Educational Enhancement Opportunity (offered by School system so kids are excused)

We have an upcoming family Cruise in October. This will be the first time we are taking the kids out of school for a cruise. Our School System has an Education Enhancement Opportunity Form that can be submitted. Wanting to see if anyone has any prior experience with these forms. The form states that "the proposed activity must be directly related to one of the core curriculum subjects of English, Science, Math, Social Studies, Foreign Language and/or the Arts. Just curious if anyone has submitted these kind of forms before and what specifics you used about the Cruise to relate it to the core curriculum.

I thought about taking my grandson on swim w/dolphins excursion, have him interview a trainer, write paper ref diet, lifespan, etc, maybe put together a spelling list of related words.

Cruise to where? Standard Caribbean may be a bit more difficult. I've never had any issues but during the school year for cruises - we've done Panama Canal (Language, History and physics), Hawai'i (History and natural science/geology), and three different Med cruises.

 

If there are US ports, look into trips to National Parks, their kid's programs are excellent

Social Studies. Native culture, what they eat, how the climate is different and affects the way they live; different religious customs; standard of living...folk medicine...History of slavery (sugar)...Lots of possibilities. EM

I have my kids find 3 people.from different places each day and find out what makes that place unique. They keep a list and mark it on a map. The crew is a fantastic resource for this activity. I have them keep a journal each day and they keep up in math. We have never had much problem getting absences excused.

Social Studies. Native culture, what they eat, how the climate is different and affects the way they live; different religious customs; standard of living...folk medicine...History of slavery (sugar)...Lots of possibilities. EM

 

^^This! You say you’re cruising in October, right? If you’re from the US, and headed to the Caribbean, you can expand on any of the above suggestions and also bring in Christopher Columbus (Columbus Day/Indigenous People’s Day), etc. If your child is in high school, have them read Michener’s book, Caribbean.

^^This! You say you’re cruising in October, right? If you’re from the US, and headed to the Caribbean, you can expand on any of the above suggestions and also bring in Christopher Columbus (Columbus Day/Indigenous People’s Day), etc. If your child is in high school, have them read Michener’s book, Caribbean.

Be careful. Michener's "Caribbean" is banned in many schools because it describes how some "Indian" tribes treated others For example the Carib "indians" were cannibals devouring the peaceful Arawaks on the basis that doing so permitted the Caribs to acquire the strength of the Arawaks.

 

 

Many school boards have banned this book because it suggests that not all "indigenous" Americans were peace loving and welcoming.

Edited September 21, 2018 by Host Walt

Be careful. Michener's "Caribbean" is banned in many schools because it describes how some "Indian" tribes treated others For example the Carib "indians" were cannibals devouring the peaceful Arawaks on the basis that doing so permitted the Caribs to acquire the strength of the Arawaks.

 

 

Many school boards have banned this book because it suggests that not all "indigenous" Americans were peace loving and welcoming.

 

Interesting and odd reason to ban a book.

 

 

I am finishing up the book A Voyage Long and Strange by Tony Horowitz that tracks early North American exploration and settlement by the Vikings, Spanish, French, and English all prior to Plymouth. Pretty brutal stuff and gruesome at times. The cannibal tribes in the New World were not numerous but they were totally terrifying to the Europeans. Europeans themselves did go cannibal a few times when desperation and starvation set in.

 

 

Great book btw. Might put it in my HS age son's home school curriculum next year. He is presently reading Tony's Confederates in the Attic, another fantastic read.

We were allowed to put anything but Disney. When filling out the form, they said if you were going to Florida, do not put Disney as he reason. Anything else was game.

Be careful. Michener's "Caribbean" is banned in many schools because it describes how some "Indian" tribes treated others For example the Carib "indians" were cannibals devouring the peaceful Arawaks on the basis that doing so permitted the Caribs to acquire the strength of the Arawaks.

 

 

Many school boards have banned this book because it suggests that not all "indigenous" Americans were peace loving and welcoming.

 

Interesting! My child is still in elementary school, so I know I obviously have a lot to learn about the mysteries of school boards!

Edited September 27, 2018 by Host Walt

Thanks for the input. In our school district he will be excused regardless of whether the Educational Enhancement form is approved. If the form is approved than the days we are gone he will not be counted absent from school so that's the purpose of us completing the form and getting it approved. Since I wrote the original post I spoke with some Principals in the school district and they said to not list that we are cruising to just list the locations that we are going and the activities that would relate to History, the Arts, etc. So that's what I'm going to do talk about the Cuisine and the Mayan ruins. Our district also doesn't require any reports to be written so the kids don't have to worry about that either.