Children ages 6 to 9, accompanied by an adult.
Group size is limited. Registration is required. Call 973-875-1471 or email highpointprograms@gmail.com.
These hands-on activities provide homeschoolers with opportunities to explore the natural world and interact with other homeschooled students. Suggestions for further study and resources will be provided for each program.
A Sense of Spring
Friday, April 23, 2010 from 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM
This April we'll use our senses to explore the sights, sounds, and smells of the spring season, and we'll take a walk and see how many signs of spring we can find.
Stream Stomping!
Friday, May 21, 2010 from 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM
In May we'll explore life in and around one of High Point's streams. You'll want to wear boots or shoes that can get wet, and you may want to wear insect repellent. We won't walk terribly far, but we will be off-trail. Plan to get a bit dirty and have fun! Suggested reading: The Four Story Mistake by Elizabeth Enright. First published in 1942, this is the second of four books about the Melendy Family and it follows their adventures as they explore their new country home (including a stream). I have a spare copy if anyone would like to borrow it.
Get Outdoors NJ! Discovery Packs
Friday, June 25, 2010 from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Pick up a pack at any time after 10:00 AM. Packs must be returned to the Interpretive Center by 4:00 PM. Come celebrate the end of the school year and "Great Outdoors Month" by borrowing one of High Point's new Habitat Discovery Packs and spending the day exploring the Park. These packs include a variety of tools that will help you explore and discover nature. Each pack includes a take-home discovery guide full of fun outdoor activity ideas, resources, and suggestions for how to use the tools contained inside. Spy on the treetops, try to catch a newt, corner a cricket, make a collage, climb a rock, observe nature up close and at distance, play a game...the only limit is your imagination!
Homeschool Adventurers
Children ages 9 to 13, accompanied by an adult.
Group size is limited. Registration is required. Call 973-875-1471 or email highpointprograms@gmail.com.
These monthly programs offer older homeschoolers opportunities to get out "in the field" through a series of thematic hikes with hands-on activities and lessons. In addition to fresh air and exercise, there will be time for students to socialize and work cooperatively together. Older and/or younger siblings are welcome to accompany us. In the case of younger siblings, they will need to be able walk the planned distance.
Reading the Landscape
Friday, April 23, 2010 from 1:30 PM to 3:30 PM
In April we'll take hike (about 2.5 miles over mostly easy terrain) and focus on the signs and clues in the landscape that tell us the stories of the land and ways it has changed over the past few centuries. Although geology will not be a focus of this hike, you may find a book called Stone Wall Secrets by Kristine and Robert Thorson to be an appropriate supplement if you are interested in delving into both geologic and human history. From the book jacket: "Scattered throughout New England there are thousands of stone walls crisscrossing woods and fields as if they have been there forever. Each one has a story to tell, a story of farmers, and oxen and hard, muddy work. And every stone in every wall also has a story to tell, and older story of the land itself, of mountains and glaciers, of soils, and seas."
Stream Stomping!
Friday, May 21, 2010 from 1:30 PM to 3:30 PM
In May we'll explore life in and around one of High Point's streams. You'll want to wear boots or shoes that can get wet, and you may want to wear insect repellent. We won't walk terribly far, but we will be off-trail. Plan to get a bit dirty and have fun! Suggested reading: The Four Story Mistake by Elizabeth Enright. First published in 1942, this is the second of four books about the Melendy Family and it follows their adventures as they explore their new country home (including a stream). This book may not appeal to the teens in the group, although it remains one of my favorite books and I'm way older than that! I have a spare copy if anyone would like to borrow it.
Get Outdoors NJ! Discovery Packs
Friday, June 25, 2010 from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Pick up a pack at any time after 10:00 AM. Packs must be returned to the Interpretive Center by 4:00 PM. Come celebrate the end of the school year and "Great Outdoors Month" by borrowing one of High Point's new Habitat Discovery Packs and spending the day exploring the Park. These packs include a variety of tools that will help you explore and discover nature. Each pack includes a take-home discovery guide full of fun outdoor activity ideas, resources, and suggestions for how to use the tools contained inside. Spy on the treetops, try to catch a newt, corner a cricket, make a collage, climb a rock, observe nature up close and at distance, play a game...the only limit is your imagination!
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Recommended website: The Children and Nature Network Building a Movement to Reconnect Children and Nature. This site has a wealth of information and resources for families and educators interested in having fun with their children in the outdoors.
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