What's educational about Disney Cruise?

[darnheather]

As a homeschool mom I totally disagree about the cruise not being educational. Even just learning how to get from the cabin to the kids' club is educational (map reading) and doesn't have to be done, "Now class please look at the map here on the wall." How many people use real maps these days? And that's just one tiny thing they learn on day one.

 

[cruiser21]

Do generation Z kids even need classrooms and teachers? Anything they want to learn is at their fingertips. They've never known a day without internet. My son has problem with a algebra problem he just watches a you tube video on how to solve it. It's a completely different world then when I grew up. I think what school offers is structure and accountability, but it's hard for me to imagine missing a few days of school would affect kids these days.

 

[cruiser21]

Interesting, Dug720! Thanks for posting that. When the youth programs were in place (I'm talking the ones you could sign your kids up for that were almost all day and included a disposable camera, lunch and access to all sorts of backstage areas, depending on the topic chosen), my children got to participate and as young adults in the professional world, they STILL talk about all the stuff they learned and what they got to see! And yes, we were on vacation.



I have been on Native American reservations in this country where the living conditions could make you weep.

The one's in Arizona are pretty nice. Anyway I think you know what I meant. It's not like you can take your kids onto a Native American reservation for a vacation... nor would you want too. Also they have a choice to live there...nobody's forcing them.

 

[cadien]

Do generation Z kids even need classrooms and teachers? Anything they want to learn is at their fingertips. They've never known a day without internet. My son has problem with a algebra problem he just watches a you tube video on how to solve it. It's a completely different world then when I grew up. I think what school offers is structure and accountability, but it's hard for me to imagine missing a few days of school would affect kids these days.

Two huge issues with that. Although there are more. First, many kids do not have internet access. At least 20%. Second, the internet is FULL of misinformation. Student need to be taught how to identify what is and is not credible, accurate, biased, etc.

 

[cruiser21]

Two huge issues with that. Although there are more. First, many kids do not have internet access. At least 20%. Second, the internet is FULL of misinformation. Student need to be taught how to identify what is and is not credible, accurate, biased, etc.

Yeah There’s no biasis or credibility issues in our schools.? That one doesn’t fly. My point it’s easy for kids to learn if thet are motivated. There’s just so many resources available. Missing a few days of school shouldn’t be that detrimental.

 

[cadien]

Yeah There’s no biasis or credibility issues in our schools.? That one doesn’t fly. My point it’s easy for kids to learn if thet are motivated. There’s just so many resources available. Missing a few days of school shouldn’t be that detrimental.

Missing a few days of school is totally fine. Eliminating teachers and classrooms in favor of the internet, not so much.

 

[lolomarie]

Teacher here, and I hate that they do this to you. I'm sorry. How about:
-life
-the importance of family
-the importance of spending time and learning from the generations that came before us (grandparents)
-the importance of self care
I don't get why schools do this? Doesn't make any sense to me. Sorry for the rant.

 

[eeyoreandtink]

While they might learn something along the way, the primary purpose of a cruise in not educational. Its to go on vacation.

Whether or not this is an excused absence varies widely with districts.

Some districts will pretty much rubber stamp anything you can come up with as educational and some have stricter requirements.

In my district, it wouldn't get the excused absence. To get an educational trip approved you have to show documentation of actual educational activities that match up with the educational level of the child. For younger children they expect to see educational content like children's museums, historic tours, ect daily. For older children they expect to see that the majority of the time is spent in museums, historic sites,classes ect. You cannot get a week long trip approved with one or 2 quick visits to a landmark. The primary purpose has to be educational.

 

[eeyoreandtink]

Do generation Z kids even need classrooms and teachers? Anything they want to learn is at their fingertips. They've never known a day without internet. My son has problem with a algebra problem he just watches a you tube video on how to solve it. It's a completely different world then when I grew up. I think what school offers is structure and accountability, but it's hard for me to imagine missing a few days of school would affect kids these days.

Yes, they do need teachers and classrooms. The internet cannot teach them responsibility, accountability, social responsibility, work ethic, ect.

Also, there is a difference between surface knowledge and depth of understanding and the ability to connect concepts. You can get a lot of surface knowledge from the internet, but its much more difficult to gain depth of understanding and crosscutting skills there. That requires actual human interaction for the vast majority of people. Being able to spout off facts or use and algorithm to solve a problem doesn't really mean a lot if you don't understand why those facts are important or why the algorithm works. That's where teachers come in.

 

[cruiser21]

Missing a few days of school is totally fine. Eliminating teachers and classrooms in favor of the internet, not so much.

Online learning and schools is becoming more popular everyday.

 

[cadien]

Online learning and schools is becoming more popular everyday.

But those are virtual classrooms rather than no classroom at all. With actual teachers behind them.

 

[cruiser21]

But those are virtual classrooms rather than no classroom at all. With actual teachers behind them.

But those are virtual classrooms rather than no classroom at all. With actual teachers behind them.

They have little teacher interaction. It’s very self directed. I don’t want to take this thread off topic. My point was there’s ways for kids to learn what they missed in the classroom. Learning is much easier then when I went to school.

 

[KVH]

A really great project, sorta been touched on earlier, would be to teach the kids how to navigate. And by that I mean with sextant and chronometer. This is NOT a hard thing to do - shoot, I could navigate by sun, moon, and stars by the time I hit 4th grade (but I grew up on the water). Simple sextants can be had for $30-50 online, ebooks on the subject are a few bucks. The math is simple and procedural (throw a calculator in the luggage). And since the TV constantly updates lat and long, you have a way to check the work.

