When you chose to homeschool your children, did you realize that you were choosing to school anywhere? Your family’s schooling does not have to occur within the four walls of your house, your living room, at your dining table, or in a perfectly designed schoolroom! You are creating a life for your child that has the ability to include educational travel anywhere in the world!
You can homeschool sitting at the base of the pyramids and you can homeschool floating down the Mississippi on a steamboat! You can even homeschool sitting on the banks glacial river in Alaska! If you choose to make life a learning experience in every aspect, you can create an amazing learning adventure anywhere your family goes.
Why should your family choose to take advantage of every opportunity for educational travel that comes your way? We have 101 reasons to pack up your books and hit the road!
In general, educational travel is awesome because:
1. Learning doesn’t just happen inside our four walls
2. We have the freedom to get out and truly enjoy the world around us
3. Kids don’t realize they are learning when they are having an adventure
4. Doing creates a better memory than a worksheet
5. Experiencing natural beauty as a child helps a child grow a life long desire to respect and care for nature
6. Family learning adventures become lifelong memories and create a bond for your family
7. Kids love schoolwork that doesn’t include writing (can I get an amen?!)
8. You find new ways to experience what you’re learning about
9. Your family gets to spend more time together
10. Travel creates opportunities for problem solving
11. Travel creates opportunities for building life skills
12. Dealing with new people while traveling builds a child’s social skills
13. Travel can provide learning experiences the school system will never be able to give your child
14. Exploring new things is something the whole family can do together
15. There’s no better opportunity for a parent to model patience than a delayed flight or a traffic jam
16. Learning through serving builds a child’s character in ways that can never be found in a book
17. Entertaining yourself while bored is an important skill, and travel gives a child many opportunities to practice the skill
18. Kids can record their adventures to demonstrate learning
19. We are no longer educating students for the assembly line, but we are raising global citizens that must be capable of interacting with people of all walks of life and travel gives us the ability to practice that skill with our kids
20. Meeting new people makes learning a second language more valuable to a child
21. Taking the time to journal one’s experiences will reinforce the learning and bring greater depth to the adventure
22. Road trips are an excellent time to enjoy an audio book or series together
23. Learning is reinforced every time a child is able to say, “I’ve been there!” or, “I remember when we saw that!”
Educational Travel is awesome for learning history because:
24. You can’t beat learning about the gladiators at the Colosseum or walking the same streets as Julius Caesar!
25. Petroglyphs are much cooler to see in person!
26. The sacrifices of our troops become real when you can see all of their names in person
27. Walking where Native Americans lived helps kids learn to respect their history
28. Visiting historic ruins can help a child build a love of archeology
29. “Remember the Alamo!” can become much more than just a battle cry to your kids
30. The people we learn about become real individuals when you walk through the halls of their homes
31. Visiting a historic location brings historic fiction to life for your kids
32. Visiting cultural historic sites can develop a child’s acceptance of cultural differences throughout history
33. Kids can see how communities recover and grow after a tragic event
34. Battles come to life when you walk the fields where they were fought
35. Reading about a battle between colonial interests is boring, but standing in the very spot where history was decided is much more fun!
36. You can travel through time while traveling through locations
37. The struggle to survive in historic times can be hard to grasp, until you’re hanging out in a blacksmith shop and watching him sweat over making a horseshoe
38. History isn’t just dry dusty ideas, but it’s a vibrant story waiting to be visited, and there’s no better way to do so than to find the rich cultural parts of history that we can still experience
(Bonus: Check out this family’s history studies in North Carolina)
Educational Travel is awesome for learning science because:
39. Your family can find snow to study winter and weather science!
40. Kids can learn about ocean science with the biggest creatures right in front of you!
41. You can’t grasp the size of a wind turbine from a photo
42. Studying erosion is easy when you’re in Arches National Park
43. Instead of just studying the sea turtle life cycle, your kids can see it in real life. Rockets are more fun when you can see all the stuff under the skin
