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Planning for a Field Trip

Identifying

Planning for a Field Trip Give and take is part of the homeschool life. Although you will no doubt participate in field trips that other people organize and run, you should also be prepared to plan field trips in which others can participate. And, someone might not be planning a field trip that interests you. In any case, at some point you are likely to want to plan and conduct a field trip yourself. This requires the following steps:

1. Decide what field trip you want to plan.

2. Plan the field trip.

3. Coordinate the field trip with other homeschoolers.

4. Conduct the field trip.

Identifying a Field Trip
The first step is deciding on the field trip you want to take.

First, decide on the general type of field trip you want (again, in most cases, this should be based on some aspect of your lesson plans). Do you want to have a nature experience? Do you want to explore a historical site? How about taking a tour of a business? Or, maybe you want to see a play and take a backstage tour?

Second, decide how much time and money you want to invest. If there is a suitable destination close to you, you won't have the time and expense required to travel long distances. If not, how much time and expense are you willing to invest?

Third, do some research to determine if the destination you have selected supports "formal" field trips. In public places, such as parks and museums, this isn't hard to find out. For other destinations, such as businesses, you will have to dig a bit deeper to find out if the destinations are viable options.

After you have selected a destination for your field trip, it's time to get to work.

PlanningField Trips and Businesses
Businesses can be some of the best field trip destinations. A field trip to a business can give your students a fascinating view into how some of the subjects they are learning about actually apply to the real world. They also help kids explore possible career options. Many businesses support tours, such as field trips, because they make for good public relations. In these cases, arranging a field trip is usually straightforward.

For those businesses that don't support field trips in a formal way, you might have to work a bit harder to make it happen. If you'd like to visit such a business on a field trip and you know someone who works there, that person should be your first contact. He can either help you plan the field trip or can put you in touch with the person to whom you need to speak to make the appropriate arrangements.

If you don't know anyone who works at a facility, contact that organization's public relations department. They will be able to help you make arrangements.

Some organizations that do not formally support field trips might be willing to have you visit when they know that it will be a relatively small group of homeschoolers. Companies are often willing to provide one-time tours without needing to have a formal visit program in place, especially for homeschoolers, who have a reputation for being pleasant to host.

Planning a Field Trip
There are two general types of field trip destinations you will visit.

One type is where your field trip doesn't require (or benefit from) formal support from someone at the location. At these locations you control most aspects of the field trip and the responsibility for making it work the way you want it to. The benefit of this type of field trip is that it doesn't require that you coordinate your field trip with anyone at the destination and you are free to conduct the field trip as you see fit (within the confines of the location's rules, of course). That benefit is also a drawback in that you will be responsible for everything about your field trip and won't have support, such as that you would get from a staff. Destinations of this type include national and local parks, zoos, and other "public places."

The other type of field trip is where you do get support from the destination by being able to take "official" tours or by participating in specific programs. These types of trips require a bit more planning and coordination on your part, but that additional work is often well worth it because you will have access to the people who run the facility and who know its operations better than you. Formal field trip support usually includes activities that aren't available to the general public such as backstage tours, behind-the-scenes demonstrations, and so on.

Official vs. unofficial site tripsThe planning you need to do for both types of field trips is similar, but there are a few minor differences.

1. If you are visiting a supported site, determine who the coordinator for your trip will be. This person will be very important to you as you plan the trip and during the field trip itself. If you will be managing the field trip on your own, locate any resources about the destination that will help you plan your trip, such as a Web site or information pamphlets.

2. Determine the logistics of the field trip, such as the date, start time, end time, and so on. If you are going to receive support from the site you are visiting, the start and end time will likely be defined by your trip coordinator at the site. There might be only certain windows of opportunity you have or there might be special programs or days you will want to take advantage of.

   Some destinations require that you have tickets or only have a certain number of "slots" available on any given day. Others will allow field trips only on certain days or for special events. These types of limitations will often be the driving factor when you plan the logistics of a field trip.

   When you visit a destination that will provide formal support for your field trip, one important question you need to ask is if there are group sizes that you need to consider. Sometimes, you need a group of at least a certain number to take advantage of special opportunities. In other situations, you can only take advantage of such opportunities with groups less than a certain size. This information will be very important if you intend to invite others to participate in your field trip.

