Field trips - where and how often?

[craftymama]

How often do you really take your children on field trips? And where do you go? Do they always have a strong educational tie in or are some for fun?

 

I'd love to be better at this.

[mommaduck]

It all depends upon what opportunity presents itself and cost. Any trip or fun stuff we do (zoo, science center, museum) counts. I don't schedule them in and I don't set a certain amount of trips. Some years we've done none and some years we've done many.

[marbel]

What kinds of things are around you?    Your oldest is 7?   Local gardens/arboreta, zoo, art musueum, children's museum, aquarium, beach, lakeshore, riverbank, nature park, factory tours.  Around here a large grocery store chain has field trip opportunities.  Library storytime, the playground. historic sites.   I would (and have!) considered all those places educational "field trips" when my kids were elementary age. 

 

Even in high school some of those places are still educational, but with additional focus.  Our local arboretum has a "native tree tour" which we took over the course of a few visits, sketching the trees, making notes about the bark and such. 

 

What part do you need to be better at?  Finding places?  Taking the time?  Just getting out the door?  (That last can be the most challenging one!)

[Jennay]

We go on lots of field trips. 

I try to tie historical places into what we are studying in history, but it's not always a perfect fit for each child.

In the past week we went to an art museum, a historical museum, and a state park with a lake and hike to a waterfall.

We love the National Parks and National Historic sites.

[craftymama]

To be honest, I think I've taken a lot of the fun out of homeschooling. I know there are tons of things to do around the area as we are between DC and Baltimore. Last year i only did things directly related to what we are studying - the planetarium during astronomy type thing.

 

I feel as though I am trying to do too much and not having any fun.

 

So, for field trips I would like to schedule more. It is very unlikely I will add them at the last minute unless there is a direct connection to what we are studying. And then I want to stay committed to actually getting out of the house and getting there. I have postponed the Air and Space Museum at least three times.

 

Last semester we did a lot of the science center. My kids would go there every week if it were an option. We will go there several times this year as well and I have signed up for a number of their homeschool classes in October.

 

I have selected history topics that tie into our fall and spring vacations to Philadelphia and Gettysburg so I guess those are like really big field trips instead of vacations.

 

My oldest is eight. My signature is only slightly out of date.

[Mama Geek]

Dd is really not old enough for some of the field trips that I plan to eventually do.

 

City council meeting

School board meeting

State senate or house meeting or both

A civil and criminal trial

Plant or factory tours...I toured a bottling company when I was young and still remember it.

Battlefields or other historical sites

A farm

Science museums

And I am sure there are others that I am just not thinking about right now.

[happypamama]

We've done museums, zoos, historic sites. . . Our co-op has also done a bunch of "exploring the community" trips, like to local farms, the library, fire station, police station, grocery store. Those are fun for the younger kids especially.

[Mandylubug]

We typically fly somewhere for day trips but we can do this due to DHs job. If we didn't have that opportunity available to us, we would drive to state and national parks surrounding us. We've just seen most and not interested.

 

I do try to have it be somewhat educational but you can really make anything be considered educational. 

 

This Saturday we are flying to D.C. again, just to tour the Air and Space museum and to view the sun through their solar filters if weather is permitting. We are mid study of Apologia Astronomy and want to really take our time in the museum this time and not attempt to see it all but focus on the space exhibits, etc.

 

We typically only do special trips once a month or so. Flying out of state typically only happens in fall and spring. Flights are too busy during summer and holidays for us to fly standby with our size family.

 

[AngelaNYC]

We go on a field trip at least twice a month.  We're at an advantage living in NYC where there are so many places to visit within 30 minutes from my doorstep.  The majority of our trips are educational.  Some are fun.  In a few weeks we're going to the Ripley`s Believe it or Not exhibit in Times Square. At the end of September we're seeing Cinderella on Broadway.  Rockefeller Plaza at Christmastime (and seeing the window displays) are a tradition for us.  I'd like to revisit all of our favorite museums and try a bunch of new ones this year.  Field trips (especially ones that include a class with homeschooled friends) are a huge part of ds's education.

