Autumn Field Trips for Homeschoolers in Philadelphia and South Jersey
Back to school was a bit different this pandemic year. For many families throughout South Jersey and the Greater Philadelphia area it became a time to fully embrace homeschooling for the first time.
Becoming a homeschool family unexpectedly due to the current situation presents challenges but it can transform into a deeply rewarding experience once the overwhelm subsides.
A favorite aspect of homeschooling is the chance to learn through exploring with well-planned field trips!
Right now, while the world has slowed down a bit, is a unique opportunity for kid’s to discover all that’s amazing, fun and historic right where they live. As a former elementary school teacher, as a mom who homeschooled for three years and as a tour director who has led multi-day educational trips for EF Explore America, I see this as an exciting moment that can broaden learning.
Rather not add more to-dos to your schedule by building your own field trips? See if the October Field Trips below, designed specifically for homeschoolers ages 8–12, fit with your Fall Semester plans.
You can schedule a 1 1/2 hour-long time slot for your group by contacting CityGirlTours at maria@gorshin.com. $80 for groups of up to 10 students. Chaperones are FREE. We practice Covid safety. Customized tours are also available.
NATIONAL FOSSIL DAY — WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14TH:
What is the difference between a paleontologist and an archaeologist? How do you tell artifacts, fossils and natural objects apart? We’ll find out on National Fossil Day in Historic Haddonfield where the world’s first nearly-complete skeleton of a dinosaur was unearthed!
The center of town is where we’ll begin our learning expedition, tapping our powers of observation and categorization to determine the difference between fossils, artifacts and natural objects. The town’s history comes alive as we walk, stopping to find examples of each in the most surprising places! We’ll get to know local historic landmarks in a way that will spark kids’ further curiosity about the past — through stories featuring the point-of-view of the children who lived here long ago.
NATIONAL CHOCOLATE DAY — WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21ST:
How sweet it is to get a taste of history with a delicious side of locally-crafted chocolates in a beautiful town!
We’ll visit chocolate makers during this autumn walk through Haddonfield, focusing on two areas of language arts — building interview questions that lead to deeper discovery and using adjectives to communicate how things look, taste, smell, sound and feel.
It’s a cross-curriculum adventure that includes a bit of time travel that will make it possible to see town’s historic landmarks in a fresh way and features meeting local artisans who will share the science behind their sweets!
A SPOOKY STORY WALK — WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28TH:
Haddonfield is filled with autumn beautiful this time of year making it the perfect time to meet its friendliest ghosts. Together we will visit local “haunts” to hear spooky stories! These ghost stories will be the lead up to a fun discussion and language arts activity that will help us evaluate the difference between non-fiction and fiction. As we stop at historic sites we’ll also have the chance to expand growing vocabularies to include the words garb, uniform and, of course, costume — words we will be putting into active practice a lot during this lively walk through town.
Happy homeschooling to you and hope to see you in town soon!
