes is done via websites and email.

[Mom-ninja.]

No, we don't go on too many.

 

Gas is expensive

 

My 3 yr old is not always so interested ;)

 

Usually have to drive far

[Stayseeliz]

We used to do that more when the kids are younger but now that we have writing classes, football, cheer, art, gymnastics etc there just doesn't seem to be enough time. We do travel a good bit though.

[Guest]

You guys are giving me some good ideas. I have belonged to a co-op for all of my past homeschooling years, but I'm taking a break from it this fall. I want to go on trips every Friday, rather than to the co-op, but I'm a bit bogged down on how I can get ideas together, so these ideas help. :001_smile:

[sewingmama]

We go on many, many field trips. One of the main reasons I homeschool is so my kids will be exposed to the world and not just sitting in the classroom (home) all day.

 

Twice a month we go with our local homeschool group (one lady does all the planning) and the other times I just do whatever I think will be fun and educational. :D

[mom31257]

I try to do at least 2-3 per school year. I'm a member of a support group that plans them, so they don't always fit into what we are studying. My kids are 6 years apart, so I don't want to stop taking them for my younger child just because I have a high schooler. We also do things as a family that I would say count as a field trip

 

Some we've gone on recently:

Magazine printing factory

Civil War battlefield with a full day of historical activities

Habitat for Humanity Global Village

Federal Reserve Bank

[Jenny in Florida]

If yes, how do you organize/integrate trips into your plan? How much of a role does technology plan in your organizing?

 

If no, (but wish you did), what prevents you?

 

(When I say "field trips", I don't necessarily mean along with other hsers or co-ops. If you take your own family out for educational purposes, that is a field trip.)

 

Yes, especially for my son, field trips are both fun and helpful, educationally.

 

I think about field trips when I'm brainstorming ideas for various subjects for the following year, and I include them on my list of ideas. I start a document (on the computer) for each subject in a folder for that school year as soon as I start having ideas of what I want to do that year. I type into the document everything I have on the shelves already that might be helpful, ideas of things I'd like to get, websites I think would be helpful, projects I think he'd like and field trips that would align with the topics.

 

Then, once I get into more detailed planning, I figure out where each field trip would be most appropriate. For example, I'm doing a two-film unit about early aviation as part of my son's American history class this year, and there's an attraction about 45 minutes from us called Fantasy of Flight that has lots of vintage airplanes. So, obviously, we want to go there either during the week we watch those films or right after.

 

I create a master document with all of the assignments for each week. At the bottom of the page is a box marked "Notes for Mom," and I type into that box -- in colored ink so I don't miss it -- prompts like, "Fantasy of Flight next week or soon."

 

The field trips I have on the plans for this year are:

 

- local art museum's Tiffany collection, to completement art history

- Fantasy of Flight to complement American history

- larger art museum's American Art before 1945 collection to complement art history

- larger art museum's American Art after 1945 collection to complement art history

- larger art museum's Contemporary American Graphics collection to complement art history

- two Shakespeare performances to build his Shakespeare credit

- two Metropolitan Opera HD broadcasts of operas adapted from Shakespearean plays, also for the Shakespeare credit

- a collaborative production of Midsummer Night's Dream put on by the local opera company and Shakespeare theatre, also for the Shakespeare credit

- a performance of the Mamet play Race to complement American government

- a performance of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, to complement music history

 

Those are the ones that are definite. A couple of venues we visit semi-frequently haven't announced their seasons yet. So, we may add a couple more things. For example, a local cathedral offers free, half-hour lunchtime concerts. If any of those happen to align with this year's music history study of American composers, we'll try to include them.

 

I have a list of optional ones, things we might get to, time and money and energy permitting. I usually try to leverage any necessary trips to include a field trip to something we might not otherwise get to do. For example, there are a couple of museums I'd like to do in Tampa, but we won't get to them unless we have some other reason to drive down there.

