- One Room Schoolhouse
- C&O and Whitewater Canals
- Alban Tractor
- Colvin Run Mill
- Pizzeria Uno
- Maggie Moo's & Milwaukee Frozen Custard
- Veterinarian
- Sully Plantation
- Recycling Station
- Fire Station
I could go on and on! We have been on so many, and there were oh so many options in the Northern Virginia area. We tried to take advantage of as many as we could. One year when I was giving my son the IOWA Test, I was curious how he woud do on the Social Studies and Science portions of the test. The only results that the state cared about were those from the Math and Language Arts sections. We have never taught Social Studies, but have focused on History instead. In Science, our studies have been focused on specific topics (Life Science, Anatomy, Botany,...) and not Science in general like our classroom counterparts do. As a result, it would not have been unexplicable if he had done poorly on the Social Studies & Science sections. On the contrary, as I glanced over his answers after he completed the test, I found that he had done exceptionally well and that the majority of questions that were asked were on topics that had been covered during Field Trips! We'd always enjoyed field trips until then, but seeing the real educational value to field trips made me an even stronger advocate of them! There really is so much education to be found out and about and beyond textbooks!
That being said, I'd appreciate your assistance as I plan for a new year of field trips.
Would you be so kind as to share some of your favorite field trips?
Even if we can't go to the exact location you visited, any input would be helpful for ideas as to what kinds of field trips we could look into. Also, if you have any field trip resources (books or websites) those would be greatly appreciated as well! I'm excited to read what you have to share. Thanks in advance!
Grace and Peace,
Angel
15 comments:
What we did when we homeschooled was to look over the curriculum for the year and then visit every museum, lighthouse, working farm etc. that would enhance our learning. My kids remember our Wednesday trips as the highlight of their homeschool years. I don't know if it was the places we visited or the people we went with. You are such a blessing :-)
It would take all day, but Vincennes, IN has great historical sights. The home of President Harrison is there, along with the George Rogers Clark Memorial. At the end of May they host the re-enactment "Rendezvous". It's very interesting and you can learn a lot just by watching what's happening, not to mention the stuff you can learn by chatting with the re-enactors.
On our side of IN (the western side) there's a maple sugaring session where you can learn about how maple syrup is made from maple trees. There are several of these "camps" around in February and March.
A friend of mine is a homesteader and the girls LOVE to just go there and "hang out" for the day. They have goats, chickens, rabbits, and other various animals. She makes her own soap and uses alternative energy resources. She also makes cheese and other things from the goat milk. (Her goat milk soap really is the BEST soap I've ever used!)
My girls are a lot younger than your children, but these are some of the things we've enjoyed.
Still love your blog! I'm sure there are a LOT more than three people reading it!
Blessings--
Dana
Krispy Kreme donuts! that's always a favorite.
I usually look at our history scope and sequence and plan to visit what we are studying. That worked great in DC, maybe not so much in CA. ;)
We love Childrens museums too.
Check out www.fieldtripfactory.com. They offer free field trips.
Museums work, also do you have any gardens. I know that if you can find some good gardens with different types of feels, then those can be great. For instance, here there is one garden that is built specifically to show different types of zero-scaping or low water content gardens. There are others as well. Tulip festivals, that type of stuff. It works well with botany and science.
I think a wonderful trip would be the creation science museum in cincinatti. My mom went with a group and it was an all day thing but they were home in the evening. You could take the kids to Trader's Point Creamery. They can see how a dairy is operated. Hunter's Honey Farm would be another good one. Mounds state park. Freetown. Conner Prarie. Near the art museum is a special place that does children's music concerts. I cannot remember what they are called but those are always really fun and interesting. You could call the art museum and ask about it, they may know. The Apple Family Farm is a raw milk dairy that might show you guys how they do things differently from the Trader's Point Creamery. The apple family also spins their own wool and they have a loom and stuff. They have a website. The brown family (www.busybrowns.com) live in Fortville and they are trying their hand at urban homesteading and they would probably love to have a group come to their house to see what they are doing. They also have a coffee shop in their home and minister to youth in their town. A great place for the children to see Christ's love in practice.
Are you in Indiana? If not, sorry.
Conner's Prarie, Eli Lilly, caves down in southern IN, Lincoln sites, etc. Those are just ideas that popped in my head for Indiana. I've been checking the state parks there too for when we come to visit my parents later this summer and it sounds like there are some good options along those lines, too.
Some of our favorite field trips the past few years were a visit to a saddlemaker's shop which was very cool, and the Joy cone factory (they make most of the ice cream cones for the USA, but only have 2 factories - here in the west,and one on the east coast).
I think a newspaper or book publishing center would be interesting.
Maple syrup tapping (Feb)
Apple orchard
Animal Shelter
Art museum
Artist's workshop
Jelly Belly Factory (Chicago area)
Museums, museums, museums
Have you been to Spring Mill? Awesome...Gus Grissom stuff, nature stuff, pioneer village
There's a great book called Kids Love Indiana with lots of ideas. :)
But the best field trip would be HERE at my house. :)
Hmm, some of mine have already been mentioned. James Whitcomb Riley's two homes, Benjamin Harrison's home, of course the children's museum. Several I do not recommend are the Scottish Rite Cathedral and the Crown Point cemetery (not sure what they were thinking . . .). There was a maple syrup place in the area. The airport. Definitely Conner Prairie. The planetarium. There's a greenhouse with tour in your old area of town, but I can't remember the name. Holcomb Gardens, maybe? That was interesting. Butler University has great gardens. Is the Wonder Bread factory still there? That was my favorite because you got free hostess cupcakes at the end. The state parks. Lincoln's boyhood home in southern Indiana. Have fun!
Ooh, a really fun all-day field trip is the fort in Fort Wayne.
The dinosaur exhibit at the museum. We dug for eggs in the sand too. Very cool. :D
Ahhh, my friend - there must be something in the air! We are in the thick of getting next year's field trip co-op off the ground here. I looked in our yahoo archives and this is some of what we did last year:
kennel, Shenandoah museum, orchard (peach & apple picking), nature gardens, quarry, horse rescue league, Big Apple Circus, fire station, bakery, Christmas Party/roller skating party, air & space museum, post office main facility, Patrick Henry College, woodworking, grocery store, veterinarian, indoor rock climbing facility, Pentagon, K-9 police dogs, pizza restaurant, water treatment plant and some others I jotted down somewhere but can't find right now.
There is Fair Oaks Farm just north of you. Of course tons of stuff in Chicago. Museums, zoos, the Morton Arboretum is fun. Brookfield zoo has sharks and sting rays, now. That Kids Love Indiana book is cool-I have the Illinois one.
Did anyone give you this link? http://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/field-trips/
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