Here are recommendations for road trips, with links to resources for before, during, and after the trip that will help make each one a fun and educational experience.
Unschool Adventures, founded by Blake Boles, is for teen homeschoolers who want to experience freedom and adventure. Highly recommended by local NYC homeschooled teens. Adventures are in Colorado.
Camp Stomping Ground is a summer camp in Deposit, NY designed for homeschoolers and unschoolers ages 6-16, offering three one-week sessions in July. From their website: "In a world that constantly tells kids they should be something different than who they are, Camp Stomping Ground is a place that helps kids ages 6-16 learn to love themselves for who they really are."
Kroka Wilderness Expeditions, based in Marlow, New Hampshire, has summer and semester programs. One parent's comment: "It is somewhat Waldorf inspired and very homeschooler friendly. My son did a 3-week program last year that was unbelievable — with 11 other teens, they built a 22-ft long canoe and paddled it (and another one) for two weeks around coastal Maine — camping out the entire time. They also have programs for
just girls or just boys and younger children too. They do two "semester programs" during the school year. I can't say enough what a wonderful place that it is. My kids both grew up a lot and learned so much ... really it is impossible to measure how valuable their experience was. That said, it does cost a lot, although they do have scholarship programs. One thing that I really like is that they ask the child to fill out most of the application — there are short essay questions. They want to be sure that it is the child who really wants to be there, not just being pressured by the parent. They ask a lot from each child in the best way possible — cultivating a lot of inner strength and knowledge. I highly recommend this experience."
Voyager's Community School Summercamp in Farmingdale, New Jersey.
Campers choose their electives each day. Their philosophy is rooted in Reggio Emilia with a holistic approach to community-based child-led learning. Camp is for ages 4 – 16. Offerings include: scuba, rocketry, animation, robotics, secret agent, visual arts, culinary arts, and more.
Independent Lake Camp in the Poconos for girls and boys 6–17 is advertised as the perfect summer camp experience for a homeschool student, and some homeschoolers have agreed. They offer electives in an atmosphere of freedom.
Homeschool Weeks, with special activities for homeschooled families, in
the fall and spring at Historic Williamsburg.
Homeschool Family Travel Company.
"Hi! I’m a homeschool mom from Texas and my family has set up a travel company for the purposes of blessing homeschoolers with an annual trip. We’d like to invite all homeschoolers to join us at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida for the fourth annual Ultimate Field Trip with hundreds of other homeschool families. We provide the highest level of Disney discounts and most personalized service available, at no extra cost to you (Disney pays us a commission). When you travel with us (that’s right, we’ll be there too!), you get a Magic Your Way package with a stay at any Disney resort, customizable tickets and dining options and special Disney group events we have never been able to offer before! All of this comes with an extra heaping of pixie dust and pleasure as you experience the Magic of Disney in ways you never dreamed possible! You can find out more on our website: TheUltimateFieldTrip.com or contact me at carolbeth@theultimatefieldtrip.com or 214.592.4256. Hope to see you there!"
Not Back to School Camp. created by Grace Llewellyn, author of the Teenage Liberation Handbook. An unschoolers summer camp with summer sessions in Oregon and one week in Vermont.
See their community website, run by campers, and this review from a 13-year-old camper:
"This place is probably the only worthwhile camp in this hemisphere. The other campers are guaranteed to be some of, if not THE coolest people you will ever meet, and the staffers end up being as much your friends as the other kids. It's loads of fun, too. There are workshops on whatever anybody is good at, led by the campers themselves. And come on, it's a camp with no schedule or bedtime! Definitely worth the trip."
Hull-O Farms in Durham, New York, is a farm-stay family vacation destination in upstate New York. The farm is a New York State National Bicentennial Farm offering a heritage experience, farm fresh food, country hospitality, and lots of friendly, huggable farm animals. Contact Sherry Hull, owner, by phone at 518-239-6950 or by email: farmwife [at] hull-o.com.
Cazadero Music Camp in northern California, has various courses (different every year) offered to all ages in a giant redwood forest, including: music (guitar, uke, steel drums, etc), playwriting, acting, art, stone carving, textiles, contra dancing, capoiera, yoga, swimming, local organic food, and more. They have music camps for middleschoolers and highschoolers and also a family camp.
Homeschooling parent Carole Blane runs a non profit family camp in Vermont called the Common Ground Center. They are family friendly and offer programs for homeschoolers, a Chinese Culture weekend and a camp for families experiencing autism. Their signature camp, Camp Common Ground, runs for six weeks. Visit or contact Carole Blane, Program Coordinator, at the Common Ground Center: 802-881-8278, 917-407-1166, e-mail carole@cgcvt.org.
