Homeschooling and Disney

[avic77]

Does anyone else Homeschool? I just started homeschooling my 13 yr old and will bring my 8 and 5 year old into homeschool for next year. We are leaving for Disney tomorrow and I plan to use it as a learning experiance as well as a vacation.

 

[kimsuenew]

I homeschool, but actually we doubled up before going in 2007, he read his novel on the trip down from Ohio and the the trip back to Ohio, and did not do any formal school work while there. It was just so busy! It was our first trip ever, and son and hubby rode rides continually, we explored the parks as a family, we simply enjoyed ourselves! Son had a lot of work to do before going, and some after returning, but none while there.

Now... don't get me wrong! There are opportunities everywhere for lessons! We talked about ecosystoms, the economy, how businesses worked, we explored nature habitats, identified birds, enjoyed the animals at AK, and so on... we just did not sit down and have formal school lessons!

I love homeschooling him, I wish we would have done it sooner!

 

[crazyforgoofy]

Does anyone else Homeschool? I just started homeschooling my 13 yr old and will bring my 8 and 5 year old into homeschool for next year. We are leaving for Disney tomorrow and I plan to use it as a learning experiance as well as a vacation.

'Unschool' while you're there. When your child/children find(s) something interesting, discuss it, make a note to research the topic more when you get home. We've found lots of topics of interest on trips to WDW, everything from botany to the history of the Norse Gods.

 

[dizcrazee]

I homeschool my daughter, and we are planning to make our trip in May educational also. In the weeks before we go, I'm going to do "unit studies" pertaining to our vacation plans. In addition to WDW, we are going to visit Kennedy Space Center (that will be a space/astronomy unit), Sea World and the beach (unit on ocean/sea life), and St. Augustine (unit on Ponce De Leon and explorers). I also have a small portable mini-microscope, and we will look at some ocean water under it (I have a book that identifies the various tiny creatures you might find).

Another thing that I plan to do before we go is to study the countries represented at EPCOT. We will learn to say "hello" in each language, find them on the globe, read about the geographical features and culture, etc. I'm going to play a little "quiz game" with her as we go from country to country, and if she "wins" (knows the majority of answers), I'll buy her a small "prize" from that country.

 

[mommyof3grlz]

I homeschool my 3 daughters ages 14, 12, and 10. We absolutely love Disney and have made an educational experience out of it everytime we've gone. Don't get me wrong, we aren't in the books while we are there but there are endless learning opportunities every way you turn. The animals at Animal Kingdom and all the neat stops for kids like a whole area at Rafiki's Planet Watch where kids can find animals that are camouflaged in nature, the safari guide is full of all sorts of interesting trivia about the animals you see. I could go on and on but I hope you get the point. Seize the times for learning as you come upon them and have a great time. We are going back May 11-18....that's 100 days from today.

 

[mommyof3grlz]

We are from Alabama too. What city are you in? I hope you love homeschooling as much as we do!

 

[TheRatPack]

We had just completed a unit study last year before we went to Disney, about deserts...etcs. The kids learned about the Camels and when we got off of the Aladdin ride they saw the HUGE golden Camel. They had a discussion on Bactrian and Dromedary Camels then LOL

Epcot was great for learning too....we enjoy it all.

 

[msvlwb]

I homeschool our two boys 11 and 9. We own our own business and it's great to be able to come and go when we can. We use laptops with Switched on Schoolhouse and they love it. Everyday at Disney is a learning experience, money, history, geography etc. We try to do our work ahead on the computer before we go. Epcot is a great place to do lessons.

I was reading posts about parents having schools give their childern unexcused absenseces for going to Disney. What if they were going to Europe or China? Would that be un excused too? I am so happy we homeschool for so many reasons.

 

[mommyof3grlz]

We also use Switched on Schoolhouse on our laptop and work ahead before going to Disney. I'm ready to go back right now.

 

[avic77]

Mommyof3grlz Im from Mobile. We also use SOS
Im not sure what i will use for the littler ones next year though.

We had a wonderful trip and DD13 did use it to learn some stuff. Photography nature the countries in Epcot History etc.

 

[8disneyfans]

We homeschool our 6 kiddos. Ages 16,14,11,8,6,4. We have been doing it for 3 years and love it!!! We went to Disney this past October and did not do "school" while we were there. Although they are always learning something. We are going again in 29 days and I love the idea of doing a trivia for the different countries in EPCOT. I think I might try it. Did you know EPCOT has homeschool days? I am not sure when they are.
I also love been able to go whenever we want and not have to worry about taking the kids out of school.
Good luck on your new venture! Some days will be great and other days will be a bit harder, but it is totally worth it. Our family has grown so much because of it. And my older daughters are turning into beautiful young women.

 

[gracefor5]

We homeschool our 3 (10,8,5) and always have. If we take trips during the "school year" we don't take work with us. I plan around those trips. Everyday is schooling in the homeschool world because the kids don't have "school days", "school hours" etc. It kind of happens all the time. I do make sure they bring books to read just to keep'em thinking but adventure is a part of the experience. It's just as important to us as the 3R's.

 

[MiniGirl]

For your first trivia question...... What does E.P.C.O.T. stand for?

ETA: I'm hoping to start homeschoolng next year. I can't wait for all the great field trips to WDW, etc. Have a great time.

 

[stopher1]

We HS too. We never "do" school while at WDW - BUT, each time we get back DW has the boys write reports about their trip experiences. They're pretty fascinating to read through afterwards - plus they have a great written memory record later.

As they've gotten older, their creativity has shown through even more as now the reports include original artwork, photos or other items of interest they collected while there. After our last trip, our now 12 yr old typed it out just like his peers in the local middle school have to do with various reports or projects.

 

[stopher1]

For your first trivia question...... What does E.P.C.O.T. stand for?

ETA: I'm hoping to start homeschoolng next year. I can't wait for all the great field trips to WDW, etc. Have a great time.

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