Sunday, August 22, 2010

Homeschooling Benefit # 873 ...

Homeschool Days at area attractions!

I have to admit that I find myself pleasantly surprised at the number of local attractions that offer special homeschool days.  Most of these special days still cost money, but at a decently discounted rate.  On the rare occasion, you find one that is FREE.  And who has issues with free??

This past Monday we took advantage of one of those rare free days.  The Atlanta History Center (which has a normal admission of $16.50 per person!) was hosting a free open house for homeschoolers.  Tracy and I took our 4 boys to the big city for the day and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!  The history center was MUCH more than we expected.

We perused a wonderful Civil War exhibit, then had a quick lunch.  After that, we went outside to walk through the almost 30 acre estate.  We got to see an old farm house, complete with outside kitchen, as well as The Swan House.  The Swan House is a palatial mansion type home, with a fountain in their front yard (yes, the fountain is probably what the boys will remember most about the mansion, lol).  It had recently been restored (with original furnishings!) to look like it had when it was completed in the late 1920s, early 1930s.

After the tour of the home, we went back inside to the Olympic Games exhibit.  This was a remarkable showcase of everything that went on in Atlanta during the 1996 games!  There was also a neat little sports lab, where the boys got to try their hand at cycling, rowing and the long jump.

All in all, we were so pleased with our little homeschool trip and would look forward to going back.  Even after spending 5 hours there, there were a couple of exhibits we didn't get to.

Since this fabulous field trip landed on a Monday, the boys were concerned that their school for the week would be off.  Me, being the incredibly strict "teacher" than I am, TOTALLY counted the whole day as our school for the day...so nothing had to be pushed back or rescheduled or doubled up or anything like that.  :D

Having said that, it was really nice for me to know that the curriculum we use is flexible and allows us to rearrange and make it work on OUR schedule.  We are entering our 4th year with Time4Learning and still couldn't be happier.  There are so many positive curriculum reviews about the grades the boys are entering, I rest a little easier (if that's even possible, lol).  I also enjoy the online parent community that T4L has to offer.  I can ask questions, I can answer questions and I can just have general conversation with other members.  It's wonderful...

I know this post really should have had some accompanying photos of our trip, but I had an issue with my Picasa account.  Grrr.  So...look for an additional post in the next day or so with some pics.  :)

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