Homeschooling moms: How many days can I count as school in DW??

[Ellester]

Well, we school year round really, and I count everything.....including field trips! Everyday that my children are with me they learn something and we count it as school!!!!

We are not unschoolers either. We do workbooks, reading, writing, math, etc....

Last month we took a trip to Montreal. My sons only took their notebooks and a pencil. They drew pictures of our trip, wrote short paragraphs about our trip, and learned a LOT about Canada and even some French words while we were there. They will remember this far more than studying about it in some book!

As long as my kids are preforming at grade level, I really don't stress about exact number of days. When I was a teacher, there were SO many days that nothing got done. I taught high school and between pep rallys, assemblies, field trips, and sporting events, many days were a complete waste. In fact, out of the 163 days of school (yes, we only had 163 in year round school in CA), I would say only 140 at best were spent actually studying in class.

Dawn

I'm pretty much the same way. When my dd was in public school fieldtrip days, movies days, party days, etc. all counted as "school days". That's not including sick days, "early dismissal" days, etc. I will probably count all our Disney days as school days in Feb. I know when I was in school we took field trips to Disney at least once a year (I grew up in FL) and they were considered "school days".

Also, there is a great Homeschooling Chat thread on this board for those who had questions/comments about homeschooling in general. Here is the link: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1787845&page=72

 

[graygables]

Well, we school year round really, and I count everything.....including field trips! Everyday that my children are with me they learn something and we count it as school!!!!

We are not unschoolers either. We do workbooks, reading, writing, math, etc....


As long as my kids are preforming at grade level, I really don't stress about exact number of days. When I was a teacher, there were SO many days that nothing got done. I taught high school and between pep rallys, assemblies, field trips, and sporting events, many days were a complete waste. In fact, out of the 163 days of school (yes, we only had 163 in year round school in CA), I would say only 140 at best were spent actually studying in class.

Dawn

Same experience here (I also used to teach high school!). We do tend to unschool a bit more. I have a tee-shirt that says on the back: Wake up. Start learning. That's how we view it. We school each and every day.

That said, a few years ago, we were in a virtual charter school that we could submit receipts and be reimbursed for up to a certain dollar amount per student ($1000/year?). I submitted receipts for the WDW Park Hoppers along with 7 pages of the educational aspects and my tax dollars paid for my DDs' admission, so the state even confirmed that there was plenty of educational value.

 

[mrsltg]

I am going to DW in January 2009 and I am we are a homeschooling family. I have a K-5, 2, and 3rd grader. How many days do you think I can count as school days? Which parks/attractions will be educational enough to count as school??

Thanks

When are you going? Homeschool Days are being held at DHS on the 12th and 13th next year. DD attended Homeschool Days at AK in September and enjoyed it immensely. The prep work Disney sent us was interesting and challenging for her age group. Anyway, it's something to look into.

To prepare for our Disney trip my dd read a book on each Epcot country and wrote a report answering questions about each place. We incorporated what she had read and written about in our general discussions and many of the topics came up again naturally while we were in Epcot. It was a great way to use the place a more than just a theme park with a bunch of well-themed gift shops!

As far as counting school days, I don't. We don't need to so I never really thought about it. However, I wouldn't worry too much. If you need more time tack it on to the end of your year or cut "Winter break" short. If you're homeschooling I wouldn't think you'd have much of a problem surpassing the number of mandatory school days.