“SEAT BELTS EVERYONE” WE’RE GOING ON A FIELD TRIP

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When I first started homeschooling, I worried about what my kids might miss out on.  One of my main worries, was field trips. I believe strongly that children learn the most through experiences.  Field trips are a major source of learning experiences, and I didn’t want my kids to be at a disadvantage.

I joined a local homeschool group, mainly with the intention of being able to participate in field trips.  I quickly learned that most of the field trips were only for a certain age (not suitable for all 3 of my children), far away, or pretty expensive.  I started brainstorming ways I could make field trips more realistic for my family.

I am not an outgoing person, but I realized that if I wanted my kids to have these experiences, I was going to have to venture out of my comfort zone.  I decided to make some phone calls. I still remember the first phone call I made, to our local post office. They were so kind on the phone, and not put off at all that my children were young.  They told me that they’d prefer to give a tour to a small group and asked if I had any friends that I could invite along. I told them that I’d get back to them in a day or two. Well, earlier that same week, I had learned that our YMCA offered homeschool gym classes on Fridays.  I went to the YMCA and introduced myself to a couple other parents, and asked if they’d be interested in joining me and my kids on a tour of the post office. Sure enough, they were! Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who found that the field trips being offered in our local homeschool group didn’t fit their family’s needs.  I called the post office back that afternoon and set up the field trip. A new chapter in our life had begun! I sat down with these few other families and we compiled a list of places we’d like to see if we could set up very small field trips at. At first, it was just 3 families, but it quickly grew to about 10-12 as the year went on.  We took turns setting up the field trips, and averaged about 1 trip every 2-3 weeks. It was the perfect fit for our family at this time, even though I was way out of my comfort zone! I’m so thankful for all of these experiences. So, if you haven’t found a group to join for field trips, please don’t be afraid to form your own! Your children are never too young to enjoy these adventures.

Some of the local places that stand out the most to me are:  the post office, bakeries, Pizza Hut, a grocery store, the library, fire department, police department, local nature center, a state park, a dairy farm, a horse farm, apple orchards, zoo, and a kitchen supply store that gave us cooking classes!

I encourage you to give it a try too!  You won’t be sorry.

In addition to the field trips that I set up with this small group, I continually scoured local newspapers(this is before the days of Facebook events) for free/cheap events that were happening around my community.  I was surprised at how many there were, and we went to just about EVERYTHING that I could find! Whether it was a bird watch, a speaker at a historical museum, a book signing, an event at the farmer’s market, a library event, or whatever.  If it was during the day, and aimed more at adults, I’d ask if it was ok if I came with my children, and agreed we’d sneak out quietly if any of them were in any way disruptive. Some were hesitant at first, but none ever said no! My kids often felt special because there were seldom any other children in attendance, and for whatever reason, almost always sat quietly, but actively engaged (sometimes even during speeches that bored me).  As my children are older now, I’m often shocked at some of the information they retained from these lectures! One in particular that stands out to me, was attending a travelling historian event at a small library in a town over from us. I don’t think there was anyone there even close to my age! I’m guessing the median age was about 50. We got many dirty looks when we walked in. The speaker was a gentleman that was recounting his time serving during WWII.  It was a 3 hour lecture, complete with slides! I was bored out of my mind. After his speech, he asked for questions, much to my dismay, all 3 of my kids’ hands shot up! I was frozen in terror, having no idea what they could possibly ask. Well, all 3 had intelligent questions to ask (I was so scared that I have no idea what those questions were anymore). My kids were probably 3, 5, and 8. Afterwards, almost everyone, speaker included, came over and talked to us.  My children were interacting with them and asking/talking about the war with more enthusiasm than anyone there. They were enthralled and talked about it all the way home! They still talk about it to this day. The librarian called me the next day to invite us to attend the following month as well. We started going each month. Although I found it extremely boring, the children LOVED it.
My advice is to expose your children to as many new experiences as possible, from the youngest age possible.

I have an in home daycare now, in addition to homeschooling, and still love to incorporate field trips whenever possible.

The library was an integral part of our field trip adventures.  If I knew something was coming up, I’d head to the library to get some books that we’d read about what we would be soon experiencing.  

After each trip, we’d talk about what we’d learned.  The kids would always make “Thank You” notes that we’d send to wherever we’d gone.  This taught them appreciation, how to write letters, and how to address envelopes. Each child had a “Field Trip” notebook where they’d write or draw about what they’d learned.  Then we’d head to the library to get books to follow up on these topics or any new interests these experienced had awakened. We’d often write poems or make scrapbook pages about the adventures.  I still love looking through their notebooks and looking at these treasures.

I think this method of homeschooling is how we got labeled as “unschoolers”.  It wasn’t the typical method of homeschooling, but for us, it was (and still is) perfect!

Don’t be afraid to get out there and explore your community!  Learning can and will happen with each experience you give your children.

Check out my post about our big van that we have used for so many field trips through the years:

https://learningisawayoflife.com/time-to-let-go/