Get a rustic cabin on a lovely lake in Narrowsburg, NY, at the affordable Ten Mile River Boy Scout Camp, as part of a Family Camp.
Ashokan Center, located near Kingston, NY, is an outdoor educational program mixing living history with music and art and the environment. They have special homeschool days in the summer – open to students and their families!
Summer Family Weeks at Concordia Language Camps include Spanish in August at Wilder Retreat Center near St. Croix, MN, a family vacation to the Spanish-speaking world of El Lago del Bosque. Also available are Chinese, Finnish, German, or Swedish family weeks. Contact clv@cord.edu or call (800) 222-4750 for more information.
Family Homeschool Camp (scroll down the page). At Overlook Farm in Rutland, MA, operated by Heifer.org, a charity fighting world hunger.
Fiddle Workshops and Camps. A great listing of fiddle camps all over America, and even including Scotland, Ireland and Canada.
Music and Dance Camps run by the Country Dance and Song Society, at Pinewoods Camp in Buzzard's Bay, MA; Timber Ridge Camp in Highview, WV; and Ogontz Camp, in Lyman, NH. Family Week and Campers' Week are recommended. Lots of informal music-making, mostly folk music of various kinds.
The Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival, Thursday thru Sunday
in mid-July, on the Rothvoss Farm in Ancramdale NY, has a special Academy for Kids where kids get introduced to a variety of instruments (guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, etc.). Kids 12 and under are free with an adult ticket buyer. Registration starts 1 April and fills up fast.
Immerse yourself in falconry at Talons! a Bird of Prey Experiencewith Lorrie Schumacher, master falconer, and her skilled young daughter Talon Skye. In Cazenovia, NY
SEMAA — sponsored by NASA — science, engineering, math and aerospace education - FREE one-week program for 1st – 7th graders, including a free lunch. 9 am – 12:30 pm Monday – Friday, with three sessions to choose from.
This is a free half day, week long science camp sponsored by NASA at York College (about a 10 minute walk from the last e train stop in Jamaica). Recommended by homeschoolers!
Oasis Day Camps are located in Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, and Westchester. One homeschooling family's comment: "It's pretty reasonably priced and particularly good for younger kids."
Rock Band Summercamp is for ages 4-6 and also offers classes throughout the year. One parent's comment: "Lots of hands on work, small classes, great attention to the kids, and it really fosters self-confidence and creativity." Located in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn.
Camp Stomping Ground is recommended as kind, caring and respectful of children.
In the words of a 9yo homeschooler: "It was awesome.
There was a zip line, boats, hiking. There was dessert every day (or
maybe you shouldn't put that on cause maybe parents won't send their
kids if they know that). And also the other food was great, there was
a whole table where you could put together your own salad. And the
counselors, they really like kids."
Hull-O Farms in Durham, New York, is a farm-stay family vacation destination in upstate New York. The farm is a New York State National Bicentennial Farm offering a heritage experience, farm fresh food, country hospitality, and lots of friendly, huggable farm animals. Contact Sherry Hull, owner, by phone at 518-239-6950 or by email: farmwife [at] hull-o.com.
FREE summercamp experiences just north of NYC via the Fresh Air Fund
Farm & Wilderness Camps in Vermont.
One homeschooler spent a summer at Flying Cloud, part of the F&W Camps. He and his family were impressed with the level of respect and thoughtfulness that went into the camp experience there. They have seasonal events all year, and hosted a contra dance at the Brooklyn Friends School last January, so check out their future events for a chance to try them out.
Shaolin Youth Summer Camp, a Kung Fu summer camp, is connected to the Shaolin Temple in NYC (on Broadway near Canal St.)
One parent's comment whose 12-year-old son attends classes in the city and the summercamp: All teachers are volunteer monks continuing their studies so it's a calm relaxed and peaceful community based on the Buddhist Kung Fu from China. A supportive and encouraging place with no bullying or ready to kill mentality but pushing to surpass oneself with perseverance and resilience all in a fun, kind and serene environment and with supportive friends.
Camp Cardiac at NYU in August is a one-week day camp that is an ideal introduction for any high school student interested in exploring a career in medicine.
Camp Neuro at NYU and at NY Medical College in Westchester in August is a one-week day camp that is an ideal introduction for any high school student interested in exploring a career in medicine or psychology.