[AngelaNYC]

Oops double post

[Ellie]

For the first five years, we left the house every Thursday for a field trip. All of them were "educational," even if they were to the mall. There was the time, for example, when we went to the mall in La Jolla and dropped in on the ice skating rink there. As it happened, it was the day that all of the classes were doing their "recital," and they had a special guest: Dorothy Hamil.

 

Sometimes our field trips were related to a Camp Fire patch, or something we had read about in our studies or in the local newspaper. Sometimes they were seasonal, such as picking apples in Julian (California) in the fall. We often went to the tidepools at Point Loma.

 

Sometimes we invited friends to go with us, but mostly it was just the three of us.

 

And we always did it on Thursday, because rearranging even my unschool-y home life for field trips with my support group (which didn't even exist when I started hsing) totally messed me up, lol.

[carriede]

If it helps, I'm pretty sure 95% of my public school field trips had nothing to do with what we were specifically studying at the time.

[regentrude]

When the kids were younger, we did something every weekend. Nature hikes, state parks, museums, nature centers, live performances, crafts demonstrations, historic reenactments...It is part of our lifestyle and was even before we started homeschooling.

[Sherry in OH]

We have 2-3 weekday field trips per month, plus family excursions on many weekends.  We try to balance expensive experiences with free or low-cost options.

 

September’s plans thus far – Revolutionary War reenactment, science museum (homeschool lab), zoo (homeschool class), cave tour, eye exams, wool festival, and a Cub Scout cookout.  I’d like to fit in a visit to an apple orchard and maybe an art exhibit. 

 

The cave tour and the wool festival have loose connections to current studies.  The eye exams are necessary.  The others just happen to be held in September.

 

Other activities already on our calendar include more science museum and zoo classes, Cub Scout activities (including "Go See Its"), theatrical productions, symphony concerts, parks programs, festivals, library events, and historical sites.  

[Arcadia]

We go on "field trips" almost every weekend.  More fun than educational.  It is also the only time we would be out of the house and getting some "PE" done. We go to state parks, beaches, museums.  We will probably be going apple picking soon at a U-pick farm and also to pumpkin farms for Halloween fun.  We have done strawberry picking and cherry picking at farms.

[ScoutTN]

We do both fun and educational. We do some by ourselves, some with friends (One mom will email anywhere from 3 to 20 families with her plans and invite others to join in. 5 or 6 different moms will organize one or two things each. No formal plan or structure.) and some with a tutorial that has a FT group. Nice to have other people plan some b/c they think of things I wouldn't!

I try to have two each month. We do theater, a wide variety of live music, historical places, science/nature, art and community events. When my kids are older I'd like to do some more political/civics things. 

 

Our biggest hits so far in three years of homeschooling:

dairy farm 

Broadway musicals - Mary Poppins and Lion King

K-9 police dogs 

 

On our list for this year:

Shakespeare in the Park - A Midsummer Night's Dream

19th Century Trades festival - weaving/spinning/dyeing wool, blacksmith, gunsmith, potter, frontiersman, cooking, soap making, Civil war surgeon etc. Lots of hand-on things to do and the artisans and re-enactors are great.

Family camping trip

Visit to our CSA farm - Old Order Mennonites. They have the best hayrides ever! Gorgeous matched teams of huge horses! And all the turnips and greens you can pick!

3 plays - Beauty and the Beast (Broadway), Schoolhouse Rock and Lyle the Crocodile (local theater group)

Several symphony concerts - Peter and the Wolf, Firebird and two others

Live bluegrass music at the public library courtyard.

Puppet show at the public library? Haven't checked the schedule to see what they are doing... 

Art class - clay/pottery

Thanksgiving program and meal with a Chinese/Asian church. 

Planetarium

Tour of Whole Foods

Lego robotics workshop

Gem and mineral museum

 

 

The Zoo, Botanical Garden and various parks/nature centers are regular destinations for us and don't require much planning. 

