This post is part of the 2013 Virtual Curriculum Fair at
Homeschooling heart and mind. The theme this week is
Exploring Our World: Social Studies and more Scienceour my lesson schedule. DH (the voice of
reason) encouraged us to go everywhere while we were here & the kids were
really excited .
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| Note booking in Considering God's creation |
I was scared we would fall behind. Crazy? Yep!
We homeschool so we have flexibility and I was
trying to stick to some imaginary timeline! Long story short, God gave me a jab in the ribs (long story) and reminded
me that our stay was temporary. Humbled, I went through the science and history we had planned for the
year and found that a lot of it related to the exhibits we could see. A local family, we met, also forwarded us an email listing regular free days for the Museums -even the zoo! Most
museums' websites also had educational resources we could do while we were before, during and
after our visits. This became our new lesson plan along with daily Math and Language.
Most of the visits were on free or discount days so the cost
to see and learn so much was minimal. We knew we could go back the following
week so we weren’t worried about seeing everything in one visit.
Some highlights
Houston Zoo:
During one visit we studied Elephant habitats and Miss K wrote a report. Mini Piwi was excited to see the baby elephants after a week of
E is for Elephant Pre K activities
We also watched a chick hatch: Wow!
During another visit we met a long horn up close
Houston Museum of Science and Nature
The Piwis loved seeing all the crystals and Minerals ...
Making clouds
and waves...
Presenting the weather
and entertaining the security team in the Dino hall...pretending to be Sloth-zilla
During our second visit we were identifying Carnivores and Herbivores in the Dino Hall. Mini Piwi was doing her
D is for Dinos week and Miss K was studying predator/prey relationships and food chains.
Cockrell Butterfly house
Miss K worked on her Insect note booking pages from Considering Gods creation and Mini Piwi was all about C for Caterpillar the week we visiting the amazing Butterfly house in the HMNS.
Houston Space center.
I made up Space lapbooks in anticipation of this visit! Piwi Daddy was able to come with us and it was definitely a learning experience for everyone. One of the highlight was touching an moon rock and another was seeing Space shuttle Discovery.
Childrens' Museum
One warm afternoon the Piwi's learnt about the properties of water
We came back again to spend time in the lab
Health Museum:
A diagram is one thing but to be able to walk around a giant model of a brain, heart or eyeball is definitely an awesome way to learn!
Downtown Aquarium
Even Thanksgiving dinner was a Field trip....The Piwis liked the little aquarium on site but the huge tanks in the restaurant itself were amazing. The waiters were full of information about the species of Fish swimming around us. I admit this visit did not fall under the minimal cost category. We tend to do something to find different ways to make holidays special for the kids since we are away from extended family.
looking at their new Moray eel buddy.
There is certainly no doubt that that Piwi's learnt plenty during our stay in the Museum district. I even learnt to relax and use the resources we are given. It also made DH & I more pro active in finding places to take the Piwi's. We no longer have the Zoo or Museums so close so we are more creative. If I can't find a field trip with local homeschool groups I try to organize one. We have found many Ice cream stores, yogurt shops & Pet shops are open to tours and talks. All you need to do is ask. There are also several websites to find field trips.
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