Are you ready to transform a dull, boring day at home? Get ready to make it exciting by going on a virtual field trip your family will love! Follow these tips and ideas to create a virtual field trip that will be fun and memorable for your homeschool.
Tips for a Perfect Homeschool Virtual Field Trip
Creating the perfect homeschool virtual field trip isn’t too hard, but there are a few things to consider. You will need to know your audience. What will they enjoy?
Having the best resources that fit your homeschool style will help too because it’s all about having fun. Most importantly, you will want to know where the best museums for homeschoolers can be found online. Here is everything you need to get started.
Plan for Fun
Keep these ideas in mind as you are planning a homeschool virtual field trip so you can have an exciting time together learning.
- What age group will this field trip work best for?
- Will it be completed individually or as a group/ family?
- Does everyone have the resources needed to stay actively engaged in the virtual field trip?
It is easy to keep the museum field trip to a single topic easily covered in one day or lesson. You will only need a few resources. These can often be found within each website. You may want to explore in small chunks over several days. This will allow you to have different activities involved with each part of the lesson. It’s a great way to layer learning.
Either way is fine and both work great for any age group. It really comes down to personal learning styles and time commitment.
Ultimately, the goal is to maintain engagement and excitement throughout the virtual field trip. This can be done by using quality resources that inspire learning in a unique digital environment.
Virtual Field Trip Resources
You also want to have the right resources available. Take a minute and consider your family dynamics and what will make the best virtual learning environment for your homeschool.
If the virtual field trip is for your entire family, try web-casting it to your TV or larger monitor screen. It will be more enjoyable to enjoy learning together. This makes it fun to just hang out exploring together – just like you would do at a museum or exhibit.
Everyone needs the learning resources before you get started. Print or download items like worksheets, notebooking pages, or even science lab sheets are all that is needed. These help keep engagement high so no one ‘wanders off’.
Stopping and starting to get these organized can be frustrating. So do a bit of pre-planning and download the resources before you gather everyone together.
A Virtual Field Trip Plan
Have a plan or a routine that you establish as you incorporate virtual field trips into your home school routine. Just like with a regular field trip, you’ll find that kids want to explore elsewhere and have fun on their own. Begin with the activity that you planned to do. Finish up by letting them explore on their own. A visit to other areas of your virtual field trip destination will help you find other areas to explore next time.
One of the key pieces to the routine will be maintaining engagement. It is important that everyone is having fun and learning in this new, virtual environment. Capture that learning by using notebooking pages, journaling or discussion questions. Some other type of presentation at the completion of the virtual field trip might be enjoyable too.
Use activity sheets or journaling pages that correspond with the topic to help the kids process what they are interacting with. This allows you to document each student’s learning. It is a great way to provide proof of learning if it is required by your state or country’s homeschool requirements.
Where are the best virtual field trips for homeschoolers?
Virtual museums and field trips are popping up everywhere on social media. There are even live class sessions at many online schools but those might be expensive. It is pretty easy to create your own.
So where are the best museums to use in your homeschool? They are everywhere but some are definitely better than others. Thankfully, they are getting more versatile and user friendly every day, which makes homeschool planning so much easier.
The best museums for homeschoolers have resources for every age group, and easy to navigate platforms and quality images. Some even have interactive games to help explain more complicated concepts, so keep an eye out – especially for science.
Explore from home by using online museums and virtual field trip websites. Use journaling or notebooking pages to create a fun, active, and engaging learning environment for your homeschool.
