lauren (00:04.494)

Today we're going to talk a bit about things we do with our homeschoolers or just any kid outside of your home. This is by no means a comprehensive list and if you have more ideas or things your family enjoys, please send them to our email, lifestylehustle.com. We're always eager to learn new things.

All right, so this is just a list basically with elaboration of all the things that we do with our homeschoolers right now.

Ellyn (00:42.77)

And most of this stuff we have done, I would say all of this stuff we have done at one time or another with our kids. So I would say we have firsthand knowledge on pretty much everything. So we'll start talking about it.

lauren (00:57.13)

Well, all the things on this list. Not everything, but yeah.

lauren (01:05.614)

So one thing our state does, and I think a lot of states do this, and maybe you can tell me Ellyn if your state does it too, but they have a museum pass that you can get for all the state museums in the state.

Ellyn (01:31.807)

So the state museums. Okay. I don't know if our state does that. I know that they do it for some other things that we'll get into in a little bit, but I don't know about museums.

lauren (01:34.394)

Yeah, it's almost like a park pass.

lauren (01:46.358)

Well, our state does, so you guys can check it out and see if your state does this, but once you have the pass, it means that you can go to any museum that's on their list and just go for visits. There's all kinds of museums with all kinds of different target ideas. So all you have to do is find one that your kids might like and go go for a visit. Make it a homeschool day. Which of course all these things on this list could be a homeschool day.

Ellyn (02:28.87)

Mm-hmm. They all count if your state is one of those states who keeps track of your days. Pretty much all of this stuff counts as a day as far as the school is concerned. Some states are a little more rigorous in their recording and documentation, but all of this stuff would count as homeschool days for people who are kind of new to this.

lauren (03:02.39)

It's not that different from going on field trips when kids are in public school. So, I mean, my kids were in public for a year and they had probably about 10 field trips scheduled during that.

lauren (03:21.174)

You know, that time. And I'm not really sure how much they actually learned at any of their field trips, but museum visits, you're going to get some learning done in those places.

Ellyn (03:27.73)

Ha ha!

Ellyn (03:31.422)

That's right. Yep, and my kids also went to public school for several years and they got to go out and do all kinds of field trips. They were not necessarily all learning field trips. I know that one of the ones that they went on was to go to a water park. And that one was really fun, but not a lot of learning took place that day.

Ellyn (03:59.666)

Most of these, I would say, are more learning field trips, they would be considered. Another one is nature hikes. Now I have done our core subjects in the morning and then spent the whole rest of the day trail hiking with the kids. And this is something that I could get crazy interested in because I love hiking. And what I mean by crazy interesting is, you know, purchasing a shelter half and going with my husband on five day trips out into the middle of nowhere. good time to me.

Ellyn (04:48.062)

You're a part-time crazy person. So along with nature hikes, going back to what Lauren was saying about museum passes, a lot of state parks will allow you to purchase a pass, which will get you into any state park in your state for a day pass. It's usually not good for camping. I know it's not good for camping in my state. but a lot of state parks have really good nature trails. They'll have maybe a more serious nature trail for older kids and adults. And then a lot of them will have a storybook trail for your little kids and an exercise trail. I mean, really state parks have come a long way in just the last, I would say since my big kids were little, they've really invested

in getting people into nature just for the day trips. And so a season pass or I guess in my state, we do call them season passes for your state parks. It's just, it's a great way to get out and enjoy nature. And it's fun. It really is.

lauren (06:06.766)

And a lot of times they have their own museum, right, like at the park, and talk about the reason that they're there and the different animals that live there and that kind of stuff. So it's fun.

Ellyn (06:20.218)

Yep, definitely. So for the cost of usually, I mean, in my state, I think it's under a hundred bucks for a year. And so it's well worth the investment. Do it one year, skip it the next year and do it the next year when your kids are a little bit older and you take on bigger trails. It really is fun. We've done it several times.

lauren (06:27.954)

Yeah, it's not very much. And that's a family pass. So it's nice.

lauren (06:48.142)

for homeschool kids, this is more for homeschool kids, is finding people who offer a class. I haven't done this yet. We have our co-op and that's where my kids are taking all their little separate classes, but I know Ellyn's kids have taken some classes outside the home.

