How to Plan Successful Homeschool Field Trips

The freedom to plan field trips to just about anywhere is one of the benefits of home schooling. Unlike their counterparts in traditional schools, home schooling families have the option to go on overnight trips, and the freedom to visit places that others have to wait until the weekend to visit. It's also a great way for your child to learn, so if you are thinking about a home school field trip by yourself or with a home school group, here are some tips to make it a success.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. If you are doing the trip as part of a group, check the group's calendar first, to see what days already have activities scheduled. The last thing you want to do is offend another member of the group by overriding their activity.
2. Plan ahead. No matter where you are going – to a museum, petting zoo, historic village – call ahead and call well in advance to find out the rules and regulations for field trips. Reserve your group’s date and time slot, and if necessary let the establishment know about numbers and ages.
3. Make sure to choose somewhere that’s open to all ages. Some parents may often have a baby in tow, so find places were babies would be welcome. Some places like theaters or gallaries may not accept babies.
4. Organize transportation. It would probably be best if families share transportation. This would not only prevent parking lots from being overwhelmed with mini-vans, but it would cut down on fuel costs.
5. Give each driver a detailed map with contact information just in case someone gets lost. You don’t want them to miss out entirely.
6. Discuss behavior - - as with a traditional school trip, you want the parents and students to know what's expected of them and what’s the proper way to behave beforehand. Issues such as talking during a concert, keeping voices low and appropriate dress should be discussed in detail.
7. Plan a follow-up. Remember the purpose of the trip was to help the children learn, so plan for the group to meet immediately afterwards or a few days later to discuss what they learned. Students can also be encouraged to write reports or do projects.