Homeschool Classes at the Jacksonville Zoo!

Alex had a blast at her first homeschool classes at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens. There were at least a dozen other kids in her class (ages 5-6). Today’s classes were Fur, Feathers, and Scales, Animal Friends, and Animal Families. Each was 45-minutes long and full of great learning experiences. She’s been talking nonstop about the great things she learned, the animal experiences she had, and the kids she met. We can’t wait till next month!

In Fur, Feathers, and Scales, Alex learned about different animal body coverings, discussed the five classes of backboned animals, and talked about major characteristics of vertebrates. Alex describes her class in her own words: “We learned that if you touch a slimy animal, it won’t be good because the slime protects it. The animals we learned about in this class all have backbones.”

“ Fur is on mammals sometimes, but not every single mammal cause we are mammals and don’t have fur. Fur protects some mammals and keeps them warm. We met a bunny with fur. Its name was Coco.”

“Also, water slides off of feathers so that the body of the bird doesn’t get wet. We got to see a collard dove and got to touch it. I can’t remember its name. The feathers were white and the collar was black. It was beautiful and really soft. ”

“When we talked about scales, we got to touch a snake. It was a nice snake and it was red with spots. It was a really long snake. Snakes have scales. Some scales are rough and some scales are smooth. The snake we touched had smooth scales.”

Her second class was called Animal Friends. She learned about pet animals, farm animals, and wild animals (including zoo animals). The class discussed why animals are important to people, the benefits of pets, and animal products. They talked about why wild animals don’t make good pets and that it is good to protect and respect wild animals. Alex says, “The teacher gave us a quiz and put out animals, and we had to guess what type of animal it was. There was a chicken from a farm. She also put out a snake as a wild animal and some other animals too.”

“We also learned about zoo animals, like we learned that the zoo animals are tamed. Wild animals are not tamed.”

The last class was Animal Families. She learned that animals are living things and talked about the characteristics of living things. The class matched baby animals to their parents and learned that some animals hatch from eggs while others do not. She also learned about animal conservation. Alex says, “Some baby animals come from eggs, but not all eggs have baby animals inside. Not just chickens lay eggs. Other kinds of birds lay eggs too and crocodiles do too.”

“All the animals we talked about were living things. Living things move, eat, and have a place to live. Some animals, when they’re first born, take care of themselves. Others have mothers and fathers taking care of them.”

“The teachers brought in an owl. The owl was a small owl. It was brown and white. It just sat on her arm and it looked at each kid. I liked the owl because owls are hard to find in nature cause they only come out at night. They also brought in a chinchilla. It had a tail and it was really cute. It was black and it was hard to see its eyes. I liked the chinchilla because it was tame and it’s an herbivore.”

I asked Alex if she likes being homeschooled, and she replied, “Yes! Absolutely, because you get to have more field trips than public school. You also don’t have to hear lots of noisy kids on the bus and you get to take classes at the zoo and other places!”

We were very happy with our Jacksonville Zoo class experience and are very happy that we signed up for the entire year’s offerings. At $3 per class ($9 for all three), it’s an awesome deal. The other kids and I spent the 3 hours of class time exploring the zoo. This was an easy and entertaining way to tie in our jungle theme! There’s always so much to do and see there. It never gets boring. It was Bella’s first time walking at the zoo and she had so much fun. She’s been napping for several hours now! What a great day.