Turn Any Vacation into a Field Trip

Posted by Bethany | 0 comments

We’re baaack!  Today is Thursday and we pulled into the driveway on Saturday.  Yes, the suitcases are put away; yes, the dirty clothes are all washed; yes, the sand pails and towels are cleaned up and stored.  The pictures are even off my camera and onto the computer.  What?!  Already?!  Yep.  How?

Day one: unpack all suitcases to either hampers or drawers, as appropriate; put suitcases away; empty coolers and food bags.

Day two: store coolers in shed and start laundry, make menu and grocery lists.

Day three: continue laundry, go grocery shopping, clean and store beach toys, mats, umbrellas, etc.

Day four: finish extra laundry, transfer pictures from camera to computer, and make sure kids have finished unpacking and putting away items from their car/toy/book bags.

Day five: sort pictures for printing and upload to internet, make lists for coming week. Done!

So, with a bit of planning and effort you can have a well-organized house after your vacations as well as before it. I say that it’s an effort because I recognize that it would feel easier (for a while anyway) to dump all the suitcases and sand pails on the living floor for a few weeks; however, the sooner things are back to normal, the better you’ll feel, trust me!

Next project: have my kids produce something that looks educational from our vacation.

Last summer, we went to the Outer Banks of North Carolina and spent most of our time playing in the ocean and sunning ourselves on the beach. Doesn’t sound very educational, does it?  But, do you know the composition of sand? Do you know why there are tides?

Neither did we, until we visited the Cape Hatteras National Park and participated in an interactive ranger program. You’ve heard of the famous pirate named Blackbeard, but did you know that some women were also pirates? Again, neither did we, until we sat through an interesting ranger talk. Wiggly children would much rather walk through a hands-on exhibit about the Wright brothers and their first airplanes than sit and read a textbook.

My youngest daughter earned a Junior Park Ranger badge and patch by completing an educational packet. Programs packets are available for children of all ages.

Our national parks are not only a great heritage, but they are also very educational. We should take advantage of these free or low-cost programs and activities whenever we can. With a bit of pre-scouting, it’s possible to find a national park close to just about every location you could visit in the United States. Even bustling cities like Philadelphia and Boston have national parks and programs that cover many of the historical sites there.

We can also write short essays, make photo scrapbooks with journaling, draw pictures with captions, or make lap books to show what we learned. Of course, I didn’t breathe a word about “school” while we were on vacation, but that doesn’t mean that learning didn’t happen or that it can’t be recorded on my state attendance chart! And that is the beauty of homeschooling.

Bethany S. LeBedz has been married for over fifteen years and is the homeschooling mother to two delightful girls, ages thirteen and eleven. She lives in North Carolina. In addition to homeschooling, she is also a freelance editor and writer. She posts homeschool organization tips and educational reviews to her blog momishome2. In her (very limited) free time, she enjoys reading, participating in Daughters of the American Revolution and Children of the American Revolution, and performing in musical events.