Free Field Trips for the Frugal San Antonio Homeschooler
|
|
Are the best things in life free or do you
get what you pay for? I think this selection of free
museum days in San Antonio is probably a mix of the two. Would a visit to
the missions be dramatically better if the National Park
Service charged a fee for the visit? Probably not--or at
least not worth the price. Yet I think a case could be made
that a visit to the Alamo would be much more informative if
an admission fee was charged. If nothing else, the free days
at the museums that otherwise charge an admissions fee allows
you to visit and decide it you think it would be worth it
return and pay the regular price.
|
Yes, the Alamo is free.
Everyday, all day. Whenever the homeschooling day just isn't working,
grab the kids and head down for the Alamo for a free field trip.
Unfortunately, the Alamo doesn't provide any walking tours but they
do provide history talks every half hour. You can also rent an audio
tour for $5.00 although that can add up quickly if your bring the
family and kind of undermines the "free" aspect of visiting. There is
a theater in the long barracks that shows a 17 minute film about the
Alamo. I suggest stopping by your local library and reading up on the
Alamo before you actually visit.
The
four Spanish Missions, collectively referred to as "the Missions,"
are a great reminder religious roots other than the Pilgrims run deep
in the United States. All of the missions were built before the
American Revolution with Mission Espada being founded in 1690. All
of
the missions offer free tours, some depend on staff availability.
They also offer cell phone audio tours. The visitors' center is
located at Mission San Jose, so you should probably allow for extra
time for your visit there compared to the other missions. The
National Park Service offers curriculum materials online designed to
meet 4th and 7th grade TEKS standards. Of course, there are all
sorts of educational possibilities ranging from comparing English to
Spanish settlements to treatment of Native American Indians to
architecture and community planning.
There is an eight mile hike and bike trail that connects all of the
missions. So if you need a destination that offers education al
opportunities as well as physical activity to keep kids focused
during the educational opportunities, the Missions are a great
choice.
The McNay Art Museum is free
on Thursday nights and the first Sunday of the month. On the
first Sunday and third Sunday (not free) you can check out a
family gallery kit to use to explore the galleries. The museum
offers an Acoustaguide Cell Phone Tour for free with specific family
friendly stops. Official docent student tours are free as well. There
are five tracts to select from and must be scheduled at least two
weeks in advanced. (Time out for my pet peeve: if you sign up for a
tour--show up! If homeschoolers don't show up for tours, they may just
stop offering them to homeschoolers.) You can find online lesson
plans at the
Teacher Resource Center along with programs for educators. The
grounds are also a wonderful place for picnicking.
San Antonio Museum of Art is free to the public every
Tuesday from 4 pm to 9 pm. There is also a free tour starting at 4:30
pm that covers the museum highlights. Children ages 12 and up can
participate in the sketching sessions that start at 6:00 pm.
Attendance is limited to 20 and they encourage you to bring your own
sketchpads and pencils. You can download teacher guides for "Asian Art
in Focus" and "Retratos: 2000 Years of Latin American Portraits: from
the museum website. Going on a free
Tuesday night probably isn't as much fun for younger kids as the
museum's First Sunday programs but it may be a good way to serve up
art appreciation in smaller bites--you can leave after 30 minutes and
not feel guilty about the admission cost.
The Witte has free admissions
on Tuesdays from 3 pm until 8 pm.While the museum doesn't offer any
free tours, with places like the H-E-Be Science Treehouse, you
probably won't miss it. You shouldn't have to worry about keeping kids
quiet or focused during your visit through the Treehouse.
Unfortunately, there aren't any lesson plans available on line, but
with the vast number of hands on activities, you'll probably be able
to create your own unique lesson plan just based on the questions your
kids ask.The Witte is a great a place to go without a plan, the
perfect solution for a less than successful homeschooling day.
The San Antonio
Children's Museum is free to children age 12 and under on the
Third Thursday of the month from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Unfortunately,
adults still have to pay the $7.00 admission fee. Given that the
special workshops (such as Pint-Sized Science and Art Studio)
aren't on Thursdays, it might be worth the trip to get an idea if you
want to pay regular admission fees at another time.
Okay, I can't say I've actually been to this museum or even know
someone who has. According to the website, the
St. Mary's Earth Science Museum is always free. It's open weekdays
throughout the year and is located in a second floor hallway. This
makes me think this may not be a great spur of the moment trip unless
you have someone in the family really into rocks. However, it could be
a great trip for anyone doing a unit study on geology or fossils.
Unfortunately, because of the lack of information you would probably
need to go visit the museum first to see how it would fit in with your
study plans. But given that it's free and you may find walking around
the campus (without the kids) relaxing, it may well be worth the trip.
|
