On a trip through the American South, my family stopped at a field of cotton to talk about the enslaved African American history tied to the area. It was a conversation that was easier for the kids to take in when they could feel the heat of the midday sun and touch the cotton we were speaking of.

That kind of serendipity—in which education and family time intersect—are a road-tripping parent’s dream: Parents get the out-of-school opportunities they’re hoping for, and kids are so engaged they may not even realize they’re learning.

“There’s nothing like real-life application,” says Houston educator and mother of two Reiko Foster. “Connecting the textbook to the real world is critical for students to really transition