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Homeschoolers and Field Trips
By Rebecca in Learning in Freedom
October 8, 2007

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Thursday, October 4, 2007, Homeschoolers from various local homeschool support groups visited the Marine Education Center in Palacios, Texas.  Homeschoolers love field trips.  It’s another excuse to get out of the house and to create an oxymoron out of the word (homeschool) HOME SCHOOL.

Homeschool field trips are very different from the public school field trips that I remember as a child.  Remember how on public school field trips the student to teacher ratio was at least 10:1?  Well, on a homeschool field trip MOM is the teacher so the student to teacher ratio is about 2:1.  I can only describe this scene in one word, “mommarazzi."  Moms running around excitedly taking pictures of their children as their children examine shells along the beach, pet the baby alligator, or try to paint t-shirts.  I have to admit that I stood hip to hip with two other moms as I tried to get a shot of my child helping to pull the seine out of the water or a shot of my child examining the contents.  

At least three moms on that field trip probably have identical pictures at slightly different angles.  Actually, we don’t because we all uploaded our photos to a few photo hosting services and the pictures were very different.  Mainly, I was actually in some of them!  What a joy.  For years I didn’t exist in photographs of family outings or homeschool field trips.  Thank God for Photobucket.com and for our Yahoo Group photo areas that allow us to share and pool our pictures.

On a public school field trip one bus full of eager children pulls up one hour early for the event.  On a homeschool field trip instead of one bus full of children you have 10 minivans that pull in at the same time if they have caravanned and one by one all morning if they didn’t.  Usually the caravan of minivans doesn’t get lost because the drivers aren’t afraid to stop and ASK FOR DIRECTIONS.  That wasn’t the case on this field trip; I got lost.  I stopped and asked for directions twice.  The sign had blown away. 

The field trip was wonderful.  If you are looking for ideas for an educational outing call the Marine Education Center (361) 972-3774 and schedule a day for your homeschool group, organization, co-op, or your family to visit the facilities.  

 If you have any field trip ideas please share them!