We all took them when we were in school. Field trips are a universal to most people in the world. Who can forget taking paths with a wilderness guide and our teacher behind us.
Today I went on a field trip with my kids and it was just remarkable. I went last year to this educational field trip and the year before that as well. It is always great. The kids learned from actors how the gold rush happened. They hiked down a trail and panned for gold. They used fake money to buy supplies for the trail and heard all about the conditions during the gold rush period. When we returned to school, the kids were excited to write and answer questions about the time period. They learned about the covered wagons and the riches as well as the sicknesses and deaths of the time. When do kids ever get to really experience history? That’s what mine did today.
Filed trips are costly and a big hassle in many ways. If for nothing else, they are taxing on a teacher’s nerves because you must watch your 30 or so kids ardently all day. But field trips pay huge dividends in the classroom. If you are teaching a concept they don’t understand, you can activate prior knowledge that they gained through the field trip. In this time of recession, there is a push to do away with things like field trips. I hope teachers understand their value and do what they can to ensure every kid at every grade level goes on a few field trips every year.
