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"where the adventure begins
...and the journey never ends"
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Soul Family Travels Articles
Articles Index
All of my articles are free to use and publish in their entirety, provided no changes are made to the original content. And please make certain that you include the "About the Author" resource box. Thanks! ...Leila Randle
Enhancing The Home Schooling Experience by Leila Randle
Home schooling provides a unique one-on-one environment and can certainly be a rewarding experience for both teacher and students. Unfortunately, this same homebound environment can seem somewhat confining and even border on boring at times.
In order to develop a more interesting format, I've incorporated three separate components into my own home schooling method of teaching: books, videos and educational outings.
Books are a way to introduce the subject and videos provide a visual presentation of the topic. The third and most intriguing component is the educational outings, ones that provide the hands-on experience, which makes a particular subject "personal".
Although the first two components are certainly beneficial, visiting different venues gives my children the opportunity to look forward to the variety of ways a subject can be illustrated. Of course, while I (as the teacher) perceive these excursions as an opportunity to learn, my children view them as fun adventures.
When it comes to places to visit, museums are at the top of my list, mainly because they provide an excellent method of teaching many subjects. You do, however, need to be aware that there are general guidelines for visiting all museums and some that vary from one place to another.
If you plan to visit a museum, make certain you call beforehand. Exhibits change throughout the year and viewing times vary depending on the season. Also, keep in mind that most museums are closed on Mondays.
Since many school groups schedule their outings during the morning, the best time to attend a museum is afternoon. Naturally, during this less crowded period of time, the curators are available to answer questions and the exhibits and displays are much more accessible.
Overall, we enjoy a wide variety of activities. Below, I've included some examples of the experiences that have greatly enhanced my home schooling curriculum.
For supplementing the lesson plans I teach, I find that historical museums are an excellent visual source. Generally, they are categorized by theme such as local history, famous person, or cultural group. To help reinforce the subject, many historical museums provide interactive videos, questions and answer games, large storyboards, and dioramas. And since educational handouts and lesson plans are distributed throughout the museums to supplement their exhibits, we usually take these so we can work on them during the drive back home.
Living museums bring to life a period of time in the past. Docents walk around in full dress, talking and performing tasks that reflect the specific time period. Within these communities you'll find shops so you can actually purchase a piece of history. Overall, visiting these museums gives me the opportunity to teach how living off of the land was not a cliche but rather a way of life. To reinforce this concept of daily living that was presented by one of the museums, I even purchased a handloom so we could learn the fine art of weaving.
Art museums are an excellent choice, providing the ability to visualize the variety of ways individuals can express themselves. Not only are works displayed in time periods, types of art, and by culture, brochures and post cards capturing these creations are dispersed throughout the museum. We make a point of collecting these in order to compare and contrast the different artists and time periods. A great example of comparing artistic forms was experienced during our visit to the Columbus Art Museum where you can take a snapshot of yourself and then view it as impressionism, expressionism, pop, or cubanism art.
Science museums provide the ability to put theory and hypothesis studied in books into actual testing and practical applications. In general, these museums are defined by age appropriateness as well as subject area. Demonstrations and hands-on experiments are arranged to involve the child at their learning level. Also, many areas are designed to build items in order to learn specific concepts. For example, my two-year-old daughter built cars with plastic hammers while my ten-year-old son was able to build his own car with wood, a jig saw, and sandpaper. Plus, we were able to take these creations home and display them on our shelves as a visual reminder of the experience.
Historical sites not only immortalize individuals and events that changed the course of history, they emphasize the significance of the contribution. We always make a point of driving to these locations during the day so we can take pictures for our history book.
If you'd like to actively participate in a specific period of time, historical reenactments provide the perfect opportunity. Make certain, however, that you check how appropriate it is with regard to certain age groups. We attended an Underground Railroad journey reenactment in which audience participation was not optional and felt it was much too intense for our children. On the other hand, having attended an Elijah McCoy characterization where the actor brought the story of this inventor to life, we found the performance engaging, entertaining, and very enlightening. He was the real McCoy!