We'll probably have a few more organized things come up as the year goes on. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TraceyS/FL]

I'm shooting for once a month right now.

 

Aug: waterpark on Friday

Sep: play at Orlando Rep

Oct: had an amazing Legoland opportunity arise

Nov: Ren Faire

Dec: another play

Jan: another play

 

My ex is currently fighting to have the kids return to PS, but the first four trips will happen regardless.

[Elfknitter.#]

We had a field trip today, for no other reason than the Groupon voucher I purchased expired next week. :lol:

 

We went to the Petersen Automotive Museum (http://www.petersen.org/). I try to shoot for a field trip about every 4-6 weeks. Some are local, some are a bit of travel. But this way, we are guaranteed to get out of the regular routine once a month. More often than not, field trips do not relate to our current studiesl

[HappyMomMd]

I am in the Baltimore area. There are a ton of great field trip ideas here...but they cost $$. I try to get the kids out anytime there is something with free or reduced admission. Here a few free or reduced trips that would be fun. Maryland Zoo--Free on Oct. 1, B&O Railroad Museum--Free on Oct. 8 & 22. Baltimore Museum of Industry--Free on Oct 6 & 20 (Those dates are Sundays), Walters Art Museum--Free everyday, Baltimore Museum of Art---Free everyday....they have fun art classes on Sundays, Maryland Science Center--$2 per person from Oct 1-18 (Tuesday through Fridays). The Science Center is offering classes to homeschoolers  on those dates. Check out Free Fall Baltimore for more free activities in October.

[Camelfeet]

I have selected history topics that tie into our fall and spring vacations to Philadelphia and Gettysburg so I guess those are like really big field trips instead of vacations.

 

 

I don't do many outright "educational" field trips.  We get out of the house for book clubs, library runs, beach meets, and sports and fun days organized by our hs association.  I'd say we spend at least 1 day of the school week out of the house doing things.  I don't view these things as directly educational.  There isn't much in my area in the way of museums or science centers.  Last year around our city we went to a camel dairy, a mangrove and beach cleaning day with an environmental group, we had an international culture day, went to the underwater zoo, ice skating, desert camping, a camel and horse ranch, date farm, and city museum.      

 

I find vacations so much better with regards to learning.  Like you we do vacations - we aim for 4 per year and I try to tie it into what we are learning about.  I'm taking them to Petra in October.  Hoping to go to socotra in March.     

[Mandy in TN]

How often do you really take your children on field trips? And where do you go? Do they always have a strong educational tie in or are some for fun?

 

I'd love to be better at this.

I am also trying to be better at this, so, instead of spreading this semester's work over 90 days/ 18 weeks, I spread ds's work over 80 days. This leaves us 10 days for field trips without interfering with school work completion.

 

We will be going to 1 play, A Wrinkle in Time, at the Children's Theater. We have already spent a day at a nature center where ds did forest ecology in the morning and pond ecology in the afternoon. We plan to do 1 lab at the science center, 1 class at the zoo, and 2 trips to the art museum (right now they have a vintage car exihibit and garbage art. Then, in Nov they have Norman Rockwell.). I also have tickets to all of the symphony dress rehearsals and the q&a sessions after the rehearsals.

 

We also went to NYC for 2 days after the start of the year and, while ds didn't take off school to go (he worked the Sat before we left so that he would not have to choose between working there or loosing a day) I am definitely including those as school days. We also went to the Shakespeare in the Park production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Even though we went on a Sunday night, I will be including it in his school info.

 

My son is 10yo, read A Wrinkle in Time this summer, studied A Midsummer Night's Dream (through children's versions, the complete play, and movie versions), likes animals, cars, and Norman Rockwell, enjoys science, and plays violin. So, these things make sense for him. I am excited for him and happy that I took the time to include these things this fall.

