Four Reasons why Homeschoolers Should Take Field Trips

Enrollment in the best online homeschool program is a great way to make learning at home simple and easy, but it’s important that parents understand the benefits that come whenfield trips are included as part of their child’s education.

Every kid loves the chance to get away from their textbooks and the routine school day -- even if they are at home in their pajamas on a daily basis. Field trips have always been part of the traditional school schedule but homeschool families have a greater opportunity to make the most of these events by customizing them to current studies and by doing them more often than just once or twice a year. For homeschool families, the field trip can be done with a group or the spur of the moment; and, it can take place in a formal museum or at a nearby park as part of a science, history, or art class.

The best accredited homeschool programs are designed to cover every subject and topic that a student needs to learn at each grade level to satisfy national accreditation standards.  This allows the student to progress into the next grade level. However, curriculum and online learning doesn’t always bring the information into complete  reality for the student.  This is exactly what a field trip can do for the student.  Instead of just reading about history on the page or screen, a field trip to a local museum or historical location can get the student involved in a discussion about the time period, their thoughts about the conflict or event at the time in history and even check out local historic reenactments that might take place. The goal is to make the subject or concept multi-dimensional instead of flat; this can help the student remember the facts they need to know for an assignment or test.

Field trips offer a learning opportunity in a different format which can help students who need reinforcement of curriculum in different ways to truly learn and understand the information. Accredited homeschooling online is used for the everyday school schedule and meeting the expected requirements, but some students do not maximize the experience with this one approach. They need to see the information in a different way and have a hands-on interaction to help them solidify the concepts which may be easily accomplished at other locations outside the home. Additionally, student socialization is another benefit from taking field trips because field trips can be done with other homeschool families who may or may not be in the same program but the experience can be applied to students of all grades levels. Families should work with other homeschool families to get ideas for field trips as well as plan activity days which can involve sports and/or arts and can count as their extracurricular hours. Family road trips can also have an educational application depending on where you are going and how it is applied to their studies.

Homeschooling does not always have to take place solely inside the home when there are so many other options to consider. Go online to look for ideas and talk with your kids to see learn of their interestsand then set some field trip or travel dates on the calendar. This will give the students something to look forward and can be used as an incentive for younger students to get their work done so they don’t have anything to ‘make up’ after the trip.