Field Trips can be motivational, educational, and memorable. Kids love them. Think back to your own school days for a moment...what things do you really remember most? Chances are that some of these memories include things you learned and experienced in unique ways—like special projects, science fairs, field trips, etc. Why? Probably because you were actively involved as you were learning. You weren’t just passively sitting back and reading about something, or hearing the teacher tell you about something. You were actively discovering things yourself. This is learning at its best. And it’s this type of learning that we usually enjoy the most, and remember the most.

Today, however, more and more schools are greatly reducing or even eliminating field trips altogether. Tight budgets, liability concerns, and ratings based upon standardized test scores may all contribute to this trend. But this has left many schools and students in a rut. As parent-educators, we often run into ruts ourselves. Some of us end up using the same old things. Whatever is lying around the house (and has been used successfully before) will work well enough again...and again...and....

Then there are those of us in pursuit of liberty, that tend to fall into a different trap. We buy every new fad that comes to the local home school fair or within the curriculum catalogs to try to spice up our lessons. Oftentimes, we just end up broke and frustrated, and our kids end up demanding that education be entertaining. Somehow, in the midst of all of this, we miss considering the educational opportunities that are all around us in our state, local county and city/community.

Learning doesn't have to be expensive, boring, or inconvenient. Education is consistently happening all around us, all the time. So the challenge is to get out of our homes and start experiencing what is out there. With that in mind our family has made a committed effort to design and implement field trips (or as Winnie the Pooh would say, "field explorations").

Now a word of caution is needed here: You can overdo and exhaust yourself doing too many fieldtrips (I know firsthand)! The way to avoid this tendency is to set some limits up front.

Here are some of my own guiding limits:

1. Do not do a field trip just to do something or to get away from schooling.

A field trip that is planned out and tied into your lessons will be much more worthwhile in every way! If you need a break--take a day off and relax (It counts as a Teacher Day) and go to a park for a while or over to a friend's house to play. Don’t use field trips as a day off.

2. Only do a certain number of trips a month and plan them several months ahead whenever possible. We usually do two trips a month-one that costs and one that is basically a freebie.

3. Don't wait for someone else to organize or sponsor it-take some initiative!

This way you can set the time, date and know all the details up front. Just make sure you share this information early on with the others that are going.

4. Go with a few other families that are like-minded/like-budgeted and that will assist you with the transportation or other organizational things.

Big, local support groups are fine--but sometimes the outings that are opened to the group at large involve alot of call-backs, deposits, cancelled reservations, etc.—and these are very time-consuming! Keep it small and keep it simple. You can really build longer-lasting, deeper relationships for your children and yourself this way too!

5. Always check out the place you will be going as much as you can before you go--this avoids embarrassing situations and wasted time/effort. Even if I do not do the actual scheduling of the activity, I still make a point to call and talk to someone there first. I find out what the expectations are of their leader for this particular tour/talk/experience, and I get a firsthand set of directions/maps. I can often get a "teacher packet" of instructions and other things sent to me, which helps me plan and tie the trip into my lessons. (One exception to this is if the place asks for only one contact per group because of their shortage of materials/funding. Then, just ask if you can photocopy their information for all those who will attend. Then divide the cost among the participants).

6. Keep a field trip file to tuck ideas into for future trips. It is easier than starting with the yellow pages!

When I stay within my limits, I do not get the yo-yo feeling of too much time away from home and schooling. My children are better prepared and will thus reap the total benefits (educational, enjoyable, memorable, social, etc.) of the trip. I have enjoyed scouting out all kinds of possible field trips this past year for a group of about six families in our area (about 15 children total).

NOTE: Most places that do school group things require 10-15 children minimum to attend for it to be worth their staff time.

We have gone to nature centers for seasonal talks, an apple cider mill demonstration, a trolley museum, ice-skating, a science/technological museum, a symphony/ballet performance, and sponsored a 5-week girl's cooking class and a 5-week reusable art class together. It has been a rewarding and exciting year. Studying classical music, transportation, seasons, inventors/inventions and home-making skills in our lessons was easily more fascinating when the real-life model or objects were experienced up close and personal. This is helping create life-long learning in our children and in each of us. In fact, retention rates for material learned during our field trips is usually at least 2-3 times higher than if the same material is read from a book or watched on a video.

If you have never participated in home school field trips, try one this month! Make it as instructional or as abstractly fun as desired! Just don't be afraid to try it! I even have taken a sitter along to help me with my little ones, so I could interact more freely! A grandparent would probably love the opportunity to go along (and take photos). Keep a scrapbook from your trips to act as a reminder of things discovered and learned. Be creative and discover all the wonder of the hands-on experience. Make some special memories for your children about home-schooling. Who knows? They may remember more from the field trips than from the most highly acclaimed curriculum anyway! I know mine do!

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