Farm and Wilderness Camp in Plymouth, Vermont. An amazing camp in its 75th year, founded as a Quaker camp, and on principles of freedom, responsibility, diversity, and experiential learning through working for a community. Recommended.
Camp Killoleet, on the edge of the Green Mountain National Forest in Hancock, Vermont, offers Performing Arts,
Music,
Studio Arts,
Camping & Exploration,
Sports, and Lake Activities for kids 9 – 14.
Brooklyn's Beam Center, 47 Bergen Street, Brooklyn, offers scholarships for elementary and high-school kids. Summer programs include courses in art, electronics, puppetry and design. Recommended by homeschoolers!
The United Palace of Cultural Arts in Inwood (175th & Broadway) has free movies, concerts, and low-cost summer camp activities. The Circus Arts Camp is offered from July 8th until August 2nd, from 9am to noon, to children between the ages of 10 and 15. There's a $35 application fee, and the program itself is free. For info contact Mike at 212-568-6700x42 or mikef@unitedpalace.org.
Upper West Side Kenshikai Karate Dojo, located on Columbus Ave between 105 and 106th St. has a July camp. A local homeschooling parent says it is very low key and fun with a wide variety of activities, not just karate. Contact the dojo directly at uwskenshikai@gmail.com or 212-222-1172 with your questions or to register.
Upper West Side Kenshikai Karate, 928 Columbus Ave., New York NY 10025, For more info contact uwskenshikai@gmail.com or (212) 222-1172
Eden Village Camp - located in Putnam Valley just one hour north of NYC, has partnered with the Jewish Farm School to offer a homeschoolers program on Passover, summercamp experiences, and other events as well. There are summer camp programs for teens with internships and apprenticeships, and also camps for kids and families, with activities including wilderness skills, outdoor adventures, art & crafts, farming, and more. Sunday family workshops include organic farming practices and other aspects of sustainable agriculture. Non-Jewish families are welcome to come and learn about farming and Jewish life. Recently, a special program for homeschooling included an event called: Passover, Barley and the Spring Planting (description:
"View the Passover seder from the eyes of our ancestors! In accordance with our Exodus story, we travel through the forest surrounding the farm to enter the promised land of Eden Village, a place flowing with bountiful fruits and hardworking farmers. Using our Farm’s Jewish Calendar Garden as a living laboratory, we will examine the barley, and parsley as we explore their ancient significance in our tradition.")
Unschool Adventures, international adventures and leadership programs for self-directed teens, based in Ashland, Oregon
Ashokan Center, located near Kingston, NY, is an outdoor educational program mixing living history with music and art and the environment. They have special homeschool days in the summer – open to students and their families!
Free Summer Day Camp on the Lower East Side. Monday to Friday 8am-6pm, ages 10-14. Activities include sports, dance, film production, music, drama, art, gaming, and trips! For more info, contact Desiree Gil, Program director at 212-227-0762
ext. 150 or dgil@visionurbana.org. Organized by Vision Urbana.
Rock Band Camp at NYC Guitar School has sessions in early July one, mid-July and August session, each two four-day weeks, three age groups range from 8 to 17, with options for absolute beginners, bass players, keyboard players and drummers. Bands rehearse, kids study the history of rock and roll, learn songwriting, record on computers or on 24 track sound equipment, and perform.
Camp Herrlich in Patterson, NY (near Carmel and Brewster) is a
BOCES registered environmental education center with a course listing of about 100 outdoor education classes (including a low and high ropes course), homeschool friendly, offering courses year-round and summercamp.
The Country School Farm is highly recommended by homeschoolers. It is located in Amish country, run by homeschoolers who were formerly Montessori teachers. Articles about this farm have appeared in the magazine Growing Without Schooling (which was founded by John Holt). Co-ed, all-girl, and all-boy sessions for ages 6-12 are available, but you need to apply early.
Summer Camp programs and more at the Maine Conservation School, Bryant Pond, ME.
Children of the Earth, in Waretown, NJ, offers a coyote tracks program, which attracts homeschooling families and teens, and teaches survival techniques including making fire and tracking techniques. One parents' comments: Both our 18-year-old and our six-year-old came away different people, more tuned in to nature and themselves. The camp gave my husband and me amazing parenting guidance, as well as hands-on challenges for the mind, body, and spirit.
Homeschoolers who enjoyed their experience at Sagamore Adirondack Historic Great Camp, an intergenerational camp, highly recommend it. They chose an elder hostel trip for grandparents and kids ages 6~9.
