iso: big field trip after studying greeks and romans

[trisharog]

I homeschool one child per year and the other two go to a classical christian school. After their year, the hs child gets to go on a big field trip with mom alone. First year , DS10 and I studied geology and went to the Grand Canyon. This year his twin and I studied Early America and went to Boston. Next year, DD8 and I will study Greeks and Romans. The obvious trip would be Greece or Rome but that is not in the works. I am thinking of NYC but I am not married to that idea. Does anyone have any other suggestions? And if I do go to NYC what should we do? I know the Met has Greek and Roman exhibits . We could go to Little Italy and have yummy food but is there anything else educational in Little Italy ? I have pondered this for a couple of weeks and then remembered the great wealth of ideas that come from this board and am excited to see what come up.

 

Thanks in advance!

Trisha

[Dmmetler]

There's a model of the Parthenon in Nashville.

[skueppers]

I realize this may be too much, but what about London? If you went in the off- season, you might be able to make it work in your budget. The British Museum has amazing collections.

[Sahamamama]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarpon_Springs,_Florida

 

http://www.metmuseum.org/works_of_art/greek_and_roman_art

 

And, if you do go to New York, don't miss this: http://www.metmuseum.org/cloisters/

 

Does the trip have to be connected to History? What will you be doing for Science?

Edited June 26, 2010 by Sahamamama

[mcconnellboys]

I agree with Tarpon Springs and the Parthenon, but neither are really BIG trips, as you've described doing in past.

 

The Smithsonian has tons of great, ancient exhibits. So does the Field in Chicago. The Art Institute there also has great things, especially Asian.

 

I wonder if Las Vegas still has the King Tut exhibit at the Luxor? And if Caesar's hasn't changed, they are set up as a Roman forum. Of course, you always have to avoid the risque parts of the entertainment, and Vegas has swung away from their bid to be family friendly.....

[kalanamak]

I

Thanks in advance!

Trisha

 

The Met Art museum, The Cloisters (not Roman, but still). Personally, I'd go to the old Getty in LA. It is very inexpensive (only parking) and you can spend all day there.

 

Much of Little Italy in Manhattan has been overtaken by Chinatown. If you want to see a much less touristy, actually for the people who live there Little Italy, do the one in the Bronx. But it ain't Roman. I don't know if Fordham in the Bronx has a museum. They have lots of online resources, so I'm wondering if they have a museum.

 

The best Greek food I've had in NYC is in Queens, close in. Food on long wooden tables, and you taste the garlic the next day.

[trisharog]

Hmm ...London is so tempting but her older brothers would cry foul -I do believe...having little sis go international without them just wouldnt fly. We plan to go to Italy as a family in two years - After she has studied the Renaissance. For those of you who have been to the Met in NYC is there a good Greek and Roman section?

We went to DC as a family a few years ago so that wouldnt register as high on the excitement list as an unfamiliar city. I didnt know the Chicago museum had a good Greek /Roman wing. I have heard that is a fun city for kids . I will check further into that . I appreciate the comments. Keep 'um coming:lol:

 

Trisha

[Alphabetika]

If you come to CA, you coudl go to the Getty Villa, which specializes in Greek and Roman art, architecture and artifacts.

[Bayt ul-Hikmah]

The Smithsonian has tons of great, ancient exhibits.

 

Can you point me to some specific information about these?

[kewb]

We live in NJ and I am a Native New Yorker so my opinion may be biased. That said, The Met has a wonderful collection. The Cloisters is a wonderful collection of Medieval art.

 

A bronze statue of Prometheus is featured prominently at the Sunken Plaza at Rockerfeller Center. There is a statue of Atlas facing 5th Avenue and there are friezes above the entrance to the RKO building.

 

There is Roman architecture: Washington Square Arch derived from the tradition of Roman Triumphal Arches.

 

One can see the influence of the Greek Columns in the Flat Iron Building. One can certainly see Greek influence in Grants Tomb.

 

I vote for NYC.

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History has a ton of artifacts, displays, recreations, models, and films on ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt, Babylonia, Mesopotamia, etc. You could easily spend half a day in that section alone if you go over it in a detailed fashion. We spent several days there in the past month. It was great and re-enforced what we reviewed on the SOTW audio on the way down there.

