field trips

[mommy68]

How often will you or have you done field trips with your children? By field trips that can be with a
co-op, homeschool group, or on your own as a family. I don't plan to do very many.

I'm not including day trips like going to the zoo, the county fair in the fall and other things such as that close by to our home. But as far as trips that take us to museums in other areas of our state where we have to spend all day being gone I doubt we will do that many, maybe 4 or 5 this year.

I figure if my kids were attending a school outside the home that's about how many they would do for the whole year. They would do maybe 2-4, depending on their grade level of course.

My kids go on all errands with me around town and shop with me and visit family and friends. So it's not like we won't "do things" on a daily or weekly basis. I just don't plan to do field trips very often.

I feel kind of bad because I read about others on these boards and IRL that go so many places on a weekly basis. We can't do that. We are fortunate to have a lot of places close by, like within 30-45 minutes and we can get there quickly but I still don't plan to do things like that more than once or twice a month. Is that bad?

[elizawill]

well...ideally, i would like to do one field trip a month (not talking about park days or playdates). for us though, the zoo is definitely a field trip. it's an hour 1/2 away. plus the columbia zoo has "homeschool mondays" that offer age appropriate classes with animal interaction.

i have currently planned field trips through december & here's what we're doing. august: zoo / sept: community helpers field trip (police station or fire station - not sure yet). oct: lazy 5 ranch & pumpkin farm / nov: annie at the theater / dec: christmas play at local theater

after that, i'm not sure. some ideas i'd like to attempt are planetarium, imax, edventure kids museum, discovery place museum, dairy farm, strawberry picking, gold mine panning, state park (has an old school house and museum). plus, my local homeschool group has multiple field trips each month, so i honestly just choose one of thiers or plan my own thing.

there are lots of homeschool classes around here too, but unfortunately - we can't afford them right now....so i try to compensate with free outings and a field trip once a month.

[4evermom]

Being outside a major city, we have lots of options for day trips. I just don't like parking downtown and ds doesn't like walking to and from the trolley stop frequently, lol. But there are also a lot of museums out of the city, within an hour's drive. We try to get out to someplace fun every week, but I count parkdays, museums, kid fun places (like moonbounce places) as the same. Then another day, we'll go out on errands and, if we are lucky, have a friend over.

We tend to be ready to leave someplace after about 3 hours so most day trips mean being gone for 4-6 hours.

[beansricerevolt]

We usually do a field trip once a month, sometimes 2 or 3 times depending on what we are studying and the trips our HS group puts together.
I've yet to plan our trips for the rest of this year. I usually wait to the last minute to add details to our plan. We will be starting in September so I still have some time yet.

[mackysmama]

We're in a major metropolitan area with several museums, a zoo, science centers, arboretums, etc. Ideally, we'll do a "field trip" with just me and my kids, or maybe another family, once a week. We are members at the zoo and the museum of natural science so we go to both of those a lot. We don't do many outings with homeschool groups because I think my kids get more out of the trips when it is just us. Now, this sounds like a lot but it is easier for us since we are close and members. So, when we go to the Museum of Natural Science, we only go to the Butterfly and Entomology Hall one day and do the Planetarium the next time, etc. It isn't a whole day ordeal.

[milehighmonkeys]

We go as a family, or just DD and me, 4 or 5 times a year. Our homeschool group recently started a preschool age subset and we've been going somewhere, as a group, about once a month. Mostly places that you wouldn't go as an individual or places that offer demonstrations only for groups. So far, we've been to the Humane Society, Fire Station, and NCAR (National Center for Atmospheric Research). This month we're going to a berry farm and next month looks like a K9 demonstration from our county Sheriff. I think sometime in the next few months, someone was planning a visit to the post office as well. Some of these things can repeat annually. I think NCAR would be worth going as a group at least a couple times a year. Their demonstrations are awesome and they let the kids do an experiment as well. Most of the kids in our group were between 2 and 5.

I also wanted to add that none of these activities were in a downtown area, so parking hasn't been an issue. With the exception of the berry farm, they have all been free as well.

