Bay Area Homeschool Field Trips

This is an article I wrote for the August '05 issue of California HomeSchooler magazine, the bimonthly publication of the Homeschool Association of California.

"When my children were small, before the possibility of homeschooling had even occured to us, I was a stay-at-home mom who was rarely home.We frequented libraries for storytimes and to borrow our weekly quota of books. We attended park days with a neighborhood playgroup. We visited zoos, children's museums, community theater performances, and the beach.

"Although my children are both now in middle school things haven't changed all that much with respect to us being out and about. In fact these days I'm sometimes introduced as "the field trip mom" because I run Bay Area Homeschool Field Trips (BAHFT), a yahoogroup for homeschool families in the San Francisco Bay Area who enjoy attending field trips, concerts, classes, workshops, seminars, tours, conferences, and other adventures with fellow homeschoolers. BAHFT membership is open to anyone regardless of homeschooling philosophy, methodology, or affiliation. Our 530+ member families represent the full spectrum of those who would consider themselves homeschoolers. Most BAHFT members also belong to at least one other homeschool group. For example, our family belongs to a public ISP and our church support group. Even though we attend field trips with both these groups, belonging to a large and diverse field trip group is useful because it increases our options for participating in interesting activities and making new friends.

"BAHFT was started in February 2003 by another homeschool mom who often found it difficult to pull together enough people from here local support group to do a particular field trip. In the beginning all the BAHFT trips (two per month) were organized by her. We had just begun our homeschooling journey the previous month when we stumbled across BAHFT in our internet search for homeschool information and Bay Area connections. In that first year we attended a hands-on lab at the Intel Museum in Santa Clara, tours of the Rosecrucian Museum and Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, and a zoo education class at the Oakland Zoo. My daughter wants to be a veterinarian, so I entered into the field trip planning business by booking a class on the Responsibilities of Pet Ownership at a local animal shelter, followed by a tour.

"When our BAHFT founder moved out of state in May 2004, she asked if I'd take over as listmom. I agreed. Since then I've organized over 20 field trips for the group; many other members have stepped up to plan trips, classes, and activities as well. Our membership has more than tripled in the past 18 months, so now, whatever their children's ages or interests, San Francisco Bay Area homeschoolers can find eager companions for just about any activity using the BAHFT list.

"Some of my personal recent favorite trips include a lecture/tasting/tour of the Scharffen Berger Chocolate Factory in Berkeley, a performance by San Jose Flamenco Society, and the historic Bernal Gulnac Ranch where we toured a restored ranch house from the Californio period, learned about San Jose's agricultural past, and played games from the 1800s. My 14-year-old son has most enjoyed our three planetarium trips and the New United Motors (NUMMI) factory tour in Fremont, where we rode a tram down the assembly line watching the manufacture of Toyota Corollas and Tacomas (our family owns one of each!). The tidepool hike, Children's Musical Theater's "Seussical" performance, and a tour of the Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield topped the list for my 11-year-old daughter, along with a visit to San Rafael's Guide Dogs Training Facility.

"Bay Area Homeschool Field Trips has expanded in both membership and scope since its inception. It has grown from one mom's desire to provide quality field trips for her son and a few dozen other homeschool families into a networking tool used by hundreds of homechoolers to attend activites organized by dozens of planners. BAHFT has evolved to include announcements about homeschool days at museums, aquariums, and amusement parks. You'll also find posts about homeschool sports, band, used curriculum sales, square dancing, Lego Logo, chess club, and science classes. You'll be notified of the upcoming HSC, CHN, and CHEA conferences, and our own Diane Keith's Homeschool 101 seminars.

"The San Francisco Bay Area region abounds with opportunities for learning outside AND inside the home, and it is the mission of Bay Area Homeschool Field Trips to let homeschool families in our area know about them!"


[As of today, 1/28/08, BAHFT has 1144 member familes. -SH]