• Budget-Friendly field trips
• Libraries
• National or State Parks 
• Nature Preserves and Hiking Trails
• Historic Buildings/ Historic Markers 
• Cathedrals, Basilicas, and Holy Sites
  • Learn before you go!
  • Travel Inspired by Unit Studies:
• Downtown and coffee shops
• What to Bring
  • • Listening Learning tools
    • Picnic
    • Blanket
    • Sketchbook/ Travel Journal
    • Balls, frisbees, and jump ropes

I am a mediocre teacher. Unlike some capable, meticulous teachers, I cannot instantly hone in on why this child doesn’t grasp that concept. Then, immediately draw up a plan to get them to crush it in the next lesson. Then there’s my lack of patience, especially with my brood. When I started homeschooling, I quickly saw how impatient, unholy, snappy, and downright mean I could be. And that’s just during a game of checkers with the five-year-old.

After I ask for forgiveness, I’m still left feeling sorry for my kids, who are stuck with me as a teacher. That is until I start working in my wheelhouse…which is planning a field trip. Perhaps it’s because I don’t want to be stuck inside the four walls of our classroom trying to hold it in when my child makes the same long division mistake for the 25,687th time, but that’s not the only break field trips provide. The expert on-site takes over teaching for the day, and there’s amazing vibes being out in the world, observing, doing, and interacting with people of all races, creeds, colors, religions, ages, and socioeconomic demographics. So, when I plan a field trip or, even better, a road trip, I brush off my shoulder and tell my kids how lucky they are to have me.

Ahead are some tips and tricks for mingling education and travel.

Budget-Friendly field trips

Whether in your hometown or traveling to a different state, there are always free learning troves for your whole family. These might not initially sound enthralling if you’re new to homeschooling or are a government school product like my husband and I. However, these learning gems, where I don’t have to pay one penny’s admission for my whole family, are at the top of my kids’ to-do list on a road trip, and they even beg to return another time before we leave that town.

Libraries

We’ve stopped into libraries in huge cities, from Pittsburgh’s historical original Carnegie Public Library to Denver’s contemporary branch and even to the tiniest downtown library in Fayetteville, WV. They all have that musty book smell and keep our kids engaged for time immemorial.

America’s Greatest Library 2022, Missoula’ Public, is like an expansive state-of-the-art children’s museum with more Montessori toys than a small school, sand drawing, human body models, and more. For big people, there’s a fully equipped test kitchen and chairs that float above the rugged mountains in floor-to-ceiling windows with nothing breaking the panoramic views of I’ve yet to find any children’s area that didn’t have a plethora of Legos, paper crafts, and trains. In Denver, the library had an outdoor nature fantasy world with modern nylon jungle gyms and music makers. Visiting libraries in different cities gives your kids a gentle feast of options, turning them into library aficionados, naturally increasing their love of hard-bound sweetmeats for the mind and heart. At the Downtown Brevard, North Carolina library, my daughter got so enthralled in a book she would’ve rather stayed immersed in that adventure than go sightseeing. Luckily, Brevard’s mutated white squirrels distracted her long enough that we could pry the book out of her hands and reserve it at our home library.

National or State Parks

Find the state or national parks within a few hour’s drive. When it comes to National Parks, America does it right! Before you hop out of the car for the Visitor’s Center, run the we-aren’t-buying-anything-in-here disclaimer so they can focus on the ancient artifacts, displays, dioramas, and teaching stations. Grab a junior ranger booklet so the kids can learn about the park’s history, habitat, and native species. After a day of exploring and filling in the blanks, a Ranger pins a badge on their shirt, and they pledge to take care of the parks by employing conservation strategies.

After studying about our nation’s founding fathers, we took a field trip to see the building in which our nation’s Constitution was written. Outside of Independence Hall, my seven-year-old saw some litter on the ground. It was so stinkin’ cute to see her picking up trash on the Philadelphia city sidewalk and throwing it in the proper receptacle. Her little chest puffed up proudly, peacocking her Junior Ranger badge and the statesmanlike loyalty that came with it.

