Weekly Homeschool Classes for 5-11* Year-Olds

Introduce your homeschool student to the Natural Sciences.

Now is the time to encourage your child’s love of nature! In our natural science programs, kids will have the opportunity explore all that the Heard Natural Science Museum & Wildlife Sanctuary has to offer. Students will experience learning through classroom activities, outdoor field investigations on our 289-acre wildlife sanctuary, laboratory science, small group activities and take-home study packets. Each course curriculum is developed by the Heard Museum's education staff who strive to recognize and meet the needs of homeschool families.

The Heard's weekly Homeschool Natural Science Program is appropriate for children ages 5-11. We use the age of each student on September 1 for class placement for the entire academic year.

Quick Links

• Registration Information
• Schedule
• Topics
• Tuition Information
• Homeschool Classes for 12-13 Year-Olds Class Information
• Magic Planet Homeschool Information - Ages 6-11
• COVID-19 Impact

COVID-19 Impact:

Our plan is to offer in-person classes with class sizes limited by the ability to maintain appropriate physical distancing in each classroom (max. 8 – 12 students per room). If for any reason we need to halt in-person classes, we will switch to an online format with prerecorded instruction and live class “chat” time.

Students and staff will be subject to a health screening each class meeting and are required to wear a mask while inside when appropriate physical distancing cannot be maintained and while in public areas in and near the museum buildings (ex. Animals of the World and Butterfly garden). Staff and students only will be allowed in class areas. Additional cleaning and disinfection will be utilized in the classrooms and frequently touched areas. Click here to learn more

For monthly classes appropriate for children ages 12-13, please click here. For Magic Planet Homeschool classes, click here.

Dates

5 year old Kindergarten class will meet Tuesday mornings from 9:30 – 11:30am.

6-7 year old, 8-9 year old, and the 10-11 year old classes will meet Tuesday afternoons from 1 – 3pm.

Spring 2021 classes start the week of January 19 and end the week of April 13.

There will be no class Spring Break week (March 8). 

Tuition

Per Semester: 
$210 Heard Museum Member* | $230 Non-member
Monthly Payment Plan
•    (Includes $5 processing fee per payment) 
•    $95  Heard Museum Member* down payment | $115  Non-member down payment
•    A monthly payment (includes a $5 processing fee) will be charged to your credit card on file the 1st of October and November in the fall or February and March in the spring. 

Spring 2021 Refund Cancellation Dates
•    Full refund minus $10 admin fee by January 2
•    50% refund by January 11
•    No refunds after January 12

Registration Information

• Step 1 - Click here to complete registration form

• Step 2 - Once Step 1 is completed, click here to complete payment form

Please note registration is not complete until a registration form and payment have been completed and submitted for each participating child. An optional monthly payment plan is also available at this link. Please note fees apply.

Topics

• 5 year olds - Spring 2021: Which ‘Ology is Which? Earth & Planetary Science 
  Young scientists will explore some of the “ologies” that deal with earth and space including geology, climatology, vulcanology and planetology. The hands-on activities, games and experiments will involve your child directly in the learning process.
• 6-7 year olds - Spring 2021: Discover Your World: The Earth
  What can clouds tell us about the weather? What’s inside the earth? How are rocks formed? Why does the moon change? These are just some of the questions that will be explored as we take a look at our planet—its insides and its surface, and its place in space.
• 8-9 year olds - Spring 2021: Explorers: Amazing Adaptations
  Adaptations, what are they? What do they look like? What has them?  Students will examine the adaptations of a variety of animals and plants from all over the globe. We will study organisms from the microscopic to the most unusual plant life.
• 10-11 year olds - Spring 2021: Earth Trek: Sharing the Planet 
  Find out more about how and where animals live on Earth. Students will investigate adaptations to habitats, weather, climate, and human encroachment, as well as effects of global climate change, pollution and natural disasters.