 

Sometimes, we don't get to do as many field trips as I'd like, simply because we don't have the budget or our schedule gets too packed. But there are so many good opportunities this year that I really want to try and get to everything.

 

 

As part of our state study we plan to visit Nasa in Florida

 

Ooops, I forgot that one. My son is also watching two films about the space program, and I want to take him to Kennedy Space Center to do their Then and Now tour, also.

Edited August 26, 2012 by Jenny in Florida

[Denisemomof4]

Yes. When I homeschooled my boys, I joined Family Resource Center. They set up tons of field trips for peope from New England. Since we rarely knew anyone, it was like a day alone, which I liked, but with the benefits of a group guided tour.

 

The girls had monthly field trips with our group. This year I plan to do most of our field trips alone and want to keep them at once per month minimum. We will have a planning day soon to schedule and choose them through May. SO excited about this. I have a few ideas but will use FRC and other homeschool groups to get more ideas.

[Dory]

We tuck our field trips into trips that we are already making as a family. We have a year pass to a few different places (museums, space and science centers and such), and we will just stop in for an hour or two on our way somewhere else. The kids love it and have really learned a lot from those sorts of things. My oldest is a very hands on learner and field trips make it more real for him. We are also part of a homeschool group that does field trips regularly. We don't have to go on them all, but when they have one that fits for us, then I will readjust our schedule so we can fit it in.

[Denisemomof4]

You guys are giving me some good ideas. I have belonged to a co-op for all of my past homeschooling years, but I'm taking a break from it this fall. I want to go on trips every Friday, rather than to the co-op, but I'm a bit bogged down on how I can get ideas together, so these ideas help. :001_smile:

 

If you go to the local homeschool group's websites, they usually have their calendar of events and field trips posted.

 

Do you have a FRC by you? I believe they are nation wide. TONS of great ideas.

[*lifeoftheparty*]

You guys are giving me some good ideas. I have belonged to a co-op for all of my past homeschooling years, but I'm taking a break from it this fall. I want to go on trips every Friday, rather than to the co-op, but I'm a bit bogged down on how I can get ideas together, so these ideas help. :001_smile:

 

There is a book called "Kids Love Maryland" they have one for every state, actually, and it's a giant list of places you can go for education trips. I have the MD, PA and VA ones :)

 

Go to the Columbia Homeschool Community's website and you can look at their calendar, but only past events and you can get all kinds of field trip ideas; they have like more than 70 trips a year.

 

Check out Smithsonian's "Discovery Theater".

 

We go on Fridays too :)

[Hoot]

If yes, how do you organize/integrate trips into your plan? How much of a role does technology plan in your organizing?

 

If no, (but wish you did), what prevents you?

 

(When I say "field trips", I don't necessarily mean along with other hsers or co-ops. If you take your own family out for educational purposes, that is a field trip.)

 

I wish we did more "field trips." Only 2 yrs. ago I overcame my severe phobia of driving and got my license. At this point, I have a very specific criteria for where I'm willing to drive. Most of the places that I want to take DS are too far away and/or require highway driving. When we do those types of trips it means DH has to drive. DH is not a very good companion on such trips. He tends to be very negative, whiny, and grumpy the entire time. Basically, unless it's within my driving radius, we carpool with someone else or there's a bus trip, we typically choose not to go.

[regentrude]

When the kids were younger: every weekend; more during the summer (our summer travels are one gigantic field trip in itself).

 

Weekly nature hikes in state parks and wilderness areas are an integral part of our home schooling philosophy. In addition, we used museum, theatre and concert visits as a central component of our arts and music education. We attend at least ten live performances every school year.

 

Because of our geographical situation we have to use whatever opportunities come our way and can not afford the luxury to choose activities that fit with our course of study. We have occasionally designed unit studies to prepare for certain field trips (for example, when a theater company was scheduled to perform Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, DD spent the preceding weeks studying Steinbeck and his other works.) If possible, we pre-read books if a performance is based on a book.

 

I use the internet for research; no other technology.

We do not do field trips together with other homeschoolers.

