Any other Homeschoolers out there?

[catwho]

I *know* I can't be the only homeschooling Dis fanatic here! So who else is hsing and what (if you do) do you include in your curriculum on your trips? Do you do anything specific while there or do you just relate back to it when you get home? Do you plan to incorporate anything or do you just let it come as it comes? So what's on your curriculum for your next trip?


62 more days!

 

[DiznEeyore]

We homeschool our 8yo ds. And I don't plan ANYTHING school-wise on our vacation. It *is* a vacation, after all! However, that being said, my ds is a science FANATIC and we spend tons of time at Innoventions, Living Seas, etc. I'm one of those who believes in seizing the "teachable moments" and that kids can learn from everything! Have fun!!

 

[sha_lyn]

Great question. I've been debating whether or not to "school" while we are at WDW. One thing I have considered (if we can afford it) it to leave a day early and take DS to Discovery cove. He is 12 and is very interested in Marine Biology.
Be forewarned... You have just opened yourself up to a lot of criticizing by admitting you home school. There are a few here that think we should be in jail and lose our children.

 

[Tracy0315]

We homeschool our 10 year old DD. We leave in 9 days and she has saved her own money for this trip, $200. I was planning on giving her a blank check book register to help her learn how to keep up with her spending. Also, I bought her a travel journal, it has all kinds of questions for her to answer about the trip and she'll have it for years to come. Besides that almost everything at Epcot is a learning experience.

Have a great time.

Tracy

 

[catwho]

Oh goodie more homeschoolers!! We don't do much as far as curriculum when we go, we do have the girls keep a journal and send post cards to their friends (writing and learning to how to address and send mail) We also spend the majority of our time at AK and Epcot as the kids love it and get so much from it!

As far as the people who would nay say homeschooling, well, they obviously haven't dealt with the substandard schools where I live (Alabama). Just got the report card for our school district and it fails nationally! I have 3 very right kids who would be bored to tears in school. My oldest one was so we pulled her out. If we had a better school system then maybe our kids would be in school and I'm not about to pay more than my house payment for private schools! (not on top of what I have to shell in out taxes to support a school my kids don't go to!) Yeah, I have a chip on my shoulder about the school system here, but most parents would if they saw their child start hating learning!

So when do the rest of the hsers here go to WDW? We go in late January when the crowds are smaller and the weather is cooler.


61 more days!

 

[sha_lyn]

catwho well you live in about the only state that does worse than GA. What I really hate it the people that tell us we should just move to a good school. I live in my home town and love the property We live on. If I can get my son a better education at home why does it bother so many people?

 

[Tracy0315]

Catwho,

Just wanted to say Hi, we live in Alabama also. We live in Alabaster outside of Birminham and I also can't stand the school system. I know just what you mean. By the way we are going in Dec.

Tracy

 

[singitalto]

We didn't do school when we went to WDW this past year. (It is vacation)But- Since we homeschool- we always take advantage of the teachable moments!


We'll, I hope all that are going soon have a great time! I'm trying to climb out of my "after Disney" depression. Its been really hard this time. We went to Disney for 2 weeks end of Sept and it's hitting me hard that I know we can't go back for at least a year or two.(finances)

I love being able to go to WDW during the off peak times!!!

BTW- schools are ok here- I just choose to teach my kids(DD9,DS7) and we love being together.

 

[catwho]

sha-lyn, We started off in Oregon and then Florida. Both of these states had excellent schools (at least where we were ) and my oldest dd was in a public Montessori school. When we moved to Alabama (Lower Alabama) the saying used to be "Thank goodness for Mississippi" (which has the worse schools in the country) but now the people in Mississippi say, "Thank goodness for Mobile County" Our school district is one of the worse in the country and is facing bakruptcy. We moved into the best elementary school in the county and we ended up pulling our dd out of that school! Pulled our youngest out last year and oldest out this year. I doubt our son will even go to school if we are still living here. I lvoe homeschooling, but it sure does get tiring. My dh works long hours many weekends and out of town often. I joke with him that I feel like a welfare mom sometimes. I take care of the kids all day, clean house, and someone magically puts money into our bank account, but it never seems as though it is enough to cover everything we need.

Disney is our *vacation* and we try not to do too much. So what do you all relate to when you get back home? I will say though that there is the yearly "physics lesson" while standing in line for BTMRR or Splash. My dh explains why you don't fall out of roller coasters. This year he will be able to explain why we don't fall out of RnR. Of course *I* know why we don't fall out. It's because mom is holding onto that bar as tightly as she can and she wishes that her kids would do the same!


60 days and with PS for CP!

