Field Trips (and a word about “Socialization”)
Field trips are a great way to encourage your child to be curious! Hands-on learning experiences often give children a better understanding of subject material than simply reading about it. History comes to life, Science becomes relatable, Math seems more relevant when incorporated into outings and activities. Field trips may be limited by your resources and geographical location, but with some imagination and research, you can find ideas for educational outings in many unexpected places!
Curious Homeschool Tip: Seek out field trips and activities which encourage active learning and participation, not necessarily entertainment. This is easier said than done! Children who expect to be entertained all the time will not learn to be curious. They will learn to receive information, but not to search it out for themselves.
Spontaneous trips sometimes end up being the most memorable! Taking a drive on a Sunday afternoon? Stop at a park and look for wildlife. Walk through a small town or village and observe the architectural features on houses and shops. Find an old train station and stand on the platform to imagine what life was like a hundred years ago. Check out a local farmer’s market to see what produce is in season. Drive up the river or canal to see the lock and dam system. These kinds of outings are not obvious when you think of “field trips,” but they can be just as educational and encourage curiousity in everyday life and situations.
For younger children, outings often require great planning and effort. A trip to the park for a nature walk might take an hour just getting out the door. That’s okay! When children are able to observe the natural world, they begin to make connections with books you read to them and to get curious about what they see and hear outside their own front door. See our page on Nature Journaling for tips on how to spark interest in nature and capture yours and your child’s observations for deeper learning experiences.
Planned Field Trips: Some outings might need to be scheduled or reserved ahead of time, depending on the venue. They may involve preliminary research together with your children on historical sites in your area. As your children get older, you can expand your range of travel to include locations farther away. Take advantage of program offerings at historical homes, farms and nature centers, even if they don’t correspond to what you are studying at that moment. The number of field trips you do will depend on the type of curriculum you are using, whether you want to coordinate trips with current subjects, how much your children enjoy outings, etc. Maybe the field trips become the curriculum in a particular subject for that year!
Ideas for Field Trips
Early Learning/Kindergarten/Elementary: zoos, aquariums, children’s museums, local farms, orchards, children’s concerts, nature centers, chocolate/candy factories, planetariums. Some fire houses hold open houses once a year for children to climb on fire engines and watch fire safety demonstrations. Many historical sites and nature centers have homeschooling days or other programs geared toward young children: Maple Sugaring Days, Colonial Days, Sheep Shearing Demonstrations, historical re-enactments. Parades on patriotic holidays make great civics lessons.
Middle School/HighSchool: Many of the same field trips enjoyed by younger children can be beneficial well into the high school years, on a deeper level. Children’s concerts turn into adult orchestra or band concerts, once your child has the knowledge of what they’re listening to and how to sit through a performance. Zoos and aquariums have learning opportunities for all ages. Bird walks, nature walks, hikes, science museums, local geographical features incorporate into your science curriculum very well. Many University museums offer graduate-level exhibits for the public to enjoy. Historical houses and sites take on even more meaning when the student has studied various eras of history and can make connections with what they have already learned. Botanical gardens, art museums, state/provincial parks, county parks and trails – all of these have great potential for trips that encourage your older student to continue being curious!
“But what about socialization?” This is a question you will encounter many times once you have decided to homeschool. How you answer depends on your view of what socialization is. We define it as interacting with people of all ages, and learning how to behave in society and in specific social situations. This makes field trips and outings perfect for learning socialization. From the moment you get to a destination you will likely be encountering people: ticket booth attendants, tour guides, fellow attendees or performers at programs and concerts, other patrons of museums and zoos, joggers on the hiking trail, students at the library. Model for your children how to treat other people with respect and dignity in these situations. Say please and thank you and excuse me, hold the door and let others go first, keep calm if you encounter a problem, be flexible if plans change, ask for help when you need it. Encourage them to look someone in the eye and shake their hand when meeting for the first time. Speak to adults with respect, and to children with respect as well! Teach your child how to start a conversation, how to listen, how to get information you need with a pleasant attitude. Interacting with other people in a positive way will be second nature for your children when you involve them in many different types of social settings.