Home-School Field Trip Ideas for 5th-Graders in New Jersey

Home-schooling children allows families the flexibility to introduce their students to as many historical, cultural, scientific and otherwise educational experiences as they can imagine. New Jersey offers a wealth of museums, concerts, theaters and historical recreations, and families can expose their home-schooled children to all these things. Some of these settings run programs specifically for home-schooling families; others simply welcome them as they welcome all their other visitors.
  1. History

    • Living-history farms teach children about New Jersey's agricultural development.

      New Jersey has historical farms and villages for kids to tour and museums of state and local history for them to visit. Fosterfields Living Historical Farm (morrisparks.net) is still fully operational and available for field trips. Howell Living History Farm (howellfarm.org) recreates the life of a New Jersey farmer in the year 1900. The Historic Village at Allaire (allairevillage.org) teaches students about New Jersey's industrial revolution. The New Jersey State Museum (state.nj.us/state/museum) includes exhibits on the archaeology, art, cultural history and natural history of the state.

    Culture

    • The Bay-Atlantic Symphony gives educational concerts for kids.

      Local children's theaters that welcome home schoolers include the Bickford Theater at Morris Museum (morrismuseum.org), Paper Mill Playhouse Children's Theatre (papermill.org), and Pax Amicus Castle Theatre (paxamicus.org), which does Shakespeare for young audiences. The Bay-Atlantic Symphony (bayatlanticsymphony.org) offers educational concerts for students, including home-schooled students, in several locations across New Jersey. In Madison, the Museum of Early Trades & Crafts (rosenet.org/metc) hosts programs for students about the cultural history of the area.

    Science

    • Children can learn about reptiles on a visit to the Turtle Back Zoo.

      The Liberty Science Center (lsc.org) in Jersey City offers special programs for home-schooled students on topics from meteorology to forensics to green living (reference 5).Cape May is an annual stop for migratory birds, and students can learn about their travel and breeding habits on a visit. The Turtle Back Zoo (turtlebackzoo.com) in West Orange is most famous for its reptile and alligator exhibits. The Newark Museum (newarkmuseum.org) has a permanent planetarium exhibit that students can visit to study astronomy.

    Extended Trip

    • Students can learn about local and state history and industry by visiting an Ocean City lighthouse.

      Inn the Gardens Bed and Breakfast (nvo.com/innthegardens/door) in Ocean City offers week-long programs for home-schooling families in September and June. From the Inn, it is an easy trip to museums, aquariums, the Wetlands Institute, lighthouses, several historical-recreation villages and shopping centers, concerts and sporting events, all of which can be educational experiences for students. It is also a short trip from Ocean City to Atlantic City, a tour of which is an entertaining history lesson for children.

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