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If there is one membership that I often recommend to home schooling families is the National Trust membership. It is a great way for burning that excessive energy which your children have , while being around nature. Also , I don’t know about you , but I honestly parent better when I have had my doze of fresh air. And a bit of play in your local park is not the same as having the freedom of being in wide open green spaces. It is a great incentive to get out for the day to see some really nice countryside. Most National trust properties have really huge grounds and walks , great for children as there are beautiful gardens and features such as statues , ponds , mill streams and brilliant wooden playgrounds too. Many of the properties have a main House too , which is most of the time open to the public . It is a great way for children to see how rich people , aristocrats used to live back in the days- their bedrooms, the clothes they used to wear, how they used to cook, eat , the various toys which children used to play with and much more. So it’s guaranteed that you can squeeze some learning too. A further bonus is that most National trust properties are very close to the motorway network, so it gives you a bit of a break if you are on a long car journey and we all know how important that is for children, who let’s face it, will find it difficult to survive being stuck in the car for 3/4 hours. So here are some of the various memberships you can have.
The English National Trust Membership
– a family annual membership ( two adults and up to 10 children or grandchildren. Under 5s go free) is £120 or you can pay £10 a month.
– access to more than 500 beautiful places .
– https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/join-us
National Trust membership for Home educators
-this is part of the education group membership
– it is the cheapest out of all the NT Memberships- only £45.65 for a home educating family
-only allowed to be used during weekdays and term time. Unfortunately, you will not be able to use this membership during weekends, school holidays or bank holidays
– https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/features/education-group-membership
Heritage New Zealand Membership
– you can visit all NT Properties in England, Wales, Scotland, Jersey, Northern Ireland, Australia and many more
– Free entry to English Heritage sites too, so you do not have to purchase seperate membership.
-depending on currency rate its usually around £54/£55 for a family membership.
– can be used during school holidays, weekends and bank holidays too
– it takes a week for your card to arrive, which is really not bad at all ,considering the fact that it comes all the way from New Zealand.
Here is the link – http://www.heritage.org.nz/~/link.aspx?_id=DAB8F95B221F4856A50B4F01ACB6E7A0&_z=z
Throughout the years, we have always purchased the New Zealand Membership, as we found that it offered much more than the English NT Membership and it was better value for money.It is a legal loophole and you will not have to say “G’Day) or be questioned by a member of staff. Please note that by purchasing the NZ Membership , the money goes to supporting the NZ sites and not the English ones. Whenever we go to our local NT sites , we often visit the cafe, though ,and easily can spend £15 on teas, cakes and coffees and of course that money goes to them. Another important thing to remember is that some NT sites may charge for car parking if you don’t have the English NT Membership. Most of the ones where I live have free car parking and the one which charges , we just give the car registration number to the their office and we do not have to pay. There are equally a lot of NT properties which have free car parking, so just make sure you check your local ones to see what policy they have.
Throughout the years , we have also been to a few workshops organised for home educators in my local NT Properties . Most of them have school programmes which are available for home educators too . Make sure to email them and see what they offer . Workshops usually cost around £4/£5 per primary child .
Regardless of what membership you choose to have , it is guaranteed that you will have lots of fun while being in nature and beautiful surroundings. So get your wellies and join today!
Let's learn , Mama! 