Ellyn (07:09.902)

We have. my library offered an art class that we did for several years running by a local art teacher and she was just amazing and did wonderful things with our kids. We also did 4-H for a little while. We did an electrical class and an engineering class. they were great because these were areas that we don't have a lot of knowledge in. So it was great to farm the kids out for a little while to learn something that I knew I couldn't teach them. And so we really, really appreciated that. And you can, if you're interested in 4H, it is, there's usually a local group around and you can usually find out what clubs are available.  Sometimes they'll have a theme  i know one of the ones offered here is a small animal club so any small animal and it gets it'll give your kids experience with talking to the public because a lot of times they'll do the local fairs like the county fair they can show their animals or you know depending on what's available in an area. So I, I'm a big fan of 4-H. It really is good.

lauren (08:47.76)

I hadn't really thought about that.

Ellyn (09:22.75)

our next thing is science centers. I know that there are several in my area and state. And just like with the museum passes and the state park passes, you can get a pass for a year and be able to visit all of them. I know that in my state we have three or four available within just a couple hours of our house and they're fantastic and they all had kind of have a different theme and so you take your kids and just turn them loose for four or five hours if you want to and really explore it they're so much fun I love science museums Lauren loves nature hikes I like science museums

lauren (09:42.762)

We have one really close I haven't made my way to yet, but it's definitely on the list.

Ellyn (09:50.894)

Maybe we'll go. Yeah, they're fun.

lauren (09:57.322)

Another thing that you can do is go to the farmers market now. This isn't as much Educational, but this is farmers market fair going to the fair with your kid or the Farm shows that's super fun. So you get to see all the animals. There's no way it's not educational

Ellyn (10:22.93)

Definitely.

lauren (10:25.266)

A lot of those have special events that you can go and see, like cattle roping or barrel racing. Oh, that's so much fun. And it's stuff my kids don't get to see very often, so it's a good time.

Ellyn (10:43.85)

It is. We almost always try and go to the state fair. I just, I love it. We’ve been going since Lauren and I went with our family when we were kids and it's just something that I've taken into adulthood. It's so much fun. And my poor husband, I drag him through to look at every cow, horse, pig, rabbit goat and ginea pig in the entire state and chickens, chickens too. I, and he just goes along following along behind the family, wondering what he did wrong. But it is so much. But farmers markets are really fun to get to know your local farmers.

lauren (11:23.79)

I don't think so, I'm sure he's having a good time.

lauren (11:38.326)

Oh yeah, we used to get milk from a local farmer and this is a thing more in our state than in yours, I don't think you're allowed to do that. And when we went...

Ellyn (11:50.763)

No, we're not.

lauren (11:55.218)

 the farmer would be like oh you want to come back and see all the baby cows so we'd get to go back and look at all the babies and they were so cute and the kids still remember it like getting to go there they also had a ride on tractor at that place like uh one of those toys that's in place it doesn't really go anywhere but you can get in it and turn it on and it moves like up and down or whatever

Ellyn (12:24.21)

Oh, fun.

lauren (12:26.47)

Yep, good times. It's… and I know we've said this before, but just get to know your farmers. I've never come across a farmer that wasn't just so happy to see you and talk to you. Let you do stuff. Like one time they let the kids come into the milking room and milk one of the cows.

Ellyn (12:53.455)

That's so fun.

lauren (12:54.602)

I know, it was amazing. And you know, it wasn't planned or anything. It was just, oh, you're here, so you might as well come on back. I know, it's really nice.

Ellyn (13:03.134)

Get to work.

lauren (13:11.078)

Uh, another thing, this is kind of wrapped into the fair, but I do, I really like community events too. Um, like...

Ellyn (13:27.981)

Parade.

lauren (13:30.082)

Parade. Yep, parades are fun.

Ellyn (13:35.646)

Yes, they are. Yep, and I mean if you are in some of these other things you might get to march in a parade. They will often have different groups be just marching in the parade if you happen to be part of a 4-H club or...

lauren (13:54.99)

Preschool. Our preschool was in one of the parades last year.

Ellyn (13:56.638)

preschool. Yes, our preschool did it too.  Or you can just go and watch the parade, which they throw candy at you and that's fun too.

lauren (14:08.378)

I know. Well, I don't like, I always liked being the person on one of the floats that got to throw candy. That was so exciting. I think you were in more control over it or something. I don't know.

