Is a sibling's wedding an excused absence in PA?
No one could tell me. The school handbook assured me that a death in the family would qualify. We certainly don't want that. We were told that if I were to have a baby, my children would be excused from school. Not going to happen. But no one could answer my question about a sibling's wedding.
So we decided we'd have to make it an educational trip. I printed off the forms, read them through, and promptly put them in the trash. How could I possibly justify a wedding as educational? We could talk about the birds and the bees on the way there, I suppose. That'd be health. We could all write reports on American traditions. That'd be social studies. We could even research wedding traditions. We could compare and contrast American weddings with those of another culture. We could add a persuasion paper on which traditions each child would include in their own weddings and why. There you have Language Arts. We could evaluate the snacks we eat on the way for their nutritional value and call it Science. The kids could keep track of our expenditures and call it Math.
But we're not homeschooling anymore. I didn't think real schools would find my attempts at "educational" to be as valid as some homeschool evaluators do. And I'd be hard-pressed to get any of the kids to write or add while on vacation. Except it wasn't a vacation, it was a wedding. A wedding that needed to be educational so my kids didn't rack up the unexcused absences and I get a visit from the truant officer.
There we were back to that educational vacation option. I filled out the paperwork. In triplicate. Well, actually quintuplicate.
If it's going to be educational, you have to at least drive around the closest city. And at least one museum is a must.
World of Coca Cola, here we come!
Don't be fooled. They don't really keep the secret recipe in the vault.
Victor had to complete a journal for school. He was asked, "What was the best part of your trip?" His answer? This Coke dispenser display that sounded like it was drinking a bottle of Coke and made a burping noise when finished.
The best part? Tasting Coca Cola products served around the world.
It ended up being a fun, entertaining, interactive (yay for the visually impaired, sensory-seeking 5 year old!), and (the most important part) educational museum to visit!
A little sidewalk drumming to end our visit - we can count it for music class, too!
I keep forgetting. We're not homeschooling anymore. You can take the homeschooling out of the homeschooler but you can't take the homeschooler out of the homeschooling.
Or something like that.
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