Travel Tips for Homeschoolers
December 9, 2020
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Deborah Wuehler
Start with a Park
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Todd Wilson
This Christmas...Go Somewhere!
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Diane Heeney
Over the River and Through the Woods…
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Trim Healthy Mama
Is Corn a Friendly Corn Source?
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Be sure to scroll to the bottom to enter the contest! |
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Start with a Park
Because of home education, we have the freedom to travel any time of the year or any day of the week. Some families have well-planned travel ideas, and some families are very spontaneous. It can be refreshing to get out, even if you bring the school books with you! Over the years, we learned both to plan our travel and to also take spontaneous day trips. Sometimes driving one or two hours away and hunting for the fun things to do in a new city is a needed break.
Research all the museums, zoos, factories, discovery centers, and hidden gems near you and purpose to put a field trip on the calendar each month or two (If I don’t put it on the calendar, it probably won’t happen). Don’t forget to see which of your favorite places offer “homeschool days” at a discount.
Hotels
Some hotel chains offer family rooms or suites. If you stay with one brand, they often have reward points that can add up to extra nights. For larger families, it may be more economical to find a hotel that offers free breakfast than to go out to eat with everyone. Stopping at grocery stores for meal items also saves money.
Camping
Camping was always our children’s favorite memories. Tent camping is labor intensive but very economical. Some campgrounds offer family cabins (cheaper than hotels and still a good camping type experience).
Parks
Even a simple picnic at a nice park is memorable. Finding your state or national parks always offer wonderful adventuring. If you have young ones, look for the shortest, easiest hikes or trails. We always brought sandwiches and fruit, and each child’s backpack had snacks and water.
Travel Packs
If you are traveling long distances, consider making travel packs. These can be as simple as brown lunch paper sacks filled with surprises. On a particularly long trip, the children would get a new surprise bag every hour or two. The bags included dollar store items: snacks, colored pencils, coloring books, new toys, books, games, etc. These long trips are also great for getting in all those audio books you’ve been waiting to hear.
I know, Mom. You get tired even thinking about traveling. Start with just making lunch and going to a local park, and then venture further the next time. Pretty soon, you will see how refreshing it is to see your children play and laugh and discover new things as you keep them Home Where They Belong.
We do not “trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy” (1 Timothy 6:17).
~ Deb
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This Christmas...Go Somewhere!
Oh, I love traveling with my family (and I know my kids do as well)! One of the perks of being the Familyman is that I get to spend a big chunk of the spring and summer traveling around the country with the whole Wilson gang in our Familyman Mobile, our big old RV.
My kids have been just about everywhere in this great country of ours, but in all our travels we’ve NEVER forced it into a learning experience. “Schoolifying” travel ruins a good thing, and it certainly doesn’t increase the impact of the experience.
In fact, I’ve never made my kids write about where they’ve been or what they saw. I don’t ask them to give oral reports or verbalize what they felt. We just do things together as a family and then talk about what we saw in the same way you might talk about a baseball game you’re kids just played in . . . it’s just fun!
Now, to be honest, some of them still couldn’t find Arizona on the map or tell you anything about the battle at Gettysburg, but who cares. The important thing is that they got to experience a slice of America WITH their family . . . and that is life-changing!
So go . . . somewhere . . . and don’t turn it into school,
Be real,
Todd
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Over the River and Through the Woods…
I want to challenge all of us to reboot the mindset of our kids before we ever get in the car to travel to “grandmother’s house.”
It is so easy (and especially for young minds) to make the holiday season about getting. Christmas—the culmination of the season—was about the complete opposite.
“God so loved . . . that He gave.” So, prior to hunting down those suitcases in the attic, I suggest the following:
- Pray as a family for all of those with whom you’ll come in contact on your visit. Pray for the needs they have. Pray you can be a blessing to them.
- If you will be staying with friends or family, shop for (better yet, craft it at home!) a special hostess gift to bring along. It could be anything from a gingerbread house to a poinsettia plant to a pretty set of holiday kitchen towels.
- Even if the menu is already planned, take along a special treat to share. A childhood family favorite (perhaps a local brand of snack or beverage), a platter of cheese and meat, or a pan of cinnamon rolls. Big crowds always need feeding! We used to take a big container of homemade pretzel mix to share at our big New Year's gathering every year.
- Prepare your children ahead of time to have a servant’s heart, to look for opportunities to help with clean-up, serving food, child care, doing dishes . . . whatever is needed.
- Travel with music that will prepare hearts. Just as playing restful, worshipful hymns on the way to church can help program hearts for the services, the same can be true on these excursions.