Edited August 26, 2012 by regentrude

[Dustybug]

I try to plan at least one field trip a month. Sometimes we do more, sometimes less. We do a lot of free admission stuff, so that we are more willing to eat the gas costs.

 

Last year we made several trips to the local science center and museum of art, we went to the NC Arboretum, we saw a play, went to the transportation museum, visited the Greensboro Children's museum, we went apple picking, strawberry picking, a village with replicas of Daniel Boone's cabins that were in our area, and to a home of a Revolutionary War captain. When we visited my mom in Northern Va., we went to the Air and Space Museum, the Museum of American History, the Aquarium, and on the way home we visited the Natural Bridge and Foamhenge (a life sized replica of Stonehenge made out of styrofoam).

 

This year, we plan on going to Tweetsie Railroad, the zoo, and a Revolutionary War battlefield. That's only the plans we have set for now. I'm sure that we'll put tons of other things in there as well. We just went hiking two days ago and got to see the remains of old mountain cabins.

 

We typically do our field trips alone because we prefer to explore and take our time without worrying about hindering someone else or a group. We are kind of nerdy and we all enjoy trips. :) The more educational the better. We also do lots of time at parks and the library.

 

When we do go...the only technology I use is the internet...at home on my laptop. I don't have GPS or a smart phone or anything like that that I can use while we're out.

 

:iagree:

[Lisbeth]

We go on many, many field trips. One of the main reasons I homeschool is so my kids will be exposed to the world and not just sitting in the classroom (home) all day.

 

Twice a month we go with our local homeschool group (one lady does all the planning) and the other times I just do whatever I think will be fun and educational. :D

 

This. We are deliberately trying to use a lot of hands-on learning. Not being cooped up is one of our priorities.

[Guest]

If you go to the local homeschool group's websites, they usually have their calendar of events and field trips posted.

 

Do you have a FRC by you? I believe they are nation wide. TONS of great ideas.

 

I'm not sure if there's an FRC near me. I will look it up!:001_smile:

[Guest]

I overcame my severe phobia of driving and got my license

 

:cheers2: :hurray::hurray: Good job!

[Hoot]

:cheers2: :hurray::hurray: Good job!

 

Awww. Thank you. :)

[FaithManor]

Sampling of field trips we've taken:

 

Alabama - Huntsville, Marshall Space Flight and Space Camp

Chicago Institute of Art

Chicago - Museum of Science and Industry

Chicago - Shedd Aquarium

 

Chattanooga - Aquarium

 

Cincinnati - Aquarium on the Levee

 

Dayton - Air Force Museum at Wright Patterson Air Base

 

Detroit - Detroit Institute of Arts, Henry Ford Museum, Greenfield Village, Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the Opera House, Detroit Zoo - if you get anywhere near Detroit, try really hard to stop at the Henry Ford and Greenfield Village...you can skip the zoo if you have a nice one in your home state...it's fun, but not special.

 

Other Michigan stops - Fish hatchery near Petoskey State Park, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Seashore, Hartwick Pines National Forest, Mackinaw Island, Sault Ste. Marie Locks (also the bush plane museum in Sault Ste. Marie, Canada during the same trip), Tacquamenon Falls (sp?), Pictured Rocks National Seashore, Danish American Festival, various science events at MSU, Midland Center for the Arts and the Dow Gardens (particularly in the spring when the butterfly house is delightful), and Longway Planetarium.

 

Florida - Toured a "Pirate Ship" that was in port and used in the filming of "Pirates of the Carribean", Cape Kennedy, Sea World, and Epcot.

 

Kentucky - Abe Lincoln's "home".

 

Manassas, VA - Civil War battlefield

 

Mount Vernon

 

Washington D.C. - Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian American History, Washington Monument, Library of Congress, the Russell Building (TARC team attended a Congressional Breakfast there), and the National Zoo.

 

Wyoming - Yellowstone National Park

 

We don't do field trips with homeschool groups.