Designated to a specific sport, a Hall of Fame is generally organized by their audience, for example, professional, collegian, or local. When a high achiever of the sport is inducted into the museum, their plaque is displayed in a shrine area. Many of these museums have running videos that depict both famous moments in time as well as the accomplishments of the honored player. Also, you'll find trivia games throughout the museum that allows you to test your knowledge about the specific sport. Personally, we have begun collecting pendants from all the different sports museums we've visited and then display them on the walls of my son's bedroom.
Expos are an excellent means of seeing the variety of business opportunities that are available. During the week, workshops are given, and weekends are filled with entertainment. To make the most of our own expo adventures, we purposely attend the vendor exhibition during the same time a free concert is given. This allows us the opportunity to visit vendor booths without all the crowd congestion. A lot of people feel the best time to attend an expo is on closing day because you can get a good "deal" but that just isn't the case. By then, the crowds have picked over the vendors' items which means you don't have a good selection to choose from. Plus, the vendors are tired and busy packing their things. They're basically ready to move on to the next expo at that point and are not really interested in liquidating their inventory.
Theme parks are a great way to visually explain nature. For example, at Sea World, we were able to experience aquatic animals in their natural habitat. All through the day, shows were given, helping to explain how life would be like for these animals. There were also opportunities available throughout the park to feed the animals which definitely made it a great experience for the kids.
Local festivals, which provide a good way to experience different cultures, are celebrated every weekend throughout the summer in most towns. Generally, we attend these festivals on Friday for dinner. That way, we not only experience "authentic" cuisine of the culture, we get entertained in the process as well as.
Specialty Shops are a great source for locating unique items. It's a good idea to phone ahead to find out what they're selling and the hours the shop is open. And since most of these places are found in out-of-the-way areas, you might want to ask for directions as well. One of the largest distributors of foreign, classic, cult, art, and hard-to-find videos is Facets Multi Media. They even allow you to rent from more than 40,000 videos by mail which really helps when I'm trying to decide which videos I would like to keep in my collection.
When it comes to exposing kids to farm animals, you just can't beat a good old-fashioned petting zoo. After all, feeding and petting animals is definitely the best way to get to know them first hand. On one occasion, we even had the opportunity to see the birth of piglets.
A circus provides entertainment that makes you believe you can achieve anything if you just work hard. We attend the matinee shows, primarily because the prices are more reasonable, and since school groups pick them up, we always purchase our tickets when they first go on sale. Overall, the money we save on ticket prices allows us to purchase a booklet to remember our experience there.
Attending traveling carnivals is a fun way to take a break from the home schooling routine. We always go during weekdays and purchase the all-you-can-ride armbands. By doing so, we not only save money but avoid the evening and weekend crowds.
Sporting events not only demonstrate team play, they have become our family picnics and free entertainment events during summer months. There are even areas designated in our baseball arena for families to picnic and to get into the game for free.
Roadside attractions are a terrific method of getting unusual dialogs started. To remember these moments, we visit during the day and take lots of pictures.
Factories are a good way to see how products are manufactured from beginning to end. Generally, though, I rely on library videos for viewing this type of activity. Also, the Food Network has special shows that depict the production of various types of food. We simply tape these shows and then discuss them.
Well, there you have it. All the activities I use to enhance the home schooling curriculum. My final advice? Purchase an ASTC (Association of Science-Technology Centers) membership. This alone will provide your family the ability to get into more than 250 science museums throughout the country. Plus, a home schooling family rate is available, and since we personally like visiting science museums, the ASTC membership has saved us a good deal of money.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Leila Randle is a mom, author, and adventurer who is currently pursuing what she considers an opportunity of a lifetime. Her family travels around the country visiting and then writing about historic and cultural events and activities. Now you can experience all their adventures firsthand on her website at http://www.soulfamilytravels.com - where the adventure begins and the journey never ends!
Articles Index
Enhancing The Home Schooling Experience
Mom, are we there yet?
Mom, are we lost?
Mom, museums are boring!
Mom, when are we going to eat?
Mom, where will we stay when we get there?
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