 

If you ever get to NYC the Met has even more:D

[Katja]

The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History has a ton of artifacts, displays, recreations, models, and films on ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt, Babylonia, Mesopotamia, etc. You could easily spend half a day in that section alone if you go over it in a detailed fashion. We spent several days there in the past month. It was great and re-enforced what we reviewed on the SOTW audio on the way down there.

 

If you ever get to NYC the Met has even more:D

 

Oooh! If you go to DC, you could also see first hand the classical influence on our gov't architecture!

[Luckymama]

Well, this really won't work for the OP because the exhibit is running June-January 2 but....

 

If you could combine DC and Philadelphia (or NYC and Philly), you could visit the new traveling exhibit on Cleopatra at the Franklin Insititute ( www.fi.edu ). The Franklin Institute hosted the King Tut exhibit a few years ago. A combo ticket with the University of Pennsylvania's absolutely fabulous Museum of Archeology and Anthropology (www.penn.museum) is available. Youngest saw this online and we changed our history study from US to Ancients/Medieval that morning :)

[angela in ohio]

If you come to CA, you coudl go to the Getty Villa, which specializes in Greek and Roman art, architecture and artifacts.

 

That would be my suggestion! We are headed there this summer...

[SailorMom]

I would say - within the US - going to DC makes the most sense...

Not only is the architecture important, our system of government was founded on those two cultures.

[EmilyK]

This is not as far away for you as some of the other ideas, but the Carlos Museum at Emory in Atlanta has an amazing ancient collection (as I remember, Egypt, Rome, Greece).

[Stacia]

I would say - within the US - going to DC makes the most sense...

Not only is the architecture important, our system of government was founded on those two cultures.

 

I think this is a good point. And, there is just so much to do & see in the DC area that w/ some digging, I think you could find plenty of things to do to relate to your field trip (i.e., classical painters who used ancient mythology as their subjects, etc... -- but those items are not ancient in & of themselves). The Smithsonian's Museum of Natural History ancient collection is ok, but not outstanding, imo.

 

This is not as far away for you as some of the other ideas, but the Carlos Museum at Emory in Atlanta has an amazing ancient collection (as I remember, Egypt, Rome, Greece).

 

http://www.carlos.emory.edu/

 

This is what I was going to suggest. The Carlos is an amazing museum & has the best collection I've seen (outside of the British Museum). If you were in Atlanta, Nashville is not a far drive (about 4 hours), so you could do a combo of Atlanta (Carlos/ancients museum) & Nashville (Parthenon replica) during your trip.

[mcconnellboys]

Well, you can go to the Smithsonian website and do a search for specific info you might want. As just one example, the Museum of Natural History has a panoramic tour you can view to see what rooms you might like to visit:

 

http://www.mnh.si.edu/panoramas/

 

(click on virtual tour)

 

Or, you can view exhibits that are in specific rooms from this same page by just clicking on individual panoramas. Some rooms you might like to look at would be African Cultures or Western Cultures.....

 

The National Museum of African Art will have more from African cultures: http://www.nmafa.si.edu/

 

The National Museum of the American Indian will have info on early North American groups. I'm not sure if they also have exhibits on Central and South American groups - surely they do!

 

http://www.nmai.si.edu/subpage.cfm?subpage=exhibitions&second=dc&third=current

 

The Freer and Sackler Galleries have much Asian art: http://www.asia.si.edu/

 

Hopefully, that will get you started.....

[trisharog]

Talked with DD8 about your suggestions. At first she had no interest in DC because she went there a few years ago- though she did not get that much out of it. However, when I mentioned the Smithsonian her eyes lit up bc of Night at the Museum:) Who knew?!! So DC is back as a maybe.

 

However, I think she is leaning more towards NY . I would love any other suggestions of what to see if we were decided on NY.

 

Thanks

Trisha

[Sahamamama]

I agree with Tarpon Springs and the Parthenon, but neither are really BIG trips, as you've described doing in past.

 

 

True, but it's close enough to be a day/weekend trip, perhaps? Then NYC or Washington DC (great rec!) could be the BIG TRIP.

 

Enjoy!

[Sahamamama]

The Cloisters is a wonderful collection of Medieval art.