 

HTH-

Mandy

[MinivanMom]

We love fieldtrips.  Being able to hit the museum on a quiet Tue morning is one of the best perks of homeschooling.  We do 2-3 fieldtrips per month plus family outings on most weekends.  We go to:

 

Zoo

Beach & Aquarium

Mountains

State Museum of Art

State Museum of History

State Museum of Natural History

Science Museum

Childrens Play Museum

Symphony performances

Ballet performances (both for our local ballet & the big state ballet)

Plays

Broadway shows (the ones that visit locally on tour; we don't regularly drive to NYC)

Historical Sites

Living History Museums

 

We also alternate between a year where Disney World is our big vacation and then two years where we visit historical sites.  Last year was Disney, so this year we've been doing historical sites.  In the spring we spent a week in Williamsburg and visited Jamestown and Yorktown also.  In the summer we spent a week in Penn and visited all the sites in Philadelphia, spent a day in Amish country, and then attended the Gettysburg 150th Anniversary reenactments.  Next year we are doing a trip to DC and will see all the museums and historical stuff there.

[chelsmm]

We live near Boston, so we have a ton of opportunities right near by. This year we will go to-

 

Boston museum of science probably weekly for the free science experiments

Children's Museum

Museum of fine arts every other week for art classes

Plimoth Plantation

Brewster museum of natural history ( we went twice already and love it)

Different Massachusetts parks (minuteman, cape cod national seashore, breakhart reservation)

Boston orchestra ( we will try to go once)

North shore music theater ( we usually go once or twice a year)

Apple picking once a season

Aquarium

I am also trying to get a trip together to see a glass blower and to visit a new whole foods that opened nearby that has a 1000 ft roof top garden.

 

They will all be educational, but not necessarily exactly relating to what we are learning at the time.

 

My kids are little, so I think it's fine to do a lot of trips.

[phathui5]

Since moving to Oregon, we have gone to the capitol building in Salem twice for the midwifery lobby day.

 

Dd got to go to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry with friends. 

 

Dh took all the kids to the Oregon Zoo the day they dropped me at the airport for my trip to Haiti in June.

[Elfknitter.#]

Have you checked local organizations for Home School days? They seem to be increasingly popular here and more often than not include a reduced price for admissions or activities. For more costly locations, I usually opt to attend during a home school day so that it becomes a fun, educational trip we wouldn't otherwise have been able to do.

[Sherry in OH]

Have you checked local organizations for Home School days? They seem to be increasingly popular here and more often than not include a reduced price for admissions or activities. For more costly locations, I usually opt to attend during a home school day so that it becomes a fun, educational trip we wouldn't otherwise have been able to do.

 

Also check for education days.  Although intended for schools, many venues welcome homeschool families.  The tickets are usually inexpensive.

[My3girls]

Well, this is our first year, but I plan to do a few field trips each semester. We do a monthly trip with Girls Souts already so I don't know that we really need too much more. Here's what we have planned so far.

 

Sept. - Girl Scout Camp out at the lake, Bird watching Nature Hike (professor led), harvest at the homestead at Red Top Mtn, and homeschool day at Stone Mountain

 

Oct- homeschool day at the Atlanta Aquarium, farm/ pumpkin patch

 

Nov - Pow-Wow with Girls Scouts, Katniss weekend camp out with Girls Scouts, and the Parthanon in Nashville

 

We'll see if I can actually come up with the money, and vacation time from work to do all that. Lol

[Farrar]

Once or twice a week on average. We live in DC, so mostly we frequent the museums and national park spaces, but we do a lot of nature trips too, and get out of the city to farms and so forth sometimes. I consider them all educational, even if we just have a walk in the woods or run around on a beach or see half of one exhibit.

[Lilaclady]

We take field trips about 2-3 a month. When the kids were younger did a lot of

Veterinary offices

Dentist

Library

Post office

Fire station

Police station.

Now we do

Airfield,

Weather stations

Renaissance fair

Musicals, shows, performances

Nature center events, corn maize/ fall events

Factory tours etc

I love field trips and love exposing my kids to different things. It's one of my favorite things about homeschool