As I write this post, I am sitting in a hotel room with my daughter in New York City.  This trip was planned as a very special Sweet 16 present for her; a time for mother-daughter bonding and enjoying the sites and sounds of the big city.  It has been all that we hoped, plus some.

What was not planned was the learning and education that has wedged itself into this trip. After 11 years of homeschooling, my daughter is quickly growing tired of “field trips and travel with a purpose,” but it happened anyway.  Some of what has been learned could be filed under the “life skills” or “life lessons” of learning, but very worthwhile.

Getting lost and putting map skills to practical use was the best lesson ever.  In our own home town and on field trips, there is rarely such an urgent need to quickly find out where you are and how to get some place.

Cultural Awareness: We live in the 11th largest city in the United States, Detroit, in a very urban neighborhood.  We’ve lived in Florida and Tennessee and we’ve traveled to Mexico as well.  Needless to say, my children have experienced a variety of different lifestyles and regional cultures.  None of this compares to the diverse population we’ve encountered on this trip.  It’s been a real eye-opener for her. It’s led to many questions (most of which I did not know the answer and we needed to come back to the hotel and make good use of the free internet and Google).  Not only that, seeing people openly embracing and displaying their cultures and beliefs has given her more courage in doing the same.

History! History! History!: Ever since reading “From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler” as a child, I had wanted to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  My daughter did not, but I “forced” her to go anyway.  She surprised herself and actually enjoyed it though!  We’ve spent the last year in an in-depth study of Ancient Egypt, Rome & Greece.  We built Egyptian & Greek Temples, Roman Aqueducts, wrote in hieroglyphics and of course looked at tons and tons of pictures.  Seeing all of this in person was just jaw-dropping and really “drove home” the lessons that we learned from our studies. Even my daughter was impressed.

Navigation: We have gotten lost more times than I can count, so far on this trip.  Together, my daughter and I looked at subway maps, paper maps and used our iPhones to find where we were going. We’ve used maps in our studies at home, learning about latitude and longitude and to locate countries, cities and regions.  But, getting lost and putting map skills to practical use was the best lesson ever.  In our own home town and on field trips, there is rarely such an urgent need to quickly find out where you are and how to get some place.

Becoming More Observant: My daughter is artistic, she sees her surroundings in angles, colors and light.  This is a wonderful quality that I do not possess, but the down side of this is that she doesn’t take note of the practical in her surroundings.  In the same vein as the “navigation lesson,” getting lost has taught her to be more observant of where she’s been and what’s ahead of her.  Being in a large crowd of people has helped her become more aware of her place in space. “Is she blocking the doorway of the subway car?”, “Is someone standing too close to her purse?” and so on.  Again, lessons I’ve tried to teach at home, but didn’t kick in until now, because it was absolutely necessary.

These are just a few of the many lessons learned on this trip.  Others include making good decisions, spending money wisely, making an itinerary (and staying flexible) and not to mention the value of good walking shoes versus fashionable shoes.

I am so thankful to have this precious time with my daughter and stand in amazement at the valuable lessons she’s learned in less than a week’s time.

This post was written by Christina S..  She lives in Detroit with her husband and two daughters.  They have just finished up their 11th year of homeschooling and looking forward to more travel and learning with her family.

If you enjoyed this post, you might also enjoy Homeschool Netherlands and our Travel and Field Trip Pathways.