But I wouldn't count on much buy-in from the deck officers. The last time I had a discussion with a couple of them, they indicated, while they know HOW to do it, pretty much everyone in the cruise industry relies on GPS and computers.

 

[ScooterScott44]

Well I don’t think the Coast Guard or Navy candidates are going to princess meet and greets, riding the Aquaduck, and lounging at Funnelvision as part of their training. No one said maritime training isn’t educational but kids aren’t getting naval training on a Disney Cruise???

“Scoot over Admiral I’ve got the helm; I was on a Disney Cruise” is the new “I stayed at a Holiday Inn” joke?

Good for you, you made a funny at my expense.

But you are missing the point. There are whole curriculums that deal with ships and their operations so they even with that limited there are plenty of learning opportunities, if the OP felt the need to further justify the educational value. And yes, my response was directed to the previous poster did say there was nothing educational about a cruise (which includes maritime operations). Maybe try the behind the scenes tour on RCCL (since DCL doesn’t do one anymore) to see the complexity of operations.

Thanks, I actually love the thought of cadets in line for the princess. Homework assignment - how many meet and greets are necessary for a cruise ship traveling with 4000 guest, what is the acceptable wait time and will longer queues impact ship ballast and operations? I’ll be unwatching this thread so you can zing me as much as you want.

 

[cruiser21]

Yes, they do need teachers and classrooms. The internet cannot teach them responsibility, accountability, social responsibility, work ethic, ect.

Also, there is a difference between surface knowledge and depth of understanding and the ability to connect concepts. You can get a lot of surface knowledge from the internet, but its much more difficult to gain depth of understanding and crosscutting skills there. That requires actual human interaction for the vast majority of people. Being able to spout off facts or use and algorithm to solve a problem doesn't really mean a lot if you don't understand why those facts are important or why the algorithm works. That's where teachers come in.

How many kids do not use the internet to do research? Probably zero these days. How do adults and teachers do research? Isn't this board a research tool for a Disney vacation. You're making an assumption that kids not schooled in a traditional manner have no contacts with humans?

I think it's silly that parents have to come up with ways to make a trip educational. There going to learn something anyway.

 

[hrhdhd]

Teacher here, and I hate that they do this to you. I'm sorry. How about:
-life
-the importance of family
-the importance of spending time and learning from the generations that came before us (grandparents)
-the importance of self care
I don't get why schools do this? Doesn't make any sense to me. Sorry for the rant.

All of this can be accomplished during school breaks. That's when my family vacationed, and I managed to learn about all those things and go to school.

 

[cruiser21]

All of this can be accomplished during school breaks. That's when my family vacationed, and I managed to learn about all those things and go to school.

That depends. It's very difficult for my DH to get time off in the Summer. Everyone in my department requests vacation time during Fall and Spring break. Not everyone is going to get it. My dh and I both have jobs that require us to work Holidays and weekends.

You can't put every family into a traditional bubble where mom and dad work Monday through Friday, weekends off, holidays off and Summer vacation time. Sometimes my husband and I take the kids on separate vacations because we cannot get time off at the same time. Were not some anomaly there are millions of people working jobs like ours.

When I see families on vacation during the school year. I don't automatically assume they did it because it's less money which in itself is not a bad reason. There could be a multitude of different reasons the family chose that week to take a cruise or a family vacation.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

I I just remind myself that George Washington had almost no formal schooling. People need to put things in perspective. Just because everyone does something doesn't mean it is the best thing to do. There are plenty of kids who go to formal school who have no work ethic or accountability or respect for other people or property. My son's math classes through public school have been on line since 7th grade! Classroom time is for asking questions. And guess what. He has no questions. Because online you can watch the examples as many time as you want. Don't assume that traditional public education is the best route. There are lots of ways to educate your kids. If you are not aware of the resources out there, you just are not looking.

 

[FigmentSpark]

I I just remind myself that George Washington had almost no formal schooling. People need to put things in perspective. Just because everyone does something doesn't mean it is the best thing to do. There are plenty of kids who go to formal school who have no work ethic or accountability or respect for other people or property. My son's math classes through public school have been on line since 7th grade! Classroom time is for asking questions. And guess what. He has no questions. Because online you can watch the examples as many time as you want. Don't assume that traditional public education is the best route. There are lots of ways to educate your kids. If you are not aware of the resources out there, you just are not looking.

As my kids struggle a bit with math... do you happen to have any links to good math resources, preferably for high school? Thanks.

 

[AquaDame]

We are going on the Magic to Bermuda with my grandsons ages 7 & 11. To be allowed to take the time off, the school requires parents to explain what the kids will learn on the trip. Any ideas or past experience with this requirement? WDW is easy. Lots of "educational" stuff there. But a cruise & Bermuda. Not sure. "History of Bermuda shorts" doesn't count (my daughter's 1st suggestion- she was joking). I think, LOL.

First thing that came to mind was a better understanding of how territories work - they have their own constitution and government while the UK deals with their foreign relations and defence. Then I realized you said they were 11 & 7, lol! Maybe it's enough to go snorkeling in the reefs and do a report on the fish they see if that's something you can do?

There is also a video they show frequently that shows the various areas of the ship such as the engine room, kitchen and laundry facility they can watch to see what it takes to run too.