 

My all time favorite field trip is Greenfield Village with DH. He ends up with a following! :D If there is something to be known about the Wright Brothers, Thomas Edison, trains, automobiles, and steam engines, then he's your man. He goes into the labs and workshops and explains EVERYTHING although I usually get a few words when we are inside Edison's lab since I'm a little stronger in chemistry than Dh. People end up all crowded around him and then they follow us around the Village for the rest of the day. The first time it happened, I was a bit disconcerted and to be certain, if we do the Henry Ford as well, it can get claustrophobic if they get to pressing in, but mostly I just wish I had a shirt that says, "I'm with Him!" The boys always seem to have some sort of half amused, half befuddled, half embarassed look on their face. They need t-shirts that have eye rolls and sheepish grins and say, "Yah...that's my dad."

 

Faith

[PeacefulChaos]

Wow! Some of you guys are amazing with how many field trips you take!

Is it due to where you live that you have so many opportunities?

I would love to take a field trip every month, but unfortunately funds just don't allow for that - there is by little to do that wouldn't require a drive of at least an hour plus admission, eating, etc. Unless I count the beach, an air show, the apple orchard and the pumpkin patch this fall, (and maybe a drive in the mountains), we can only do one. I don't think we have the stuff around us to be able to even consider one thing a week - there just isn't that much interesting stuff nearby. ;)

[FaithManor]

Wow! Some of you guys are amazing with how many field trips you take!

Is it due to where you live that you have so many opportunities?

I would love to take a field trip every month, but unfortunately funds just don't allow for that - there is by little to do that wouldn't require a drive of at least an hour plus admission, eating, etc. Unless I count the beach, an air show, the apple orchard and the pumpkin patch this fall, (and maybe a drive in the mountains), we can only do one. I don't think we have the stuff around us to be able to even consider one thing a week - there just isn't that much interesting stuff nearby. ;)

 

 

It's absolutely because of where we live. Plus, as 4-H leaders, we are able to finagle a lot of discount tickets for Michigan museums. Our state parks and even National Park areas (though NOT Isle Royale) are super cheap to visit. The DIA is really very family friendly and cheap. I wish I could say the same for the Opera House or Detroit Symphony. But, many, many events at Midland Center for the Arts, Dow Gardens, etc. are surprisingly low priced due to the generosity of Dow Chemical...we've taken the kids to some wonderful plays and musicals for as little as $5.00 per student aged 5-18, free to 4 and below, and then maybe $11.00 or in that ballpark for the adults. The Henry Ford and Greenfield are NOT reasonably priced, but we try to take 4-H members to volunteer for special events, etc. and get free or reduced price admission later and then MSU does a LOT of educational events for 4-H'ers for a little bit of nothing or free.

 

Faith

[*lifeoftheparty*]

Wow! Some of you guys are amazing with how many field trips you take!

Is it due to where you live that you have so many opportunities?

I would love to take a field trip every month, but unfortunately funds just don't allow for that - there is by little to do that wouldn't require a drive of at least an hour plus admission, eating, etc. Unless I count the beach, an air show, the apple orchard and the pumpkin patch this fall, (and maybe a drive in the mountains), we can only do one. I don't think we have the stuff around us to be able to even consider one thing a week - there just isn't that much interesting stuff nearby. ;)

 

Yes, we live right in the middle of DC, Baltimore and Annapolis. There is more to do here than we have time for :)

 

I must get good gas mileage b/c gas is barely a blip on our budget radar. I never even hit the $250 limit I have allocated for it, for both of our cars. Of course, DH drives a Hyundai Elantra (great mileage) and his commute is only 5-10 minutes. It's never a factor in where or whether or not we take a field trip.

 

Now, the eating out part, that's another story ;) I'm a foodie and LOVE to have a reason to eat out... I have to watch that.

[GoVanGogh]

Wow! Some of you guys are amazing with how many field trips you take!

Is it due to where you live that you have so many opportunities?

Partly.