Curtain Up Kids is a three week theatre camp mornings only, where the kids put together a play/musical. Martha Casey is the director, (917) 494-7620.
Friday and Saturday nights in July and August, Family Camping in Alley Pond Park in Queens with the Urban Park Rangers is a wonderful get-away without actually being away. One parent's comments: I learned more about nature and the park in one camping trip than I did in my all years of going to the park everyday when I used to live right across the street from it. We saw all kinds of plants, and wildlife including raccoons, crayfish, and bats, went into a fort that was built for the War of 1812, walked the same trail that George Washington traveled, learned about how schist rock supports our skyscraper city because it's the hardest rock in the world, and about how the oldest structure in the park was built without mortar, yet still needs less maintenance than all other structures in the
park, and etc., etc... Plus, we had a lot of fun!
The Suzuki program from Brooklyn College comes recommended by a homeschooler who has gone for two years: "The campus is beautiful, the kids have a lot of fun, the teachers are energetic, and it all ends with a party on the last day after the group concert.
The A.R.E. (Association for Research and Enlightenment) is the Edgar Cayce Research Foundation in Virginia Beach, VA. (Edgar Cayce was a psychic healer.) They have an annual children's summer camp that offers a uniquely healthy and balanced experience . (The camp also has several adults-only weeks.) If your kids are interested in the educational seminars at the A.R.E. (one day to one week long), there is a special conference rate for young adults ages 16-22.
Omega Teen Camp. Created and operated by the Omega Institute, a holistic learning center known for its classes and yoga retreats, this camp, located in Rhinebeck, NY, is certain to offer an unusual growth experience for teens. Omega Teen Camp (OTC)-- One parent’s review (whose daughter might have been the only homeschooler there): "Their philosophy is great, about helping kids to get comfortable with who they are, and helping them to value the differences in others. The counselors are terrific, a well-grounded, more mature crowd than you normally find at a summer camp. The activities are great and some are quite unusual (Thai massage, Sweat Lodge, Yoga, High Ropes climbing, and more). The kids have a choice in what they do. The food is healthy and tasty. My daughter’s only complaint was a bit too much "down" time with not enough to do for the arts-oriented crowd (there were balls around for the sports-minded). Her two weeks there were really wonderful. She needed time to be herself and reinforce just who she was, and she definitely got that, and more. The director, Adam Simon, says it's a camp to help teens build self-confidence.. What a great idea! Only in its third year last summer, they were almost at capacity -- clearly, Omega is on to something. For the alternative-minded, it's a summer camp well worth checking out."
Space Camp, run by the U.S. Space & Rocket Center. A unique experience in Huntsville, AL.
Usdan Arts Day Camp - Long Island, NY.
My youngest son followed his favorite tap dance teacher to this summer camp, and willingly took an endless bus trip back and forth every day. Both my boys loved their experiences here. You choose a major and a minor from dozens of creative classes, and chess (included because it attracts a lot of creative minds, and the kids love it). Daily group assembly is to attend a performance (one day by a famous alum , another day by a group of campers). There is a break between classes to swim or play recreational sports & games. They offer no food service (you bring your own) and there's a long bus trip back to NYC at the end of day (unless you're lucky enough to live in Long Island). Usdan was based on the well-known Interlochen Music Camp. Some scholarships are available for talented kids.
Studying a foreign language and culture while living in your own language and culture is never as complete an experience as an extended period of travel and immersion in another land. If you want to acquire fluency and true understanding, you must live there. There are many people who believe this kind of understanding is what will change the world. Here are opportunities where teens can live for three months to a year with host families in another country and attend high school there. It also expands your knowledge and awareness when you host a foreign student in your own home.
The Rotary Organization offers a Youth Exchange. You might contact one or two local Rotary Clubs and speak to them about meeting others in the area who have done this. There are scholarship opportunities.
Center for Study Abroad, low cost programs for college students and adults (although you can probably beat these costs by going directly to the foreign university and putting together your own program).
Transitions Abroad, for those interested in studying, working, volunteering, or living abroad
NYC is full of great things to do, but sometimes we pine to get away and can't. Or sometimes the heat, or cold, or wet, just keeps us indoors. Time for some armchair travel.