[frogguruami]

We do field trips at least one a month.

[Callimom]

Originally Posted by milehighmonkeys

I think NCAR would be worth going as a group at least a couple times a year. Their demonstrations are awesome and they let the kids do an experiment as well.

I have a 10 year old who would be extremely jealous of this.

Karen

[moonshoes]

I would say one or two times a month. We live in the country so don't have access to the city things like zoos and such, so when we go it is a whole day trip.

[LauraN]

I plan to do field trips once a month. BUT I have a 10-mth old baby in addition to my 6 yr-old and almost-4 yr-old. So realistically, we only get to do those all-consuming trips once every couple of months. It's just too hard to get out with all three...

This year, though, I've joined a HS group that does a lot of field trips (one a week, I think) so we might get motivated to actually meet my once-a-month goal. Let's see...

[milehighmonkeys]

Originally Posted by Karenwith4

I have a 10 year old who would be extremely jealous of this.

Karen

I won't tell if you don't. If you ever find yourself in Boulder, CO, it would be a don't miss for you, then. They do have museum type displays in addition to their classroom demonstrations.

[Callimom]

Originally Posted by milehighmonkeys

I won't tell if you don't. If you ever find yourself in Boulder, CO, it would be a don't miss for you, then. They do have museum type displays in addition to their classroom demonstrations.

Too late. LOL he read it over my shoulder. He is car obsessed at the moment.

I am trying to find a way to get him a tour of a manufacturing factory if I can as the chance of us making our way to Colorado is slim to none at the moment which is too bad because it sounds awesome!

Karen

[Callimom]

There are lots of ways to have a rich homeschooling environment and I don't think one is better than another. We happen to do a fair number of field trips and events because it works for my kids and it fits in with my homeschooling philosophy. But my kids also love to be at home together just hanging out. The majority of the "big money" trips we do are done on our own or with one or two other families so they often aren't big social times. We also live close to a number of larger cities so it is easy for us to hit a lot of different types of museums, galleries etc.

I think you need to trust your instincts and try not to be swayed by what everyone else is doing (It's the time of year when it can be hard to stave that off though).

Karen

[aishy]

Not too often, we do stuff when it comes up on the groups. I know last year we went toa tree farm & we'll probably do that one again. We might do the butterfly gardens this year - didnt go this past spring because I was Soooooo pregnant and just. no way. haha. I asked my husband to use his vacation days from time to time to do family day trips. We have memberships to the zoo & musuem so those will happen more than monthly.

[mommy68]

Thanks everyone.

We do have a membership at a museum that is only 15 minutes from our house. We will likely go there at least once per month. But it's easy. They are so close that we can go up and spend the morning and come back right after lunch. I like that type of trip!

I do want to do more outdoorsy type trips this year too. I want to go to a farm that is about an hour away that does small groups and go during the fall (IMO, the best time to do field trips) to corn mazes and a pumpkin patch. I love outdoor stuff the best but it's hard to find that kind of stuff without having to drive so far.

[elizawill]

Originally Posted by mommy68

I love outdoor stuff the best but it's hard to find that kind of stuff without having to drive so far.

i understand. i live in a rural small town and i have to drive a good distance for anything and everything. heck, blockbuster is a day trip for us! lol.

[Messac888]

We almost never go on what you describe as field trips. We go to my dad's place in Michigan once a year (can't afford more than that gas and food-wise) and spend almost every waking moment catching frogs, fish, turtles, etc. Hiking, swimming, boating, you name it. Vacation? YES! Field trip? I guess it would qualify since the main reason we go is to teach them things about the environment around them in it's natural state (not a zoo or something else). On the other hand, we go to the zoo probably every week, the museum about 6 times a year, and we just signed them up for gymnastics. This doesn't include the awesome nature conservatory that's close to our home that we frquently visit as well. That said, we may not go on 'field trips' but we don't feel the need to, either. When they get older we can start planning trips to Washington DC, the Grand Canyon, Statue of Liberty, etc. But for now they're little and we're just letting them be little.