We live between two major cities, so have many wonderful opportunities in the area. (Half-dozen top rated art museums, plus many more smaller art museums, for example.) Within 30 minutes, either direction, we can be in a major city. It is a nice location to homeschool.

But we also like to take educational vacations. DH and I were much older and settled when we became parents, which - I will admit - does help financially. We have had the vacation time and resources for bigger trips.

Several years ago, we flew to Atlanta, then drove around the state of Georgia on different 'field trips.' We plan to visit a few other states in that manner - flying into one central location, then driving around the state and spending a few days in different areas.

 

I must get good gas mileage b/c gas is barely a blip on our budget radar. I never even hit the $250 limit I have allocated for it, for both of our cars. Of course, DH drives a Hyundai Elantra (great mileage) and his commute is only 5-10 minutes. It's never a factor in where or whether or not we take a field trip.

Gas money has never been a blip in our budget, either. DH has a long commute and does burn through the gas. But most of my driving in just puttering around a few mile radius from home. DH is excited when I go further for a field trip, as he thinks my vehicle needs to get out on the open road more. :lol:

[GoVanGogh]

Plus, as 4-H leaders, we are able to finagle a lot of discount tickets for Michigan museums. Our state parks and even National Park areas (though NOT Isle Royale) are super cheap to visit. The DIA is really very family friendly and cheap. I wish I could say the same for the Opera House or Detroit Symphony. But, many, many events at Midland Center for the Arts, Dow Gardens, etc. are surprisingly low priced due to the generosity of Dow Chemical...we've taken the kids to some wonderful plays and musicals for as little as $5.00 per student aged 5-18, free to 4 and below, and then maybe $11.00 or in that ballpark for the adults. The Henry Ford and Greenfield are NOT reasonably priced, but we try to take 4-H members to volunteer for special events, etc. and get free or reduced price admission later and then MSU does a LOT of educational events for 4-H'ers for a little bit of nothing or free.

Wonderful information!

I also wanted to add: You can order information from the state tourism department which often includes coupons or discount information.

Also, most museums have a free or discounted day. Ex: One of our art museums is free the first (or second?) Tuesday of every month. Another art museum is free every day, as they are considered an "educational" museum and receive grants to make the museum free to the public.

Smaller country historical museums are often free or by donation. I have found if you visit them in the middle of the school day, you often find a (bored!) lovely, older docent/tour guide who is all to willing to share and share and share with interested children.

I read through our paper's guide every week, looking for economical ideas.

If you are visiting a larger city, many offer a week long pass that is good for a number of tourist attractions - believe we did this in Memphis, Houston and Atlanta. We went to Paris last year and was pleased to find that children were free to most museums. We just bought a week pass for the adults, which made it very economical to see so many sites.

[Abigail4476]

If yes, how do you organize/integrate trips into your plan? How much of a role does technology plan in your organizing?

 

If no, (but wish you did), what prevents you?

 

(When I say "field trips", I don't necessarily mean along with other hsers or co-ops. If you take your own family out for educational purposes, that is a field trip.)

 

Yes, but they aren't all a big deal. We go to the park, the library, local gardens, art museums and the zoo quite often, with the park and library figuring in about once a week. Bigger trips like the Children's Museum, Science centers, etc., we only do a few times a year. I research new places online, but there are some we visit over and over. (Jasmine-Moran Children's Museum, OKC Omni-Plex, Woolaroc and Pea Ridge Battlefield are a few family favorites.) I also try to plan educational field trips into our vacations. For example, we're having Christmas away from home this year, and we plan to visit the space center near Huntsville, AL.

 

We organize field trips the same way we organize everything else: find an empty spot on the calendar and good luck with that! :tongue_smilie:

[NanceXToo]

Yes, we do pretty frequent field trips. I organize a homeschool group on Meetup.com and I'm always looking for field trips and educational tours and homeschool day programs and so on to post for our group, and there are a couple of other people who occasionally post things to do as well. Field trips are one of my favorite parts of homeschooling!