- Thankfulness journals: give each child an inexpensive spiral notebook and a small set of good crayons. Have them write down (or draw pictures if they are very small) of all the things they are thankful for. Encourage them to be as detailed as possible. They could even compete for the longest list!
- Buy a pack of thank you notes at the dollar store and before you leave to make the trip home, have each child write a few sentences of gratitude to give to your hostess. It could be a favorite item they enjoyed at a meal, or a fun experience they had together like playing games or driving around to look at Christmas lights.
Determine to be a blessing in your travels this holiday season.
Diane Heeney is a graduate of Bob Jones University, where she served on faculty for ten years. She has been Assistant to the Director of Advertisng Sales at The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine since 2016. She’s homeschooled her three children over the course of the past 18 years, having graduated their two oldest. Diane, her husband Patrick, and their youngest child, Katie, reside in eastern Wyoming.
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Is Corn a Friendly Carb Source?
Let's talk about corn. . .
Corn is a grain; so does that make it a good food choice? Well, corn is used to fatten up animals; it is economical, and farmers and animals love it . . . so, how very “Americana” is corn! Corn mazes are such a fun fall tradition; however, if you eat too much, corn and most corn products won’t do your health any favors.
Most of the items made from corn in the grocery store are not from whole grain corn. Remember, whole grain sources of grains are the best ones to eat. Corn is not the most gentle-burning grain; so don’t make it a constant go-to food, but you certainly can enjoy it sometimes.
Seek out organic sources of corn if possible because non-organic corn has usually been genetically modified, which means it has been changed from its natural state.
Popcorn is a whole grain form of corn that is not genetically modified; so you don’t need to worry so much about buying organic for that reason. You can make it in healthy ways. Instead of sugar-filled toppings, try it with a sprinkle of mineral salt and some mild hot sauce. YUM!
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Trim Healthy Mama is produced by Trim Healthy Mama LLC. This company is not owned by The Old Schoolhouse, LLC (TOS), and TOS is not responsible for the content produced by Trim Healthy Mama. TOS may not approve of or endorse all content, resources, and other companies promoted by Trim Healthy Mama in its columns. The views and opinions expressed in this column or newsletter are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of TOS on any subject matter. The nutritional, health, and exercise advice and recommendations promoted by Trim Healthy Mama are not a substitute for medical advice. You should consult qualified health professionals for health, nutritional, and exercise guidance tailored to your individual needs.
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You’ve decided to homeschool your children, but you’re wondering where to start, how to stay organized, and whether you can really homeschool your child who has special learning needs? All of these questions and more are answered through brief articles contained in The Homeschooling Primer: What Home Education Looks Like & How to Start from The Old Schoolhouse®. This little book is available as a free download for convenient reading on the go from your tablet or phone. Or, get the print version for $5 to share with your friends and family. It’s just another great resource from the The Old Schoolhouse®, a trusted authority in home education for nearly 20 years. Hey, Mama! You’ve got this, and The Old Schoolhouse® is here to provide you with the tools and encouragement you need to be confident and successful.
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in the fall issue of
The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine.
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Congratulations to Charissa Reed from Great Falls, Montana, who won our October giveaway!
Contest Corner
for the month of December
Continent Race
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Byron’s Games
Continent Race is a game that features the national flags of countries throughout the world! The first player to collect the required number of cards from each continent wins! There are several supporting materials:
1 World Map
5 Continent Lists with Maps
205 Country Cards
3 Antarctica Wild Cards
This is for ages 7+ and for 2 and more players! It is color-coded so that children catch on quickly. This game has won 3 different toy awards including Creative Child Magazine's Game of the Year award, Tillywigs Top Fun award, and Mom's Choice Gold Award!
Review
I love using products in our homeschool that can bring us all together as a family while we are learning. As geography is sometimes a subject that is completed in isolation (labeling a map, coloring in different nations on a printout, etc.), it is nice to have a game where we can all be together and learn about the nations around us. I found the game to be a lot of fun to play (even though I have never won).
Our six-year-old said, "If you don't know a lot about the continents and countries, the game can help you learn about the world." He likes that the capitals of the countries are printed on the cards. He said, "It could be the best continent/country game for kids." One of his favorite parts was using the Continent Lists with Maps. I can see him using them outside of the game, too, for his homeschooling.
This is a brief description and review of the Continent Race board game. You can see the whole description and 60 reviews from homeschool moms describing their families’ experience with this game on the Homeschool Review Crew site.
Go to the contest page of our site where you can ENTER TO WIN Continent Race board game.
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