Turn Gas Money Into Tuition Payments with Carschooling!
You’re paying more at the pump these days – but don’t let the gas prices thwart your plans for a summer road trip. Think of those gas dollars as tuition payments for your CarSchool! One fun way to get the biggest educational bang for your gas buck is to try Carschooling Unit Studies. Simply adopt a fun theme for your road trip that will enhance learning in the car. For example…
Be A Carrrrrrr School Pirate!
Avast, me hearties! Set sail on your summer adventures with the help of pirates! Cover history, language arts, math, social studies and every subject through a pirate theme. Thanks to Disney and Johnny Depp – pirates are hot! So, your kids will love learning on the road once they’ve been transformed into salty dogs and swashbucklers. On your next car trip invite the kids aboard the good ship Odyssey (or whatever the make/model is of your car). Use a pirate theme throughout your trip to have fun and promote learning while you steer your vessel through streets and byways!
You’ll need a little advance preparation to get your car and crew ship-shape for the voyage! Here are some ideas to get you started…
- Read About Pirates! – Get a list of pirate books and audiobooks that your family can use to learn all about pirates on your trip. You’ll find resources to get a Jolly Roger flag that you can hoist from your car window too! Read "Treasure Island" by Robert Louis Stevenson online for free!
- Visit Rob Ossian’s Pirate Cove – Rob Ossian (pronounced "ocean") is a nautical archaeologist. If you’ve got Internet access in the car, visit his website to enjoy pirate biographies, historical timelines, nautical and pirate terminology, pirate music and shanties, an online sailing simulator and much more.
- New England Pirate Museum’s Lesson Plans & Activities – Get free pirate curriculum for carscholars in elementary through high school!
- Mrs. Mitchell’s Virtual School: Pirates – There is so much content on the Internet about pirates that it’s hard to sort through it to find the best of the best. Fortunately, teacher Kathi Mitchell has done that for us and maintains a list of links to fantastic sites about pirates including National Geographic and the Library of Congress. When you get to the site you will see a menu of links that include pirate lesson plans!
- Talk Like A Pirate! – Did you know that September 19th is International Talk Like A Pirate Day? Well, it is. Originally designed as something for grown-ups to do, the creators of the event soon discovered that kids want to talk like pirates too. At this website you’ll find pirate lexicon for the younger set, a bibliography of kids’ books about pirates, ideas for pirate parties, a downloadable pirate curriculum for Talk Like A Pirate Day, and even a downloadable kids’ study guide developed by the San Francisco Opera Guild for Gilbert & Sullivan’s "Pirates of Penzance."
NOTE: Because this site was originally intended for adults, there is some bawdy material in other sections of the site. As always, parents should preview this site before allowing children to explore it to determine suitability of content.
- Watch A Pirate DVD! – Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean DVDs are favorites for older kids (PG-13), and at this website you’ll find the DVDs, online video games, and much more. Find suggestions for other pirate DVDs for kids here.
- Dress Like A Pirate! – Create your own pirate costumes – from simple to swashbuckling. Of course, you can just put a colorful bandana or scarf around your head, and make a pirate eye-patch for added drama. Or print out these colorful, pirate masks and activities for kids here.
- Sing Pirate Songs! – Check out Captain Slappy’s Chantey Song. Or print out the lyrics to "This Old Pirate" sung to the tune of "This Old Man." Watch the free Captain Bogg and Salty’s music video – and then get their terrific pirate song CDs for kids of all ages. Listen and sing along in the car!
- Eat Pirate Food! – Bring some snacks for the crew including Goldfish crackers, snack baggies filled with Cap ‘n Crunch cereal, grog (spiced cider or punch), beef or turkey jerky – and maybe a few gold foil-covered chocolate "coins." For authenticity, use this recipe to make Hard Tack or Sea Biscuits.
- Play Pirate Games – How about a game of "I Spy with My Good Eye," or "My Father Owns a Pirate Ship"? Search for "treasure" – just make a list of things the kids should try to find along the way (a flag, a scurvy dog, a drawbridge, a body of water, a graveyard, etc.). Mark each treasure off as it’s discovered.
Want more? In an uncanny coincidence, I was surprised to find Pirates of the Caravan at MomsMiniVan.com. Writer Laurel Smith (The Road Trip Mom) describes the humorous pirate personas that boarded her van – enjoy their jokes, resources, activities, and pun-filled banter! While you’re at the site, be sure to check out the archive of recommended car games (some with free printable activities).
Then, enhance your summer vacation plans by visiting pirate museums and living history reenactments! I’ve included some suggestions below. For those who would rather walk the plank than be a pirate, check out our backseat boredom busters – fun ways to learn on the road without a lot of fuss!
Make the most of every mile, and may there be fair winds behind your sails! Arrrrrgh!
Diane Flynn Keith, Author of Carschooling
© 2008 Diane Flynn Keith, All Rights Reserved.
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