Ellyn (14:24.282)

But there's always festivals and a lot of times they'll celebrate some sort of local community oddity or something that makes your area special. And those are always super fun because you get to go and see, likely to see people you know. And also,

Ellyn (14:51.99)

Local vendors, last year when I went to one of our local festivals, I bought the coolest salt and pepper shaker from somebody who makes them and he's a town over from me. And guaranteed forever and they're beautiful and they work amazing and I know I'm supporting a local artisan when I go buy stuff like that. So I like to go to our local festivals. They're super fun.

lauren (15:20.782)

Totally. Yeah, so do I. I mean, when we were kids, we always went to the local festivals, and I don't know, that's just something I want to pass down to my kids. But hey, you didn't go. You can still make that happen for your kids.

lauren (15:41.714)

Another thing that I definitely recommend for homeschool parents is finding a co-op or some kind of homeschool group that meets regularly. This is great for the kids. The one that we go to has all different kinds of classes for the kids. So they not only get to get away from me, their sole educator.

lauren (16:11.682)

for a day, but they get to be around a whole bunch of other kids and families and other adults, you know, that pour life into them. And it's, it's so nice to be a part of that kind of community.

Ellyn (16:28.282)

Yep. And in some areas, they'll have both a homeschool co-op that would meet probably weekly and offer specific classes. But they might also be able to find just a group of homeschoolers who plans field trips together, because often if you go with a larger group, you get a group rate. So it's worth seeking out both.

lauren (16:45.361)

Oh, that's great.

Ellyn (16:52.342)

In my area, we have both our homeschool co-op that meets every week and offers structured classes, but we also have a group of homeschoolers, not all of them go to the co-op, and we do field trips together and other events. I think we don't go to it, but they meet for a gym class every once a week, and they do other things.

Ellyn (17:20.838)

Most of my kids are too old for some of the things that they do, but it is nice to know that it's out there. And you tend to get better group rates if you go with  a homeschool group. They have it set up so that you get a good deal.

lauren (17:38.634)

And depending on where you live, the groups can actually be quite large. So that's, it's nice to be a part, as a homeschooler, if that's not all they do is just organize field trips, the group, I'm a member on Facebook, they also offer advice on curriculum and what to do in various situations. You just get to bounce ideas off of each other. So that's nice. It's a community, which is so important.

lauren (18:21.086)

Another thing, and this is something I think both of our families have fully embraced, is having them play some kind of sport or be in clubs and, you know, that kind of stuff. My older two are the only ones that are in any kind of sport. I know you can start kids really little, but I vowed not to start my youngest until she was five. I'm not sure if I'm ready to throw that ball into the air yet.

lauren (18:55.862)

I will, I mean, I know I will. Exactly. Yep. But, I mean, I will eventually, and I know all you moms of ten kids or whatever are out there laughing at me, but I don't know if I'm ready to do three kids and their activities yet. I'll get to it.

Ellyn (19:17.823)

And I too have not started my youngest on a sport yet. I want to get her in swim lessons this spring, but I haven't been able to make that happen just yet. But I mean, you can find if you want to do it for your young kids, a lot of private club sports start at four years old. So if you want that you can certainly find it in whatever sport you are looking for. It's available almost anywhere.

lauren (19:58.942)

Yes, yes, definitely. And, you know, I did think about it when my oldest was coming up.

But I decided to wait until five. And that's what I decided to do with all of the kids. Because I like having that time. That quiet time, I guess. Where it's just you and the kids and you're their whole world and I wouldn't change that for anything. I loved that time. So it was good. It was good time.

Ellyn (20:43.47)

this next one is one that I know Lauren and I have both done. Take a weekend trip and go somewhere and do something. You can do something historical, visit a museum or go to the beach or just do something. Yes, I know. I knew I was speaking your language there.

lauren (21:02.486)

beach. Oh, sorry.

lauren (21:09.408)

I'm sorry.

Ellyn (21:11.834)

Lauren loves the beach. Or go and just see Something near you that is a little bit farther away that you can do for a date than a day trip. A few years ago we took our kids to Niagara Falls and we spent, I think we only spent two nights. And that was enough for their age. It was enough, you know, we couldn't, it was during COVID. So we couldn't cross over into the Canadian side. And it was enough to see on the American side.