 

[sha_lyn]

When we started HS'ing I didn't plan on doing it "forever". I only wanted to get DS caught up since the school would not offer any help. Now the more I research HS'ing the more I think we will be involved in it for a long time. I plan on enrolling DS in a more structured program next yr. Possibly a 2 day umbrella school. With DD I am thinking a church school for kindergarten and first grade at least (she attends at church preschool).

 

[leebee]

We went from a school system in MI that was rated in the top 20 nationally by several magazines/journals to rural PA. DD went from having learned to read, print and do basic addition in kindergarden to a 1st grade where they taught colors, matching upper and lower case letters, etc. We pulled her out and homeschooled her for the rest of first grade. She went back to public school and loved second grade. Now we are in Maine, where third grade is teaching spelling, addition/subtraction facts, and cursive. The problem with this is that second grade in PA taught addition/subtraction to three digits in columns with borrowing/carrying, introductory multiplication, and cursive. The 3rd grade teacher has given my DD a 5th grade spelling book and she's excused from cursive learning, but I think we are about to become a homeschooling family again! At least it's easier to do here in ME than it was in PA. Actually, we have always felt that EVERYTHING we do is a learning opportunity, so homeschooling wasn't much different from the way we normally live!

 

[Lora]

We're in our second year...DD's are 4 and 6. We use Sonlight most of the time along with a bunch of other stuff. We leave that all at home when we go to WDW. I have to say this though, one of the benefits of homeschooling is really knowing what your kids are learning. We were going through Spaceship Earth with all of the historical scenes and I kept pointing them out to my then almost 3-year-old saying that we had read about that in our school work. (I mostly did this so she wouldn't be afraid of the dark). On our next trip...when she was 3 1/2, she kept pointing them out to me saying "we read about that in our encyclopedia". We're always learning.

 

[aprincessmom]

Here are some of the things DD and I did just recently since our vacation was during school.

Learned how to say Please and Thank You in other languages (DD's teacher said we could ask any phrase we wanted and this was what DD picked)

Explored the Big vs. Little themes -- It is this month's theme for curriculum. Very easy to do there. So many big vs. little areas.

Dinosaurs -- spent some time identifying the dinos at Animal Kingdom. Learned about them prior to going in our dinosaur handbook and DD was able to identify them. Was also really able to appreciate the marvel of Sue, the big TRex.

I've heard of other things for older children related to mathematics -- budgeting, working with attendance figures, statistics, etc.

Hope this helps.

 

[CJMickeyMouse]

I can relate to what all of you are saying....

We live in Iowa.... best schools, right? WRONG!

Our 6th grader is dual enrolled because he is many years above grade level in every subject. He just took the ACT and got a score any highschooler would be proud of!

We really look for teaching moments... especially in EPCOT. Our kids (the younger one is in 4th grade) are completing a high school Spanish 2 course and they love learning about the other countries, their languages and their people. You can also learn a lot by simply taking the time to talk to people. We spent hours talking to a lady from Scotland in the concierge lounge at the Poly! She complimented our boys for being well behaved, and the conversation went on and on from there.

If you are not close to a good zoo, I think AK would be great for learning about animals and their habitats. We frequently visit Omaha, though, and IMO it is better than AK.

I agree with the journaling and then just take what comes, I think the main thing is to be willing to slow down and seize the opportunities when they present themselves!

Have a great time!!!!

 

[Mom of 5]

Hi-

Our family is in our 6th year of homeschooling. We started when our oldest was in 5th grade. He was home for 3 years, then went back to public school. Our second child was in 1st grade when we started, and our daughter was 4, so she did preschool at home. They are still at home and in 6th and 4th grades. As of now, we also plan to homeschool our two youngest children.

Our youngest have never been to WDW. Our three older children got to go quite a few times when we lived in Tampa (day trips), but haven't been since we moved back to Baton Rouge. Our oldest is the only one old enough to remember anything about WDW (he was 6 on his last visit). This trip is a surprise for them - their Christmas present from Santa.

My DH has already spoken to my oldest son's teachers (he is an honor student with over a 4.average!), and none of them were concerned at all that he would be missing 4 days of school after the holidays. He will be allowed to make up any work he might miss.

We will not be doing any school on our trip - just pure family fun! We leave in 18 days!!