3. Plan the itinerary for your field trip, which should include a general schedule of events. Also, think about key learning opportunities that you want to stress.

4. If you need to purchase tickets or make reservations for the field trip, do so. (This step depends on how many people will be attending, so you need to decide if you will be inviting others on your field trip before you can do it.)

5. Create a document that includes all the information you have collected about your field trip. This will be useful enough for yourself, but if you have involved other homeschoolers in your field trip, this document becomes an essential means for communicating important information to them.

6. Decide how much, if any, preparation you want to do for the field trip. For example, if it doesn't closely relate to upcoming lessons that you have planned, you might want to include some special lessons to prepare students for the field trip. If there are books or other information relating to the destination, have your students start reading that material well before the field trip date. (Web sites are usually very good sources of information about field trip destinations.)

7. If you are going to want your students to complete some work as a result of the field trip, such as a report or worksheets, prepare the work that you are going to want them to do.

CoordinatingCoordinating a Field Trip with Other Homeschoolers
Field trips are usually more fun and meaningful if you involve other homeschoolers. This can be as simple as inviting one or two other homeschool families to come along or it might as formal as providing an invitation to a formal homeschool group. Whenever you involve other people, you need to be prepared to coordinate your trip with them.

The first step is to find out who else wants to attend. Unless it will be a very informal trip, you probably want to prepare an invitation that explains all the specifics of the trip. In your invitation, ask for a formal response by a specified date. If you need to purchase tickets or make other financial commitments for a field trip, I recommend that you ask people to provide the required monies with their responses. This helps ensure that you won't end up footing the bill for other folks unnecessarily.

The number of people that you will want to invite depends on several factors. First, do you need a group to be at least a certain size or less than a certain size to have access to special opportunities? Second, how much coordination are you willing to do? The larger a group gets, the more work you need to do. Third, is there a "natural" group that makes sense for the trip you are planning? For example, if you are planning a field trip to a theater for a matinee and backstage tour and you know several families that have a specific interest in the theater, that group would be a natural fit for your field trip.

If you will need help on your field trip, make sure you ask for volunteers in your invitation. If possible, get specific people to commit to specific tasks.

Also, if you need other adults to attend with you, make that clear on the invitation as well (specify whether other parents are required to attend or not). Most of the time, you will want a parent to attend from each family so that you aren't responsible for all the kids on the trip; plus, you might enjoy some adult company!

After your response date passes, create a list of everyone who will attend along with contact information including phone numbers and email addresses. If you need to purchase tickets or make reservations, do so.

Make sure that you communicate any changes to the plans as soon as possible. This is where email addresses come in handy because you can efficiently communicate even with a large group.

Conducting the tripConducting a Field Trip
When the day comes for your field trip, be prepared to have a great time! Here are some pointers to make sure that you do:

• Be punctual and expect others to be the same. Whether you are "hosting" a field trip or just participating in one, being on time is always important. Many field trips require that you keep to a schedule, especially one that is supported by the destination.

• Be prepared. Make sure you have everything on hand that you will need to make the field trip a success. If you are going to be outside, bring along sunscreen, bug repellant, or other items you might need. Cameras, still or video, are always a good idea so you can document your field trip. If your students will need to take notes or do other work on the trip, make sure that you bring along any supplies they will need.

• Treat your coordinator well. If you have one, your coordinator will be doing work on your behalf. In addition to just being the right thing to do, treating this person well will often encourage them to go the extra mile for your group.

• Manage the kids in your group. Any group of kids can get "enthusiastic" when on a field trip. It is your responsibility to make sure everyone behaves properly so your group can have a great trip.

If you take field trips to destinations that support them and they have had both homeschool and "regular" school groups participate, don't be surprised if your homeschool group gets special attention. In general, homeschool groups behave much better and are much less work to support than traditional school groups. Plus, homeschool groups generally have a less rigorous schedule to keep. All these factors tend to make homeschool groups much better to work with than those from public or private schools. (For example, most public school groups are woefully unsupervised because they usually have only a teacher and one or two volunteer parents to a large group of kids.)