Need Educational Factors For Cruise

[TylerandDylansMom]

Hello all!

We are heading out on our first Disney cruise on November 13 with our two son, 4 and 7. Since my older son is in second grade, I am required by the school district to list the educational factors of the vacation and its purpose. I am "wondering" if anyone has any savy suggestions that I can list. Thanks in advance!

Jennifer

 

[wdwmom2]

How about visiting other countries, and learning about other cultures and how people live. There are learning experiences in the children's lab. These are the two that I used for my children in April.

Have a great time!!!!

 

[poconoboatniks]

I would include the geography and science aspects of the trip. We've used the Navigator maps and historical information for school reports. We did the dolphin swim in Anguilla and snokelled in Mexico. DD can tell you about the jelly fish in Mexico and can give you a brief history of St. Maarten.

Your servers will be wonderful sources of cultural information. We've had servers from Croatia, Thailand and St. John. Our DD is in touch with a girl from Scotland who she met on our last trip.

Hope this helps.

Poconoboatniks

 

[GrumpyMom1]

Gather information from the places you visit such as the climate and currency. And the information in the Navigators is good.

Also, how about getting a world map and marking on it where everyone you meet is from. You could include where your servers are from and also other passengers that you meet.

 

[smchan]

Geography (countries, cities, climates, political boundaries, etc)
History (history of ports visited or of classic cruise liners)
Social Studies (cultures - on board and off)
Marine Biology (go snorkeling, identify different fishes)
Economics (learn why the ship is not under a US flag, for example)
Engineering (learn how the ship was built and how it's propelled)
Architecture and Style (learn about the ship's style of decore)
Physics (why does the wind blow so hard on the top deck?)
Chemistry (how do they manage to put 2,000 calories in a souffle from Palo?)

Need more?

Sam

 

[diz karen]

My daughter did a project about the ship for her school. There is so much to learn just trying to figure out how they can run a cruise. The captain did a question and answer in the kids club where she asked a lot of her questions. We also did a galley tour where we learned a lot.
How do they know where they are going?
How do they provide all the water for showers and cooking?
How can they provide all the food?
What is the amounts of food they go through?
How do they avoid storms?
etc., etc.
There is a lot that can be learned and you shouldn't have a hard time convincing the school district. Especially for a child that is 7.

 

[CM_Mom]

Although not as much fun as dophin and stingray swims and snorkelling, we did the island tours in St. Maarten and St. John. The guides gave a lot of historical info about the islands.

I think the other posters have pretty good ideas also. Sounds like your problem isn't going to be what to do for school but how to pick from all the possible projects.

FYI, I believe the galley tours are for Adults 18 and over.

I would push the history, geography and multicultural experience. Have him talk to the servers and stateroom host and other CMs about where they are from. Great people, great experience.

 

[RonnieJo66]

I found a great "school excuse letter" that can be modified to fit your needs. Its a great format and sounds just like what you may need!

http://www.themouseforless.com/SchoolExcuse/SE.shtml

Hope this may help you!!

Smiles,

RonnieJo

 

[jlawall]

As a 4th grade teacher, I would recommend that your child keep a journal, take pictures, collect souvenirs and artifacts then come back to school with a little presentation of his experiences on this cruise. It should give him some credit and excuse at least some of the missed work.

This way not only will he benefit from his "life experience" but he will enrich the class when he returns with his "adventure."

Writing skills, social studies and possibly science skills...

 

[Laurarn]

It sounds like your school wants an excuse for you vacationing during the school year. ex) educational value of it.
Everyone's ideas are great so far, here's another one....

Math- Economics
Subtract Actual cruise cost from what it would have cost going during busy summer and spring break=money saved

 

[tvguy]

Not an option here in California...so your child's project would be explaining why mom and dad are in jail for having a truant child.

 

[pooh luver]

We are from CA and took our son out for 1 and half weeks for 7 day cruise and 3 days at WDW. My sons teacher was very helpful and provided all of the work my son needed to make up before the cruise so that by time we went on vacation he didn't have a whole lot to do. His teacher wanted him to do a journal as suggested but it just didn't happen. I am a high school teacher and know that now is the time to do these things because it is much harder to do them later and I believe my son got much more out of it than sitting in school for just that one week.

 

[tvguy]

How did you manage that? They do weekly truancy sweeps here in Sacramento, including those who take kids out for vacations.
I'm talking about the public schools, private schools have their own policies.

 

[jgalecpa]

Don't forget Astronomy and the science of time changes!



Jim

 

[flexsmom]

Don't forget nautical/naval info - even though it is a "pleasure cruise" line, nautical history and rules of the sea are observed by all ships - port/starboard/aft/forward, etc. - someone mentioned the captain being very helpful in this area and I'm sure other officers would be as well.....

 

[Praise2Him]

Thanks for all the great ideas! I homeschool my DD and was just planning on using the cruise as "vacation" days. Now I think that I can actually count them as school days by doing some of the projects listed!

 

[pooh luver]

Schools can put students on independent study. They don't get paid for the days a student is not in attendance but they are not considered truant. I have the ed codes at work so will look this up for you.

 

[pooh luver]

Sorry for getting a bit off topic but someone asked how to take their children out in CA. If your district offers independent study, and most do, ed code 51745 allows for "continuing and special study during travel." Hope this answers the question.

 

[TylerandDylansMom]

Thanks for all the information (and some good laughs). I think that I can complete Tyler's form now.

Have a great day!

Jennifer

 

[jrabbit]

Math on / of the ship. I think it is on deck 5 somewhere where there are a series of pictures about the "Facts" of the Magic/Wonder: how long, how heavy, how many pillows, how many eggs served, etc. Some of them compared the ship to the Eiffel Tower (length), weight to # of elephants.

Pre Highschool kids and a Cruise = a lot more education than you will receive in a week in a school classroom !!!

Highschoolers are a different matter as we are finding out. With honors classes, quizes, test, papers ALL of the time, etc it would be heck on the kid to miss a week of HS.