Review In A Nutshell:
Title: Day Tripping
Author: Teri J. Brown
Price: $13.95
Overall Rating (1-10): 8
Value (1-10): 9
Flexibility (1-10): 8
Ages/Grades: the whole family
Review:
If you are like me, when you think of spending time with your kids in the car, you think of the many trips to transport kids to play dates, sports, dance, art, park days, etc. I know many homeschoolers have toyed with the notion of packing up camp, heading out the RV and touring this great nation of ours but usually money and other family commitments make this only a dream. There is a third option I had not even considered: Day Tripping. That is – expanding the exploration or our world beyond just our immediate neighborhoods without spending lots of money, resources or time away from home. I admit that the idea of day tripping can be a little overwhelming. I wasn’t the most enthusiastic Mom when I cracked this book open.
The book is divided into two parts. The first half attempts to convince the reader that day tripping is an exciting and worthwhile activity. I admit I was a hard sell but I fell in love with the idea of day tripping by the end of this chapter. The author tells it like it is without overly glamorizing the notion of spending hours in the car with kids. What sold me was the passionate display of learning through living that she shared with her children in their adventures – good, bad and ugly. Sometimes educational invigoration comes easiest by breaking the monotony of the ordinary and exploring new ground. And since the author, herself, is a Homeschooling parent, she is not shy about sharing the educational benefits of day tripping. She explains how to set up field trips and how to create field trip groups. She talks, candidly, about the benefits and drawbacks of doing different day trips as a group versus individually. Helpful info, for sure. Ok, I’m sold.
The second half of the book gets down to the nitty gritty. Details, details, details. The author breaks down possible day trips by subject and explores them all in enough detail to inspire anyone to start booking out their calendars. I was particularly interested in the subject areas that I personally find most disinteresting or uninspiring. Historical, Industrial and Mathematical field trips all had me cringing but, after reading through, I felt newly inspired that I might be able to find ways to expose my children to these great day trips without boring myself to death!
For each subject area, the reader is given at least one real life Field Trip Planning form which can be used, as is, or as a guide for whatever trip one might plan. Each guide contains an objective (the goal of that field trip), educational preparation, ideas for enjoying the trip, follow-up ideas and suggestions, ways to further use the knowledge gained from each Day Trip and resources. I found the planning form really helpful and easy for my organizationally challenged mind to warp around. But I REALLY loved seeing examples of how several day trips really pulled together from the preparation through the follow-up. Talk about making learning come to life!
The one thing I find difficult was that this book specifically mentions, more than once, the need to organize field trips without little ones. This isn’t often realistic for many Homeschooling families. As a Mom of six, I don’t mind leaving kids behind when the event calls for a specific audience. But we homeschool, in part, to remain a unified family and I’m not terribly interested in spending entire days away from any part of my family in the name of educating a few of them. I’d prefer that more time would have been devoted to suggesting creative alternatives for field trips involving the whole family. If that doesn’t bother you, however, you will likely find this book full of great, inspirational, helpful, imaginative suggestions to bring learning to life for your whole family.
Bottom Line:
This is a great, inspirational, fun, imaginative book that will have your family packing their bags in search for the learning involved in experiencing life outside your immediate world. Day Tripping helps parents organize excellent activities that their whole family will learn from and enjoy without spending excessive money or time away from home. Be spontaneous and start exploring outside your boundaries – pick up a copy of Day Tripping today!