Nature Preserves and Hiking Trails

On a beautiful day, these give me the best effort-to-reward payoff. All I’m doing is taking my kids out on a walk through nature, but the health benefits of time in nature are astounding. Studies have shown that time in nature improves your memory and concentration, makes you happier, heals you faster, strengthens your immune system, and boosts your vitamin D production, which helps prevent depression, cancer, osteoporosis, and heart attacks.¹ Taking your family outside and doing nothing else but sitting on a blanket causes blood pressure to decrease and lessens production of the primary stress hormone, cortisol. Blood flow to the brain increases by 25 percent, and you’ll enjoy heightened alertness and less muscle tension. When time in nature is a daily occurrence, the brain regularly goes into the relaxation response. As we know, working muscles strengthens them, so the more often your brain goes into the relaxation response, the easier it’ll be to switch it on when needed. Along with the plethora of cognitive benefits of playtime outside, regular time in nature sets the human brain up for learning and handling stressful situations calmly.

Historic Buildings/ Historic Markers

On those hikes, I hope you stop and read every informative plaque about the fauna along the path, the lichens on the tree trunks, and the disease that afflicts them. (Make sure and throw out a mom-joke about how you’re “lichen” this family hike.) Cliche lovers would say, Stop and smell the roses. Those of us who like to think up our own words would say, Stop and read the historical markers. And tour the historic buildings whenever possible. My hometown has a free hospital museum and a landmark capitol building with a vast rotunda filled with huge oil paintings depicting Florida’s history.

Cathedrals, Basilicas, and Holy Sites

You don’t have to be Catholic to step inside God’s house to enjoy beauty that calls even to the illiterate. Make sure mass isn’t happening at that moment, and come on in! If it’s a Cathedral or Basilica, you’ll behold breathtaking iconography, stained glass masterpieces, and architecture good enough for God himself to live in. He’s there; he lives in every Catholic church in the Eucharist. You’ll feel his presence. Don’t chew gum, please; it puts off too casual a vibe, just as you wouldn’t chew gum to receive a big reward on stage or meet the president. I promise you’ll see some awe-inspiring things like a replica of the Pieta, holy relics used by saints, and possibly even the skull of a saint. Now, there’s a conversation starter for the ride home!

Learn before you go!

Reclining poolside on a strappy deck chair at Daytona’s Hard Rock Resort, I overheard the mother of two young children who looked to be around 6 and 8 years old. She asked them, “Do you guys want to see some space rockets tomorrow? I got tickets to Kennedy Space Center.” One of the kids replied in a lackluster, almost ungrateful tone, “Kennedy Space Center, what’s thaaaat?”

Immediately, I knew that this mom, who had the best intentions and a great idea, outsources her children’s education. Because homeschool moms, what do we do before a trip? That’s right, UNIT STUDIES!

Girl, if it had been me, we would’ve already done a month-long unit study on space exploration. Including rocket science concepts, famous astronauts, the history of space exploration, Florida’s space coast, watched Apollo 13, and maybe even a few episodes of I Dream of Genie. My kids would’ve been so amped to visit Kennedy Space Center.

A unit study is when you learn about one topic and hit every angle, including history, science, math, geography, and other relevant data. For example, our ocean unit study covered a plethora of information, including ocean layers, animal classification, jobs, explorers, the creation story from Genesis, monsters of the deep, aquariums, reefs, sediment, the water cycle, dolphin intelligence, kelp forests, narwhals, latitude, and longitude. You get my drift.

If you don’t have time for an entire unit study, squeeze in whatever learning you can. For example, before a camping trip to South Carolina’s Fort Sumter, we studied the start of the Civil War and the methods and materials that built Fort Moultrie. (For all government school grads like myself, Fort Moultrie fired on neighboring Fort Sumter, which started the Civil War.) Everything comes to life and excites the observer more when they know the significance of the site they’re visiting.

