What's educational about Disney Cruise?

[we"reofftoneverland]

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

The first website that comes to mind if you are looking for extra practice is Kahn academy. https://www.khanacademy.org/math It is free also which is great. My son's classes are made by teachers at his school and through the school website. They are in collaboration with teachers at local universities. I will ask him if they are open to the public. He is still asleep right now. lol. Right now he is in Algebra 2. There are also programs you can buy. I have friends who home school. Most educational companies like Harcourt have a variety of programs available. A lot of Universities also have products online for high school (not free). Some states provide online materials for homeschoolers. But if your kids are in school already I would start by and looking at Kahn for free.

 

[lolomarie]

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.

Schooling as we know it is not the most effective way of educating a child. My point is that other things can take precedence, especially in the world we live in. Missing a week or two for family experiences will have little to no long term negative effects, and potentially infinite positive ones.

 

[cadien]

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.

The real question though is whether the kid will just magically learn all these things by being on the cruise or whether the adults will have to put in significant time both before and during the cruise to guide them through it all. And whether they'd actually end up doing that.

 

[cadien]

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

I agree that Khan Academy is a very credible one.

Also check with your school or public library about Tutor.com. It's an online service that states subscribe to that provides tutoring to students. You actually make appointments and chat online with a real person. The state or county foots the bill. You usually find it by checking the databases section of a school or public library's website.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

To answer OP's original question, another idea is the early explorers package at Homeschool in the Woods. We used it a few years ago to enrich our kids cruising experience and they loved it. So much fun to do before and during your Caribbean or Bahamas cruise. Really awesome. There is also information in there about early nautical technology.
https://store.homeschoolinthewoods.com/products/time-travelers-new-world-explorers

 

[cadien]

To answer OP's original question, another idea is the early explorers package at Homeschool in the Woods. We used it a few years ago to enrich our kids cruising experience and they loved it. So much fun to do before and during your Caribbean or Bahamas cruise. Really awesome. There is also information in there about early nautical technology.
https://store.homeschoolinthewoods.com/products/time-travelers-new-world-explorers

Now that is super cool. My kid is too young, but it's good to mentally file away.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

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.

I believe the concept of summer being "the" vacation time revolved around when the kids are out of school. Apparently at a time with kids actually going to school at a set time/place was important.

 

[cruiser21]

I believe the concept of summer being "the" vacation time revolved around when the kids are out of school. Apparently at a time with kids actually going to school at a set time/place was important.

That and the weather is better.

 

[cruiser21]

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.

I thought I was going to have to have to teach my son Algebra. Thank goodness for all the online sources he was able to teach himself. I am good in math but it’s been ......wayyyyyy too long since I took high school math. Kids don’t know how lucky they are. I remember having to spend hours in the library doing research for a paper. Now everything is just a mouse click away.

 

[Madame]

I thought I was going to have to have to teach my son Algebra. Thank goodness for all the online sources he was able to teach himself. I am good in math but it’s been ......wayyyyyy too long since I took high school math. Kids don’t know how lucky they are. I remember having to spend hours in the library doing research for a paper. Now everything is just a mouse click away.

It sure is! & you wouldn’t believe how many students don’t understand how to actually use the net to research & not copy/paste, plagiarize. Technology is an awesome tool, but in terms of education a double edged sword.

 

[tcufrog]

As a librarian I find the idea that all you need to teach a child is the Internet very alarming especially given how much of what’s there is plain incorrect at the bare minimum and misleading at the worst. When you let a kid loose to learn on the Internet without teaching them how to evaluate the information there you’ve done the exact opposite of educating them. Most adults don’t know to evaluate information either much less teach their kids how to do it.

 

[cadien]

As a librarian I find the idea that all you need to teach a child is the Internet very alarming especially given how much of what’s there is plain incorrect at the bare minimum and misleading at the worst. When you let a kid loose to learn on the Internet without teaching them how to evaluate the information there you’ve done the exact opposite of educating them. Most adults don’t know to evaluate information either much less teach their kids how to do it.

Oh hey! There are two of us!

 

[party-of-five]

As a librarian I find the idea that all you need to teach a child is the Internet very alarming especially given how much of what’s there is plain incorrect at the bare minimum and misleading at the worst. When you let a kid loose to learn on the Internet without teaching them how to evaluate the information there you’ve done the exact opposite of educating them. Most adults don’t know to evaluate information either much less teach their kids how to do it.

I agree with your statement that the internet alone is not enough. But I’m not sure anyone was really suggesting that. I do, however, think that the internet is a powerful tool in learning. I also agree that children need to be taught how to think for themselves... how to evaluate information, how to discern, etc. I’m not convinced that’s being taught in the schools. Hence your comment “Most adults don’t know to evaluate information either much less teach their kids how to do it“. Life is learning, learning is life.... we’re always learning be it in a classroom, on a ship, at work, on vacation.

 

[cadien]

I agree with your statement that the internet alone is not enough. But I’m not sure anyone was really suggesting that. I do, however, think that the internet is a powerful tool in learning. I also agree that children need to be taught how to think for themselves... how to evaluate information, how to discern, etc. I’m not convinced that’s being taught in the schools. Hence your comment “Most adults don’t know to evaluate information either much less teach their kids how to do it“. Life is learning, learning is life.... we’re always learning be it in a classroom, on a ship, at work, on vacation.

In schools that still have school librarians, that is the main focus of their job. Not checking out books. Conducting classes on evaluating information online. It's called information literacy.

 

[hrhdhd]

Like Abraham Lincoln said, "Don't believe everything you read on the Internet."

 

[eeyoreandtink]

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.

Of course they have contact with humans. The internet is an AWESOME tool for research, but does it really teach kids to evaluate what they have read, synthesize that information and draw a conclusion from it. You cannot get those higher order thinking skills that kids really need from the internet. Kids not schooled in a traditional manner still have teachers, their parents or others that they work with. No one I know who home schools just plugs a kid into a computer never to interact with them again. They are actively teaching their children, having them video conference lessons, ect to broaden their depth of understanding. The implication of the post I was quoting was that teachers are completely unnecessary and that a child can get everything they need on the internet. I don't feel that's true.

 

[eeyoreandtink]

The real question though is whether the kid will just magically learn all these things by being on the cruise or whether the adults will have to put in significant time both before and during the cruise to guide them through it all. And whether they'd actually end up doing that.

This exactly. To make a cruise a truly "educational trip" is going to require significant time spent planning beforehand, and significant time spent teaching while on the cruise. Just taking a cruise is a pleasure trip, nothing more.

 

[cruiser21]

This exactly. To make a cruise a truly "educational trip" is going to require significant time spent planning beforehand, and significant time spent teaching while on the cruise. Just taking a cruise is a pleasure trip, nothing more.

My family has learned a lot from our travels, myself included. No I did not make out lesson plans before each trip. I guess our definitions of "learning" is completely different.

 

[piglet1979]

You can learn a lot from the Cast Members. We just got back from a cruise and we learned a lot about the counties they were from. It was fun talking to them.

 

[cadien]

My family has learned a lot from our travels, myself included. No I did not make out lesson plans before each trip. I guess our definitions of "learning" is completely different.

The definition that counts is what a public school district would agree is an "educational trip" as opposed to a vacation with some learning. Those are higher standards than yours.