Learning All Around

Explore!

Go on an adventure together. Explore local parks, museums, the library, your neighborhood park, and more. There are extensive opportunities for local families to engage in learning in the region. Here are just a few:

Old Sacramento: Old Sacramento is the riverfront historic district, with Gold Rush-era buildings, cobblestone streets, and horse-drawn carriages. It’s home to numerous museums, including the Sacramento History Museum and the state Railroad Museum, which offers excursion train rides.

California State Railroad Museum: At the California State Railroad Museum, we are a Laboratory of Learning, and we believe in the power of education and are committed to fostering a lifelong love of learning.

Crocker Art Museum: The Crocker Art Museum is proud to serve the community as a welcoming destination for families with young children. Our team of professional art educators offer dozens of education programs each month tailored to a variety of families. 

SMUD MOSAC Museum: MOSAC piques curiosity and sparks imagination in our guests of all ages with hands-on interactive exhibits and programming that explore the wonders of science, technology, engineering, arts and math.

Effie Yeaw Nature Center: We offer a wide variety of educational opportunities for individuals, families and children. Our staff of naturalists design and deliver our school age and family programs, and our adult education programs are led by field experts. Whether you are a beginning birder, a mini-naturalist, a curious explorer or an enthusiastic nature-lover, we know you’ll find something to engage your brain at the Nature Center!

Sacramento Children's Museum:

 Fairytale Town: For 60 years, Fairytale Town has offered children and families a safe place to imagine, play and learn. With 26 playsets based on nursery rhymes and fairytales, a friendly flock of farm animals, two performing arts stages and several gardens, learning has never been more fun!

Sacramento Zoo: The Sacramento Zoo is a nonprofit, educational organization proudly accredited by the American Association of Zoos and Aquariums. We strive to inspire appreciation, respect and a connection with wildlife and nature through education, recreation and conservation.

Home Learning Experiences

There are a wide variety of experiences that support learning right from the home. Consider incorporating an activity you love or a new hobby to learn. Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Cooking & Baking

• Gardening

• Sewing, Knitting, Crocheting

• Woodworking

• Art

• Music

• Genealogy/Family History

• Watching Documentaries

• Read/Listen to Audiobooks

Holiday Learning

During any holiday season, the rhythms and schedules of our regular lives often shift and change, but that doesn't change the fact that your family is learning together. Whatever holidays and traditions your family celebrates this year, here are some things to consider as part of your lesson plans:

SOCIAL STUDIES

• Discuss your family traditions-those in your own home, and those of the adults in your home when they were children

• Learn about different holiday traditions in various cultures and countries. Watch videos, read books, adopt a new tradition for your family, locate these countries on a map

• Reach out to family and friends in different countries, states, or communities to compare traditions.

• Learn about how various holidays were celebrated in a different time in history. 

• Attend various community events in your area and learn how to become involved as a local citizen.

• Participate in community service and humanitarian efforts. Volunteer your time as a family; donate to those in need; become engaged in a charity or community outreach organization.

• Explore recipes from your family history and traditions, or those from other countires and cultures. 

LANGUAGE ARTS

• Read picture books and novels with holiday themes. Consider a book advent where one book is read each day together to count toward your family's holiday. 

• Write holiday letters to family members summarizing what's been happening in your family this year, or exchanging cultural information.

• Write about your family's favorite traditions as a journal, essay, or short story.

• Create a collection of recipes, family stories, or traditions

SCIENCE

• Bake or cook--there's a lot of science happening in the kitchen. Experiment with how an ingredient or amount changes a recipe. Learn why certain ingredients are important and how they impact the food.

• Track the weather. Watch weather reports from different regions and compare. Visit another city with a different climate and talk about similarities and differences. Learn about the clothing and gear required for different weather.

• In Fall & Winter, learn about over-wintering gardens, seeds that thrive when planted before the freeze, and how to keep sensitive plants (and animals) safe in a freeze. In Spring and Summer, explore traditional gardens.

MATH

• Data! Track rainfall, snowfall, temperature and more. Create graphs, charts, and look for highs and lows. Research the lowest and highest temperatures in your region through history. 

• Bake and cook! Try doubling a recipe or cutting it in half. Have children measure ingredients, set temperatures, create budgets for meals and baking projects, and more.

Look online (or ask your adviser) for puzzles, games, activities, and more to support your family in holiday-season learning.