 

[heart4dis]

I know this thread is a year old. Hopefully someone will still see it. I homeschool and am designing a unit study to prepare for WDW. We don't leave until next school year (I can't stand the wait). We'll start our unit study in Oct/Nov and be ready to go in Dec. I thought we could easily cover every study discipline. I am schooling my DD 10, DS 9, DS 7, DS 5. We would study BEFORE the trip to get more out of it. During the trip we'll journal, keep up with their own spending money, and take their own pictures for scrapbooking. I thought each child could study a different country of his/her choice and orally report to the family (the older ones will write the report). That way at Epcot, they are already familiar with one of the countries (besides the USA). Plus each child could take a different subject area out of Future World and report to the family before the trip (oceans, land, etc.).
Great to hear others homeschool. I jokingly tell people I homeschool so I can go to Disney during the off-season!

 

[Lora]

Wow! You did bring back an old thread! But I still got an email notice about your repy.

My kids are now in K and 2nd grade. We're leaving for WDW in a few weeks. We never fail to find something related to what we've studied there. Of course, we're not afraid of a little bit of fun either!

Before I had kids, I went to Epcot during their free admission year for teachers. We were able to go to a part of Epcot where they had all sorts of learning materials related to the attractions at Epcot. I don't know if that place still exists, but it wouldn't hurt to check it out ahead of time and see if they'd send you some stuff.

Have fun with your unit study.

 

[catwho]

Wow! This thread is a year old! LOL!! It sounds like you are off to a great start. Epcot also has Future World which can be a study in itself. No need for preparation really. There are all kinds of physics experiments and Wonders of Life is great for biology challenges. My kids (dd 10, dd7, ds4) really got a lot out of our trip.

And don't forget AK! You could do a study on the continents of Asia and Africa, what kind of animals are there, what the climate is like and why Orlando is a hospitable place for those animals (you could talk about why this park wouldn't work in Nebraska or Maine) We love love love AK! I think our kids get as much from that park as they do from Epcot.

One thing that we do is take the time to talk to the CM's, especially those CM's that are not from the US. We go to WDW in the Jan/Feb time frame and so we don't have the crowds and so the CM's have more time to sit and talk with you. If you mention that you homeschool they seem to open up and tell you more than the average kid. We had a very nice lady from Pakistan tell us all about the village that she grew up in and how it was different from the city that we live in. We sort of did a comparison thing like, "We watch TV at night." "We told stories about our ancestors."

And don't limit your talking to just the CM's. We have found that most of the people from other countries or cultures are very open to talk about where they are from or what they believe. On our last trip we passed by a Jewish gentleman with his hair in curls (prayer curls) wearing a top hat with Mickey Mouse ears. There he was with his prayer shawl showing, wearing dark clothes, looking so "proper" but with Mickey Mouse ears. We all burst out laughing and he started laughing with us and he winked and said to my oldest dd "You think that I should wear this to temple next week?" Which of course made us laugh even harder! He then took a few moments and shared with us that even though people of his religion seem stoic and serious that they enjoy having fun just like everyone else.

2 years ago we were on the monorail with a woman from India who was in a sari and had all kinds of jewelry on. My oldest leaned over and asked me why she had a red dot on her forehead and the woman struck up a conversation with us about what all her "regalia" was about. Her different pieces of jewelry, her dress and yes even her red dot.

We try not to do much other than journal when we go. Last year I was obsessed about making sure that my kids would "get a lesson" from our trip and what I found out was that I didn't have to do all that much work. They naturally "get it." Somedays we will be working on something and one of my kids will say, "Oh, that was like 'da-dee-da' when we were at Disney." So they do get it even without us even having to put much effort into it.

But I like your idea of using Disney as a catalyst to your curriculum. Think we should get together and do a complete "Homeschool Your Child with Disney Curriculum" and get really rich (and afford all the trips for our "research")?

 

[heart4dis]

Great ideas. Thanks. I've never been to AK, so I had forgotten about it being another good source of edu. mat'l. I wish we could make money off the curric. idea. Then I could go to WDW more often. As it is, it will be a one-shot deal for our family of 6 on a minister's salary...I'm not complaining. We plan to make the most of it. We're doing the cruise as well.

I figured we could even do math work on the velocity of rides!
PE: getting in shape for walking and "nutrition on the road"

 

[chemteacher]

I don't home school (my son is almost three)! But once upon a time, I did teach high chemistry (thus my user name). I found a sree web site enchantedlearning.com that I use for work/color sheets for my DS. They have great units on geography and foreign languages from many of the Epcot countries that would be appropriate for early to mid elementary. Also the interactive activties at Wonders of Life, Innoventions, and the playland at Journey into Your Imagination are excellent "hidden" learning attractions.
For older students, math/physical science lessons could be appropriate. Tea cups, Dumbo, RnR (the loops)ect. are examples of centripetal/centrifugal force. ToT is an example of free fall. All the mountains and TT can be used to calculate distance, speed, velocity, and acceleration problems. Just a few suggestions.
Gina