Ellyn (21:50.03)

we were there for 3 days and my kids still talk about it. It was the most fun and it was the first trip we got to take with our youngest too. So it was fantastic. It was three days but it was, I will remember that trip for the rest of my life. It was so much fun to just be away from everything and not have to think about any home stuff. You know, no one has to whatever, water the garden or take care of the chickens or anything like that. You know, all this stuff is taken care of and it was just so nice to just spend time with our family. So highly recommend the weekend trip.

lauren (22:28.546)

I remember a few years ago, we actually went on a longer road trip and I think my son was about three. So take this with a grain of salt or whatever or with an eye to his age. So we went and we were gone for probably five or six or seven days, something like that. And when we got back, I was like, well, what was your favorite part of the trip? It was the hotel.

lauren (22:57.662)

We went, we saw his grandparents, you know, on the other end of that. Sorry, Steve's family. And yep. Favorite part was the hotel. He was only three. That's not his favorite part anymore. He loves you guys.

lauren (23:18.946)

Wonderful. So we've spoken briefly about this before, but another thing that you can do for educational purposes is volunteer. A lot of places have food pantries, opportunities for your kids to work there. I know that there's several around here

lauren (23:38.354)

Churches have so many things that your kids can volunteer for, from working in the food pantry to working in their kitchen, or just doing other things around the church that need to be done. That's not your thing. You can also volunteer at the library.

Ellyn (23:56.998)

Yep, that was one I was going to say the library. Uh, yeah, I don't have anything to add. That was perfect. Volunteering is good for your kids and it's good for the community.

lauren (24:04.915)

Oh, thank you.

Yep.

Let them start a business. This is an awesome one. I can't wait to do. I haven't done. I've already got kind of a baking business for the neighborhood going on right here. And I was thinking about teaching my daughter how to do what I do because it's not really that hard. And I hope none of the neighbors are listening. Anyway, and Let her take it over. I don't know. Yeah. Let her take it over eventually.

Ellyn (24:48.79)

Yeah, my the year my son was 15, he and a buddy started a lawn care, landscaping, clearing out rubbish, you know, it was just kind of all outdoorsy sort of business. And it was so good for them. They, they met with clients, they gave price quotes, they did the work, they had to be committed and get it done in a timely manner and they dealt with the finances, putting money, they were both at the time borrowing vehicles, his friend was 16 so he borrowed his parent’s car, but they had to pay for gas to get them to different places and they used all of our equipment, it was awesome. We really felt like the two of them grew a lot that summer. So yeah, let them start a business. And if you can be invested with them, obviously you don't have to wait until they're 15. But that was just what worked out for him was that he was able to do, he was able to get into this at that age. It was really good for him.

lauren (26:23.07)

And finally, our last idea is getting them music lessons. Now, I know Ellyn's kids have done this and I have too. Mine started off on piano and as a former-ish musician, I definitely recommend starting on either guitar or piano. I think Once a kid learns how to play a one note instrument, it's hard for them to get back to playing an instrument that plays chords as well as notes at the same, like as one note at the same time. It's easier for them to go from piano to playing a wind instrument or violin than it is to go from playing violin to playing piano. That's just my opinion.

Ellyn (27:15.358)

good advice.

lauren (27:17.214)

So I did start mine off on piano and I'll let them, hopefully one of them wants to play the same instrument I did, cause I already have one. Ha ha ha.

Ellyn (27:33.147)

You can play anything you want, but here is this instrument.

lauren (27:37.598)

Right. You can play anything you want that is an instrument I already own.

Ellyn (27:43.527)

Yeah.

lauren (27:45.918)

So that actually, it does leave two options because we have a piano too.

Ellyn (27:47.25)

Yeah.

Ellyn (27:52.486)

There you go. And neither of mine stuck with it. So I think they've both kind of forgotten everything that they learned. Some people are musical and some people are not. And my people are not musical. Neither am I. So it fits.

lauren (28:09.59)

That little one is musical.

Ellyn (28:12.45)

I think you're right. I think she is too. We'll start her in a few years on probably guitar because I own one.

lauren (28:23.446)

Right, exactly. Search your closets, people.

Ellyn (28:28.502)

What do you have that your kid can play? You know, you can start them on recorder. Everyone can get a recorder. is that a single note?

lauren (28:35.022)

Yes, they can.

lauren (28:39.527)

It is.

Ellyn (28:40.982)

Oh, sorry, my bad.

lauren (28:43.058)

It's okay. Well, it's just advice. You don't have to follow it.

Ellyn (28:52.182)

if you're the parent of a homeschooler, you know it can be hard to get them out of the house. We hope our list of activities is helpful. Check out your local Facebook groups to find out what's happening in your area. Until next time.