Racine Zoo Announces 'Zoo School' Home School Programming

Press release from Racine Zoological Society:

Oct. 5, 2020

The Racine Zoo is excited to announce their new “Zoo School” homeschool focused curriculum beginning October 20 at the Racine Zoo. Classes run from 9am – 1pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays for four weeks. Classes are open for grades K – 2 and 3 – 5. Students are invited to come to the Zoo for a unique opportunity to learn all about animals and have a ton of fun! Each session will include 8, four-hour long classes of exciting, hands-on learning that will cover Wisconsin Academic Standards for Science as well as meeting Next Generation Science Standards. Classes will include meeting live animals, snack time, participating in games, crafts and activities that reinforce scientific concepts, tours around the Zoo, and lunch. The full session, including snacks and craft supplies, is $150 for Zoo members and $175 for non-members.

Our October – November Session will take place Tuesday and Thursday mornings and will be all about animal adaptations! Students will get to learn about and meet animals that have amazing adaptations that help them to survive and thrive in their habitats. Our first class will include icebreaker games; later classes will open with a review. Interactive introduction of new topics or vocabulary words, via hangman and hands-on exploration and discovery, will kickstart the day. Students will meet live animals, play games, and solve puzzles to apply each new concept, and classes will spend a large portion of classes touring exhibits and working on applications outside. Each morning, students will take a break for a provided, individually wrapped snack, as well as a half-hour lunch break around the noon hour. Students will be provided journals for the full session, and will use these journals for notes, pictures, and activities.

"After talking to many homeschool families, both longstanding and newly homeschooled this year, Zoo School seems like a program that this community is looking for," says Aszya
Summers, Curator of Animal Care and Conservation Education at the Racine Zoo. "Our animals and talented educators are so excited to offer this new program!"

Learn more at racinezoo.org, including how we are addressing COVID-19 related concerns in our classes. Email education@racinezoo.org or call 262-636-9580 for more information. Spots are limited, so register before we are full!

This press release was produced by Racine Zoological Society. The views expressed here are the author's own.