are cruises educational for kids

[barbyma]

You know, I'm intrigued by all this effort to make a vacation "educational".

 

1) My parents always took us to places like Williamsburg and Mt. Rushmore and Yellowstone, but not because they thought it was better for us. They did it because those were places they wanted to see and they wanted to share those experiences with us.

 

2) My DH and I also choose our vacation spots pretty carefully, based on what we want to see and what we think our boys are old enough to appreciate. We're not really sand and beach people. We want to see Mayan ruins and sea turtles and Mayan ruins and dolphins and Mayan ruins :p. That's what my kids want, too. The idea of being able to do that during the day and relax with a drink while looking out over the ocean at night is rather appealing. For the boys, it's seeing things they've only read about in books during the day and playing with new friends at night.

 

Instead of trying to stuff education into experiences, instill in children a love a learning and they will seek experiences that are educational.

 

Barb

[barbyma]

Dandude, I don't think you've got anything to worry about when it comes to school.

 

Barb

[barbyma]

... isn't there some form of weather lab on the Explorer?

 

There is are working atmospheric and oceanic labs. My kids are really looking forward to a visit!

 

Barb

[Merion_Mom]

Instead of trying to stuff education into experiences, instill in children a love of learning and they will seek experiences that are educational.

 

Barb

This is it. All of life in a nutshell. "....and all the rest is commentary."

[Jenna1983]

I personally feel that parents should do what they feel is best for their children. If people based their lives on what everyone else or society thought was right for someone else's child(ren) we'd all have a pretty boring society. I am 22 years old, a senior in college, and feel I learned many valuable things on my cruise that can be considered educational. I'm using facts and knowledge about travel and places on a HUGE project that my entire grade is based on for a semester. My parents maybe pulled my brother & me out of school two times during the year for a vacation, but the teacher's were always willing to give the work to be completed ahead of time. I think if a teacher is willing to work with you, it's completely wonderful.

[4 cruisers]

Jenna, you are going to be a great parent and do great in life! You sound like you were raised the way we raised our boys. Our first one is now a senior in college and has an amazing full time job...hoping the second one turns out as well!

 

:rolleyes:

 

Case in fact of kids learning on cruises...One of our sons was 8 when we first took him to Istanbul. There were children selling sticks of gum (begging, actually) in front of the Spice Market. A boy about his age had a leg missing. Our tour guide told us that many families cut off the limbs of their children because they got more money from sympathetic people. Our son went back to the bus and told us that he didn't feel very well. We asked him if he wanted to go give the boy some more money. He did. For 5 years he said he NEVER wanted to go back to Turkey again....This year as a freshman in high school he wrote a paper about where he would like to go in the world and he said he would like to go back to Turkey....not as a tourist, but to do things that regular people do there. You can watch all the shows on poverty in the world, but actually seeing with your own eyes educates in a way that touches you more deeply.

 

Good luck on your project, Jenna! I know it will be great!!!

[Onessa]

Nice to see this back on topic (not the debate about taking kids out of school).

 

Barbyma is on target. All of life can, and probably should, be a learning experience. For those of us who do enjoying learning about new things (cultures, history, geology, geography) travel - including cruises will be educational. Most of us who enjoy making everything into a learning experience have kids who have learned that learning and fun can be the same thing.

 

My DD just had her 10th birthday party - it was her idea to have the theme be birthday celebrations around the world. She and I researched birthday traditions from other cultures - planned a menu (for example, many Chinese cultures traditionally serve noodles for a birthday lunch to wish the birthday child a long life), crafts, games, prizes, and decorations based upon these other traditions. We learned ALOT and had a great time - it was a great party and when we shared what we had learned with her guests (other 9-10YO girls) via games and activities - they enjoyed learning about other cultures.

 

Some families do take vacations that are pure entertainment - that is their perogitive. Travel can be educational if you choose to make it educational. Travel can be educational to adults as well as children if the adults choose to make it so.

[Nliedel]

I hae posted this before. When I was a child I was very lucky. My father had a job that was a lot of overseas travel (exec for an insurance company) and I was, as was my sister, able to travel with him a couple times a year. All travel while school was in session btw. I learned more traveling with my family, math, reading, interaction with other cultures, work before the travel on where we were going, than I did in school. The lessons the travel taught me are still fresh in my mind today as is every trip. It did not matter where we went. What mattered were the experiences once we were there. I will never buy into the argument that school is the only place children learn and I will always travel with my children as my budget (not what my parents was) will allow.