Field trips are hard to organize. Working with budgetary constraints and other things makes the act of organizing a trip for your students really difficult for any teacher or administrator. However, field trips are one of the best ways to teach children about the history and significance of their countries and about various tidbits of science. Getting out in the open and discussing subjects has also been shown to increase the attention-span and foster a better learning environment within the classroom. So, while, field trips might seem terribly inconvenient in the ever-tightening school budget, they’re necessary.
Now, we get that it can be difficult to arrange for the entire trip on your own. However, given that most of our schools lack teachers you won’t have many people to rely on. So, to smoothen over the process, we’ve prepared a sort of plan for you, which will help you breeze over any school trip you might be planning. So, before you buckle up and get ready for a unique adventure with your homeschool students, just read below.
1. Book a vehicle
If the number of students is great and you’re planning on a longer trip, don’t rely on a fleet of cars. Chances are you’re burning a hole in your budget with all the parking fees, and also, you might get lost in the different districts because of how frequent traffic snarls have become. Rent a school bus instead, an experienced driver at the helm, and an experienced teacher or administer at the back helping the students is a working formula. No matter where you’re going, talk with your driver from some time ahead and mark down the destinations and the pit stops you’d need to have as you move along. Remember that kids need more movement and pit stops than you do, and plan accordingly.
2. Choose destinations
The destinations you’ll choose would depend on two simple things. One, how big is your posse? And two, how many people are there to help? If you have a large group of children to care for single-handed, the Washington Monument might be a better place to visit than say, Yosemite National Park. Also, younger students might not take to MoMA as immediately as some of the older students would. Your trip destinations would be influenced by many things, but, we’ve figured that taking students’ and their parents’ feelings into account can do wonders for the trip in question. Not only do some parents spontaneously end up offering help, but there are also people who would offer up destinations that you hadn’t thought of previously, enriching the entire experience.
3. Plan some games
With a huge number of kids in one place and a seemingly boring bus ride, things can get hairy real quick. One of the ways to circumvent this is to go for some games that make the journey interesting. Keep some flash cards handy that can be used to tell the students of the destination as you move along. Plan activities to be played along the way and also at destinations. Remember, kids need more run-down time than most of us do, so focus on that as you move along and plan the activities. Keep a focus on enriching activities like quizzes and other things. If you’re looking for something more fun, check out these games too.
4. Pit-Stops
Not all of your students would have coordinated bladder movements. While it can be frustrating to stop at every gas station on a long road trip with kids, it might be the only way. Remember to keep the bus bathroom clean at all times, and to keep pit stops roughly at every couple of hours so that your kids can rest and get some exercise in between. Choosing the right bus would help you facilitate this. This helps them run around and be a bit free as you move around the country for a field trip.
Whether you are renting a bus for a homeschool coop field trip or some other reason, these tips will help you rent a bus easily and quickly!