44. Ocean science is much more interesting when you can play with the creature you’re learning about
45. It’s much more interesting to see the stars through a big telescope
46. Your kids can learn about dinosaurs and the chemistry of sodas in the same trip
47. Environmental science is much more interesting when you’re on the lookout for snakes!
48. Getting up close and personal with nature makes for an easy transition to nature studies
49. Exploring geology and hydrothermal wonders is much more fun when the earth spits at you
50. You can’t experience awe of the power of nature in a book in any way that compares to walking through the Redwoods
Educational Travel is awesome for learning about STEM concepts because:
51. A hands on adventure at a science center builds connections for kids
52. Your whole family can learn about economics with Chip and Joanna
53. Engineering becomes very important when you’re hanging out on a suspension bridge
54. Flying is more fun when you’ve seen where the plane was built
55. STEM ideas become tangible when you can play with them
56. Children can have a safe opportunity to interact with travel technology while parents oversee the experience
57. Learning how to convert currency and understanding the background behind currencies is a lifelong benefit that also works out a child’s math skills
58. Alternative energies become normal when you’re hanging out on a wind and solar farm
59. Space Camp is much more interesting than writing a paper on rocket science
60. Discussing velocity and angles becomes more interesting after a ride over the river on a zip line
61. Experiencing an ancient technological marvel will build STEM connections for your child
62. Experiencing a feat of engineering makes smaller creative ideas less intimidating for a child
63. Engineering becomes very important when it’s keeping your cruise ship afloat!
64. Travel is a great opportunity to learn and apply budgeting skills
65. Seeing the cooperation between human and nature broadens a child’s definition of “possible”
(Bonus: Check out this family’s STEM trip to Pennsylvania)
Educational Travel is awesome for learning about social studies and geography because:
66. No photo will ever come close to bringing the awe of the Grand Canyon to life for your kids
67. It’s a whole lot easier to learn about land forms when you’re walking right through them
68. Family travel is a great time to learn and practice mass transit skills
69. Kids will learn that you can have amazing adventures in any place, not just in the big cities, like this adventure in Indianapolis
70. Children who travel have a broader view of the world and can see different sides of the same issue
71. Reading a book is a great way to learn about a state, but experiencing that state will grow your child’s understanding much more
72. Visiting a city brings the culture, layout, and history to life for a child
73. Kids will take a bigger interest in learning the states when they are tracking their travels and trying to make it to every state
74. State lines take on new meaning when you search for the signs along the highway
75. Trying new foods is easier when you’re in a new place and you don’t have access to your normal diet
76. It’s a whole lot easier to remember the names of the state capitals when you’ve been there
77. Learning about intergovernmental relationships is much cooler when you’re in the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty
78. It’s much easier to pick up the nuances of a culture when you’re IN the culture
79. Encountering various cultures on a regular basis will grow a child’s sense of acceptance and tolerance
80. Map skills are a dying art, and helping with planning can build a child’s map reading skills
81. Coming face to face with society’s downsides will help a child develop an understanding of human nature
Educational Travel is awesome for all kinds of learning because:
82. Kids can learn about our country’s Parks system through the Junior Ranger program
83. Visiting a Disney park can be considered homeschooling!
84. Again, Disney can be considered a learning experience!
85. Traveling to busy places gives you plenty of opportunities to discuss health and hygiene, especially hand washing!
86. Planning a trip together gives your child the opportunity to practice generosity, compassion, and critical thinking
87. Finding new places to hike teaches respect for nature, healthy habits, and planning skills
88. Every family needs to be able to say, “Remember when we were hiking together through the hoodoos?”
89. Even a place like Louisville, KY has a lot to teach your child
90. Coming face to face with classic art brings the painting off the page or screen for a child
91. It’s never boring when you’re traveling with kids, and there’s always someone pointing something new out
92. Traveling with friends or extended family grows a child’s interpersonal skills
93. You can introduce your kids to Jim Henson and a whale shark in the same week
94. Opportunities to grow a child’s understanding of the world are everywhere, if you take the time to look for them
95. Every part of the trip and the planning is a learning experience
96. By traveling when everyone else is stuck in school, you can get a much more authentic view of a location
97. Kids will understand the world better through learning the stories of the people they meet along the way
98. Kids can see and understand their value in our governmental system by visiting a state or national capitol.
99. Visiting important ecological and historic sites helps a person grow into a well rounded individual
100. Travel misadventures give kids the opportunity to build problem solving skills
101. Lastly, your family should work to enjoy educational travel together because homeschooling is about living a lifestyle of seeking learning opportunities, and travel gives you multiple opportunities to learn on an hourly basis.
If you love living a life of adventure with your family, make sure you grab your travel journal sample in the form below! You don’t want to miss this adorable printable preview!
This post is part of the iHomeschool Network’s 101 Reasons…. Link Up. Click on the photo below to find more reasons to enjoy your homeschool journey! (Available February 12, 2018)
Don’t let them forget your adventures! Grab a TCHSL Elementary or Tween Travel Journal today! Want a sample of the Elementary Journal? Grab your sample pages in the form below.
Engage your child, help them capture their experiences, and extend your family’s adventures with the Ultimate Elementary Family Travel Journal.
Engage your teens and tweens in your family’s adventures with the Incredible Teen and Tween Travel Bullet Journal.