 

With Latin all over the place! ;)

[Alice]

We just got back from a weekend in NYC. The Met has a great Greek and Roman collection and also a wonderful Egyptian gallery. I second (or third or fourth) the Cloisters. Even my 6 and 3 yr olds enjoyed it. One tip is that the Met has a "suggested" admission price but you can pay less. Regardless, admission to the Cloisters is included. If you go on a Friday, the Met is open until 9 pm so very easy to do both in one day. Getting to the Cloisters is a bit out of the way but it is accessible by subway and then a bus transfer or it's not too much of a walk (especially with an older child than mine). Another tip is that the Cloisters front desk called a private car for us to take to the Met. It was $20 which was very worth it as getting from the Cloisters to the Met is difficult, there is no easily direct subway and on another visit when we did it by bus it took over an hour. The car was about 30 minutes so well worth the $20 in our mind.

 

The King Tut exhibit is in Times Square at the Discovery Center. We went. I was a little disappointed for some reason, but it was good. It's just more commericial than the museums and I felt that. The mummy is also a replica (although a very good one) which was kind of a let down, even if I understood why.

 

The Musuem of Natural History is also very enjoyable and a great field trip in itself (and fun for a fan of the Night of the Musuem movies). We went last year and my boys had a great time seeing all the things from the movies as well as just really enjoying the musum itself.

 

And of course NYC has many other fun things that are less educational....Central Park (my kids really loved the zoo there), Toys R Us or FAO Schwatz, Chinatown, Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island....or you could try and get half-price tickets to one of the more kid friendly shows like The Lion King.

[azdad]

I homeschool one child per year and the other two go to a classical christian school. After their year, the hs child gets to go on a big field trip with mom alone. First year , DS10 and I studied geology and went to the Grand Canyon. This year his twin and I studied Early America and went to Boston. Next year, DD8 and I will study Greeks and Romans. The obvious trip would be Greece or Rome but that is not in the works. I am thinking of NYC but I am not married to that idea. Does anyone have any other suggestions? And if I do go to NYC what should we do? I know the Met has Greek and Roman exhibits . We could go to Little Italy and have yummy food but is there anything else educational in Little Italy ? I have pondered this for a couple of weeks and then remembered the great wealth of ideas that come from this board and am excited to see what come up.

 

Thanks in advance!

Trisha

We just finished first grade. Hit the Met in NYC early in the year, then just visited the Getty Villa a few weeks ago (both as part of family trips, not specifically for home schooling). I can't speak highly enough of the experience at the Getty. Met is fantastic with lots to see, but crowded and feels rushed. I like the size of the Getty Villa, and the fact that it is a reproduction of an actual Roman Villa. So the architecture gives an amazing dimension to experiences life as a filthy rich Roman. Also if you go definitely get their audio tour ($5 / person). They have special audio tour for families and kids that was perfect for us. The kids activity room is good too.

[Barb_]

Well, this really won't work for the OP because the exhibit is running June-January 2 but....

 

If you could combine DC and Philadelphia (or NYC and Philly), you could visit the new traveling exhibit on Cleopatra at the Franklin Insititute ( www.fi.edu ). The Franklin Institute hosted the King Tut exhibit a few years ago. A combo ticket with the University of Pennsylvania's absolutely fabulous Museum of Archeology and Anthropology (www.penn.museum) is available. Youngest saw this online and we changed our history study from US to Ancients/Medieval that morning :)

 

This would be my vote. The Penn museum is a hidden gem. The building itself is gorgeous and historical and they have a terrific classical section. Not many people know about it, so it is never crowed. There is plenty of time and space to meander and you get the docents pretty much all to yourself. Philly is cheaper than NYC and easier to get around. Also, the museum of art is right there too, and it's my favorite outside of New York. The building is decorated in classical style friezes (I think I still have a picture somewhere) and you can tie in early american history's classical foundations.

 

Barb

 

Edited June 27, 2010 by Barb F. PA in AZ

[skueppers]

I live in Washington now, and grew up in Philadelphia -- my parents took us to the University of Pennsylvania museum all the time (and the art museum, the Franklin Institute, and so on). So I'm well-informed about what's in both of those places!

 

Here's the information from the University of Pennsylvania museum collection on Greece and Rome:

 

http://www.penn.museum/long-term-exhibits/264-worlds-intertwined.html

 

They also have great exhibits on other ancient cultures.

 

The Philadelphia Museum of Art doesn't have much that's relevant to your study, but they do have a great arms and armor section, and many important modern works. I was always a big fan of the Brancusi and the Mondrian as a child. The Franklin Institute is a fantastic science museum, though again, not terribly relevant to your study of Ancient Greece and Rome.