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Make the most of school trips: How to help your child.
School trips are a great way to help your child develop independence, improve their social skills and get them out of the classroom and into the world. Students who participate in school trips are more likely to remember knowledge better and for longer. For instance, children who go on school trips to Rome as part of their history lessons are more likely to have a better grasp of some of the important concepts of the Renaissance period in the arts and literature.
However, every year children miss the opportunity to join school trips. Contrary to common belief, cost is not necessarily the main reason for rejecting a trip. More often than not, children are worried about being away from home or do not see the benefits themselves. As a parent, it is important to create a positive environment so your child can feel confident about going on a trip.
Encourage Them to Go
School trips are a fantastic opportunity to anchor new knowledge and experience the real world. If your child is excited about the possibility of a school trip, being a supportive parent is the best thing you can do for them. Ultimately, there could be a million reasons why they may not be able to join a specific trip. But you, as a parent, should not be one of them. Encouraging your child to pursue their passion by joining the trip is the best possible way to create a positive environment from the start. It doesn’t matter whether you would have preferred them to start at home instead. Your job is to show enthusiasm for what they want to do.
Share an Interest in Their Experience
Sometimes the little things are those that make the biggest difference. If the trip is abroad, it can be tricky to get in touch with your child. But you can follow their adventure by keeping the programme of their trip.
When they are back home, you can ask them all about what they’ve done and seen. It’s not only a great way for them to memorise the new things they’ve learned. It can also serve as a fantastic bonding experience where your child becomes the teacher, and you are the student, listening to their words.
Help Them Record the Experience
No experience lasts forever. Therefore, recording the trip can give your child the chance to store memories. They can record it in a journal, take pictures with their camera or have someone else take pictures for them.
Journalling is a popular method as a journal can hold not only stories but also photos and meaningful items and information. They can also be honest about their day-to-day experience, and perhaps, it’s a way of managing fears and insecurities while they are travelling.
Our own children have always had positive experiences on school trips, and cost dependent we have given our children permission to explore museums, art galleries, woodlands and residential weeks away with school. Our eldest daughter has her first trip abroad coming up this month and yes I find it daunting that she is travelling such a long way without us and exploring a city with others, but the teachers involved have been proactive in answering any parental worries, have a thorough plan and itinerary and have put our minds at rest. We will be updated regularly throughout their trip and we cannot wait for her to share her experiences of a European city with us and her siblings.
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