May 2, 2016
Overcome School Fatigue: Take The Kids To The Museum
(Provided by CalPac, Monday, May 02, 2016)
Every time I go to a museum or zoo, I can’t help but smile. The idea of taking a trip to explore something new or see a favorite animal fills me with anticipation. Kids love the opportunity to visit museums. Taking a trip to a local museum or zoo can be an easy way to bring new life to a tired Tuesday of online school.
The fun part is that kids don’t see taking a trip to the zoo as school work, but it is packed with learning opportunities for the parent. You can stretch this one day into a week of learning and building real world connections to the material you might be struggling to make exciting.
The San Diego Zoo and Safari Park offer free admission to kids in the month of October. CalPac families were among the lucky ones to get to visit the San Diego Zoo this month. Over 200 Calpac family members headed to San Diego on October 12th to enjoy all the zoo has to offer. There are so many great exhibits for kids to explore and learn more about their favorite animals.
You can often find interesting worksheets or extra information listed on the website under teacher resources. You could use the information to make the drive down to the park more fun or as a way to keep them engaged during the trip. Some kids like to write about their visit and can use the worksheets to remind them of favorite moments. There are many resources for charter school parents to help extend the learning for any trip.
Another fantastic place to visit with kids is the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. They have a wonderful teacher section on their website. I often print out and make a packet for the kids before we go to the museum. There are fun interactive games, questions to answer, and a sheet to collect rubbings from the exhibits.
They also offer a talking points sheet for the parent of chaperon. Your kids will think you are the smartest person with all the new facts you will be able to share. The Aquarium of the Pacific does a great job organizing the information by different grade level. I strongly recommend online school families to take advantage of this educational program.
The kids will remember your trip to the aquarium much longer than reading about hammerhead sharks out of a book. Making the learning meaningful by bringing it to life!
Here is a list of free museums throughout the Los Angeles and Orange County areas:
- Daily: Hammer Museum. Monday – Friday: Chapman University Permanent Exhibits, Wells Fargo History Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, for Los Angeles residents after 3 p.m.
- Tuesday – Saturday: Dominguez Rancho Adobe Museum, Flight Path Learning Center and Museum.
- Tuesday – Sunday: California African American Museum, Getty Center. Wednesday – Monday: Getty Villa.
- Wednesday – Sunday: Homestead Museum, Rancho Los Alamitos, Rancho Los Cerritos, The Paley Center for Media.
- Thursday – Tuesday: Los Angeles County Museum of Art (kids ages 17 and under are always free).
- Sundays: Museum of Latin American Art.
- First Tuesday: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits. Kidspace, first Tuesday night from 4-8 p.m.
- Second Tuesday: Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Autry National Center.
- Thursdays: Skirball Cultural Center.
- First Thursday: Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens with reserved tickets.
- Third Thursday: Japanese American National Museum. Thursday nights: Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), 5-8 p.m., and Japanese American National Museum from 5-8 p.m. First Friday: Norton Simon Museum, 5-8 p.m.
- Friday: Long Beach Museum of Art.
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