As the founder of Sundance Vacations, we have been blessed with a lifetime of quite varied travel experiences. We fly. We drive. We camp. We travel abroad. We travel locally. We book short trips and long trips. We plan in advance and we also leave on a whim. Our accommodations are also varied to include condos, hotel rooms, vacation homes, recreational vehicles and even a tent. We are “equal opportunity travelers”.
I have always believed that travel is the best way to educate my kids and I was happy to read a blog post on trekaroo on this important topic. The policy at our elementary school was that time off from school could be granted for educational purposes. The permission form required that I explain the “educational benefit” that our girls would receive as a result of the trip. My degree as an elementary educator and a travel expert made these forms less daunting but some parents can feel overwhelmed in trying to explain the benefits of travel. Traveleffect.com offers great infographics that parents can use to make a case for the benefits of a child missing class time in favor of an educational trip.
This summer we visited Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado. My youngest daughter raced home on the first day of school with her new Social Studies textbook in tow to see what the authors had to say about the subject. She definitely felt a personal connection to the topic. Although she learned a lot about the ancient Pueblo cliff dwellings during our guided visit, she learned an even greater life lesson that evening when she discovered that the “outdated” textbook information was not consistent with what she had learned in person.
Lots of Sundance Vacations travelers choose to travel to Florida in the summertime simply because the kids are not in school. Even a trip to Disney World can provide educational opportunities. Attractions at Epcot Center, Animal Kingdom and Sea World are educational slam dunks. We find ways to incorporate math (eg. What is the daily attendance at the park x the price per ticket?), money and change practice, climate, weather, and journal writing on our trips.
I hope these statistics will convince families to be more assertive and confident when requesting permission to travel during the school year.
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