Home education: a blog for parents: summer outings and activities

The warm days of June and July are always the time when schools arrange those interesting and exciting sessions, those trips and visits that enrich the curriculum. Home educated children don’t have to miss out – they can have similar experiences, without the restrictions on time, distance and personal choice that schools have.

Now is the time to use your child’s study hours to visit a local, or not so local, museum, or geographical or historical venue. Is there someone or somewhere mentioned in their studies they have always wanted to know more about – now’s the time to visit their birthplace. Does your child have problems studying drama – seeing a play in a park armed with a large picnic can really help break down those barriers. Do they have problems seeing the relevance of maths – why not look at the code-breakers of Bletchley Park who helped to win WWII? Remember you can go to a place convenient for you, at a time that suits you and travel there in any way that suits you. You can stay longer than you had planned or cut your visit short if it’s not as interesting as you thought it might be.

All of these sorts of experience are invaluable in improving your child’s general knowledge and helping them to understand learning can be fun. You may also find that they revitalise a jaded youngster who may come back from a trip wanting to know more and desperate to explore an interesting topic – so be prepared!

You can find more information about home education on the Oxford Home Schooling website.