Homeschool Fun Days
One of the many perks of being a homeschooler here in Maryland is that local businesses have embraced us for the most part and have offered many types of deals and special days for us to enjoy. The Maryland Science Center in downtown Baltimore has three weeks in September devoted to Homeschool Days with quality classes for all ages and opportunities to see the IMAX and Davis Planetarium shows for a discounted rate. All homeschoolers are free to tour the museum and enjoy the regular exhibits in addition to taking the classes. This year, the Science Center also opened up two weeks in January for us to attend classes and see the exhibits. This was a great opportunity to liven up an otherwise blah, cold, dreary month.
Wednesday I took my son and granddaughter and our daycare baby into the city and while Dakota attended two classes, one on robots and other on circuits and electricity, the girls and I went up to the kids room and played with all the wonderful hands on exhibits there. It's blocked off so they cannot get out. The children there are from zero to eight and there is a special room for the under two crowd. The girls went under the sea in a pretend submarine and then climbed up over the top to "fish" and steer a boat. They built with Duplos, played with trains at a train table, got to watch a turtle and fish, play with stuffed animals, magnets and pretend clothes. We also went back out to the main exhibit and I let them explore the dinosaur area, where they got to sit in dinosaur footprints and dig for fossils.
When we picked Dakota up, he had a drawing that he had entered into a computer and a robot had drawn for him. In the second class, he made a working LED light with a battery, a paper clip, some plastic tape and a popsicle stick. They put the little LED light on top, hooked it all up with wire and it worked wonderfully. He thought this was extremely cool!
On Friday we went back to the Science Center and Dakota took a two hour class on Extremophiles. Is there alien lifeforms? They started with a planetarium show followed by independent group work at three exhibits in the center before returning to the classroom. He really enjoyed this one and afterward we met our friends, the Webers, for lunch and to see some more of the exhibits. We took a walk around the harbor, stopping outside the Ripleys Believe It or Not museum for a few pictures and then the Weber family joined us at our house for pizza. Not only did Dakota get some time to play on the trampoline and play video games with the boys, but their mom, Jackie, and I got to sit quietly and share some woman to woman conversation with little interruption.
I am always thankful to be a homeschooler, but when opportunities like the ones we had at the Science Center present themselves
, I am extra grateful that we are able to take advantage of so much educational fun right in our own backyard.
Wednesday I took my son and granddaughter and our daycare baby into the city and while Dakota attended two classes, one on robots and other on circuits and electricity, the girls and I went up to the kids room and played with all the wonderful hands on exhibits there. It's blocked off so they cannot get out. The children there are from zero to eight and there is a special room for the under two crowd. The girls went under the sea in a pretend submarine and then climbed up over the top to "fish" and steer a boat. They built with Duplos, played with trains at a train table, got to watch a turtle and fish, play with stuffed animals, magnets and pretend clothes. We also went back out to the main exhibit and I let them explore the dinosaur area, where they got to sit in dinosaur footprints and dig for fossils.
When we picked Dakota up, he had a drawing that he had entered into a computer and a robot had drawn for him. In the second class, he made a working LED light with a battery, a paper clip, some plastic tape and a popsicle stick. They put the little LED light on top, hooked it all up with wire and it worked wonderfully. He thought this was extremely cool!
On Friday we went back to the Science Center and Dakota took a two hour class on Extremophiles. Is there alien lifeforms? They started with a planetarium show followed by independent group work at three exhibits in the center before returning to the classroom. He really enjoyed this one and afterward we met our friends, the Webers, for lunch and to see some more of the exhibits. We took a walk around the harbor, stopping outside the Ripleys Believe It or Not museum for a few pictures and then the Weber family joined us at our house for pizza. Not only did Dakota get some time to play on the trampoline and play video games with the boys, but their mom, Jackie, and I got to sit quietly and share some woman to woman conversation with little interruption.
I am always thankful to be a homeschooler, but when opportunities like the ones we had at the Science Center present themselves
Comments