Dreaming of faraway places is a natural inclination, and good for the soul. Besides, it’s a great way to satisfy that geography and social studies requirement, and it's easy to add in reading, writing, and math too. Try clipping articles and ads from the newspaper's travel section and making a scrapbook, with personal comments, of favorite destinations or imagined travels. If you like, plan that future dream vacation now. Have your kids write letters of inquiry to the Chamber of Commerce in their destination state of choice, or to tourist bureaus of a specific state or country, and to AAA if you are members, and watch the kids receive tons of mail full of free maps and guidebooks.
An entire curriculum can be based on an imaginary trip, complete with itinerary, budget, monetary exchange rate, maps, and fictional travel diary, of either a real or imagined place. My son did this at age 12, creating a made-up place and a traveling companion who was his horse! He devised a complex currency exchange with an imaginary currency, and a travel itinerary that included a proposed budget and a fictional map. He then wrote a travel diary that listed everything he spent, and everything he bought or ate. I especially liked those dinners of oats he shared with his horse. The itinerary and diary mentioned several amazing tourist attractions (all from my son's imagination). Writing it, and reading it, was as much fun as travel could ever be.
My husband and I spent a month or two on the road every year, with our growing kids in tow, traveling to Indian Reservations as part of our work. I developed many ways of keeping the kids comfortable, healthy, and occupied. I kept magazines and informative pictures, "bits" of learning, in the pocket of my door, ready to pull out in moments of boredom. On hand for the stereo, we had funny music, sing-along tunes, and music to dance to. We called it seat-dancing, gesticulating wildly while in our seat belts, which was lots of fun! But my best technique was to put choices into the hands of my children.
To prepare our car for travel, I tied inexpensive shoe bags to the back of the drivers' and front passenger's seats. In the four rows of small storage cubbies, I would store crayons, playing cards, boxes of juice or soy milk, modeling clay, road maps, small books, rolled-up drawing paper, and any small toy. I purchased trays for each child. The best were bed-trays, with folding legs to support the tray above a child's lap (or car seat), and a lip around the edge to prevent crayons from rolling off. Some of them had storage areas on the side (for books or magazines). Trays were easily folded and stored away when they weren't being used to make clay sculptures, draw pictures, build with legos, or eat lunch. I found trays in a variety of materials (from metal to wicker), from cheap to pricey. I preferred ones that were lightweight and easy to wipe clean.
Getting enough exercise is always a challenge on a road trip, so we took advantage of every opportunity. Besides seat-dancing, the kids did jumping jacks or ran relay races whenever we stopped at a gas station to fuel up. They chased each other down hotel corridors in the early morning or late evening. When our kids were little enough to still be crawling, we even got down on all fours to chase them ourselves. In the hotel room we might put on the radio and dance instead of watching TV. We ate in the car as often as possible, using our stops to take a walk or do some stretches instead of sitting down to eat in a restaurant. If we did choose to stop for a meal, we tried to make it a picnic, at a local park or beach or by a lake., where the kids could run around and play. Sometimes taking a ten minute detour would get us to a beautiful spot instead of putting us at a roadside rest area. Then the frisbee or ball would come out and all too soon it would be time to get back into the car and put some miles on.
Each child was invited to trace our journey on their own map. Every state has welcome centers with free maps and guide books. They were given highlighter markers to keep track of our route or color in favorite places. They had scrapbooks where they could glue maps, or portions of maps, along with torn pages of guidebooks. Of course they added their own words and pictures, which is what turned those scrapbooks into diaries of our journeys, and books filled with precious family memories. An afternoon or evening rest at a hotel was an opportunity to work on scrapbooks, write poems and songs, arrange wildflowers we had picked by the road in an empty can or bottle with drawings taped on it for more decoration, and time to read up on the areas we were journeying through.
Every road trip is an opportunity to record your own geography, scrapbook your vacation, and diary your thoughts. Save paper souvenirs like admission ticket stubs, museum maps, hotel stationery, cafe menus, road maps, and the like, to illustrate your scrapbook. Include pressed flowers that you pick by the roadside and press flat in a travel guide (or whatever other books you keep in your car). Add drawings and photographs of the people you meet and the places you visit. Write down how you feel about them. Trace your route on a map in brightly colored markers or highlighters. Compute how many miles you have traveled and how long it took. Write a song about where you have been or about where you are going. Travel is a natural course in social studies and geography. In these ways you can add writing, reading, math, art, and music. Discussions of climate, terrain, and geological formations which have changed over time (canyon walls, mountains, bodies of water) add science to the experience.
This family sold everything and relocated to a foreign country (more than one, actually) while their four daughters were in high school and college. They also used the Rotary student exchange services (see above).
is full of tips for college students thinking of traveling solo
