Field trips

(This post does contain affiliate links)

One of my favorite things about homeschooling is the amount of field trips we are able to take.  When my boys were in public school, they generally took about 2 field trips each per year.  I remember one of the field trips was to the local kids' museum.  When the director asked for a show of hands for how many kids hadn't been there before, I was surprised with how many hands shot up.

Part of the problem, no doubt, is money.  It can be expensive to do all of these field trips on a regular basis.  But an equally important part of the problem is time.  When you are in school all day, you only have evenings & weekends to cram in everything else.  Throw in homework & extracurricular activities like sports, and you're out of time! One way I combatted that was by having a side hustle I could do on my phone even while doing field trips & homeschooling.  Thankfully in this day & age there are lots of flexible options!  This is the one I chose - Perfectly Posh - and it has worked brilliantly for our family!  That helps offset the costs of fieldtrips!

When I was considering homeschooling, I made a long list of potential field trip ideas for my general area.  This was the list I came up with almost a year ago.

Nearby fieldtrip opportunities:

• Creative Discovery Museum
• Pioneer days at Audubon Acres (mid-November)
• Chickamauga Battlefield living history (September)
• Chattanooga Zoo
• TN Aquarium
• Chattanooga Ducks
• TN Valley Railroad Museum
• Chickamauga Battlefield
• Hunter Art Museum
• Incline Railway
• Ruby Falls
• Rock City 
• International Towing & Recovery Museum
• Crabtree Farms
• Chattanooga Market
• Bessie Smith Cultural Center
• Cumberland County Playhouse
• Henning Museum & Bryan College Arboretum
• Lake Winnie
• Red Clay State Park
• Scopes Trial Museum
• Bricks 4 Kids
• Raccoon Mtn Caverns & Dam
• Coker Tire Museum
• Audubon Acres
• Reflection Riding Arboretum & Nature Center
• Chattanooga National Cemetery, Silverdale Confederate Cemetery
• Tivoli Theater
• Chattanooga Choo Choo
• IMAX theater
• Rock climbing at High Point
• Chattanooga City Tour
• Cravens House
• Songbirds Guitar Museum
• Missionary Ridge
• Knitting Mill Antiques
• Chattanooga Convention Center (rotating exhibits/conventions)
• Medal of Honor Heritage Center
• Superfly
• Orchard Knob
• Chattanooga Symphony & Opera
• Chattanooga African-American Museum
• Old McDonald's Farm
• Chattanooga Airport
• STEAM field trip Tech Town
• Orchard House Creamery (where we get our milk)
• Dump vs. recycling center
• Local & national parks
• Grocery shopping ("real life" math, coupons, saving money)
• Firehall
• Andrew's work

Farther fieldtrip opportunities:

• Nashville
• Knoxville
• Atlanta
• Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area
• Memphis
• TN Safari Park
• Andersonville Prison Living History - March
• Trench Life living history, cabin life living history - Aug., Dallas, GA

When we first started out, we were aiming to do one field trip a week.  That often included places we had a membership to already, such as the Chattanooga Zoo, Creative Discovery Museum, or the Tennessee Aquarium.  If you plan on doing lots of field trips, I do recommend getting memberships to places such as these.  That helps keep your costs lower & you can visit it often.  We've had memberships to these three places on & off since my kids were babies.  Of the three, the Creative Discovery Museum is my favorite.  It has a good variety, has the exhibit upstairs that changes every few months, is very science-based, and has kept my kids' interest for years!

Some of my favorite field trips that we've done so far have been the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta (expensive, but very impressive), the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and the Cumberland Caverns.  Some places have homeschooling days or teacher discounts, so always ask!  And some memberships have discounts to affiliate places (this is the case for many zoos, aquariums, and kids' museums).


Another thing we've been able to do is attend living history places such as Colonial Williamsburg, the Renaissance Festival in Georgia, and even battle reenactments nearby.  Talk about making history real!!  The biggest thing with these is to plan ahead.  Check out a calendar of events (it often requires searching around) and see when local reenactments are, then put them on your calendar.  It can bring you learning fun year-round!
By doing lots of field trips, we're able to generate organic & hands-on learning - both of which make it fun & make the information they learn actually "stick".  Why learn about something in a classroom when you could learn it in person!  It's so much more fun!  And it's why field trips are one of the many reasons I love homeschooling!