Travel Inspired by Unit Studies:

After learning about trees, volcanos, and Lewis and Clark, we went to the Pacific Northwest, where we traced Lewis and Clark’s journey to the Pacific Ocean. We stood there where Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, and Sacagawea first laid eyes on the Pacific Ocean and the rotting beached whale, 200 years after their arduous journey. The place they named Cape Disappointment did not disappoint at all. More accurately, it enthralled. We journeyed to Mt. St. Helen’s volcano, where clouds of disappointment did catch up to us, shrouding Mt. St. Helen’s summit in a wispy white cloak. Even though the peak of Mt. St. Helen’s wasn’t visible, we still spotted elk on the visitor center deck through the optical ranger. Our adventure continued as we dipped into Northern California and Jedidiah National Park to behold the giant sequoias from our tree unit study. Unforgettable!

Downtown and coffee shops

Let’s be real. You’ll need more energy than a power plant on these trips. My favorite part of the day is the 2 PM stop at the coffee shop with the best reviews. Visiting downtown, small-town America gets you to the heart of a city, where you can people-watch the locals and see historic buildings and small museums. Oh, and, of course, the boutiques. Let Mama and the girls get some retail therapy if it’s at all possible! Dad’s, this is where you take the boys to throw the football for a half-hour.

What to Bring

If you’re on a trip to retrace the Lewis and Clark expedition through whitewater rafting on the great Mississipp, you’ll bring the proper gear. The list below is a general list that applies to every road trip and half-day field trip.

Listening Learning tools

Audiobooks, soundtracks with songs that teach (think Schoolhouse Rock), Historical documentaries, Glory Stories of the Saints, Christian Heroes Now and Then, or Heroes of History in audio form will inspire travelers and beat boredom.

Picnic

Growing up, we were poor. My parents had to pack a picnic lunch for every trip. Once, my dad scored free tickets to the most magical place on Earth from Disney employee friends. Well, to eat the lunch in the cooler, in the trunk of the car, in the parking lot, we hiked back to the park entrance, boarded the monorail, and walked another mile to the hotel lot. An arduous journey, but have you tried to feed a family of six at Disney World? Presidential fundraisers are more affordable.

As a child, I always felt a slight disdain for picnics, but that’s only because I never knew what it was like to go conveniently into a restaurant, sit down, and eat.

Now that I’m a parent who can afford to go through a drive-thru, I can tell you that my parents were wise on the packed-picnic strategy. It’s so much better! Not only is it more affordable, but who wants to be at the mercy of a restaurant with an hour-long wait to feed your hungry brood? Especially not a tourist trap, serving up over-priced deep-fried frozen chunks. On a family traveling adventure, you always need food on hand. Snacks, a lunch of Coldcut sandwiches or PB&Js, drinks, and at least a gallon jug of water. Lunch on the fly adds to the experience. Let nature provide the scenery, fresh air, and the innumerable other perks previously mentioned. It sure beats pulling into a dirty parking lot and eating something out of greasy paper.

Blanket

This accompanies the picnic, but have it on hand for all terrains and times of day. Our old comforter, whose lining is falling out of the back side, has accompanied us on sand, verdant fields, and cool, black soil for our whole marriage—18 years! Maybe it’s time to replace it, but it would be like getting rid of an old nanny who’s been with us since the kids, who are now teens, used to crawl around on it.

Sketchbook/ Travel Journal

I’m not saying you must assign journal entries; that’s your call. I tried it, and it sucked the fun right out of it for them. They have them just in case they have an artistic whim or want to jot down a thought. Also, bring travel logs or junior ranger passport books. These records of where we’ve been become so cherished that when my child accidentally left theirs in the visitor center, the park ranger called us to let us know and then mailed it back down the eastern seaboard.

Balls, frisbees, and jump ropes

These are helpful, especially when the kids outgrow playground equipment but still need a fun, energetic outlet. In the downtime, these give you screen-free, outdoor activities for the whole family. It’s fun to pretend your crew is the visiting team as you shoot hoops at a city court or kick soccer goals at a park field..

When we take our kids’ education upon our shoulders, we quickly realize that life is a learning opportunity. Vacations become richly didactic. Parent educators finally take a deep breath and relax from homefront issues as we let on-site exploration take over as the teacher.

I love it when a lesson plan comes together!

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