Library Hop: Milton
Spontaneous Field Trip
Have you ever been sorta-kinda inspired to take the kids on a field trip but then social media triggered a mental roadblock? I have a solution for you. Library hop! I loved incorporating a library hop into our week for so many reasons but if I had to pick only one, it was accessibility. Library hops crush analysis paralysis. We could hit the road with our backpacks and road snacks knowing:
Our first destination was open and free
We would get our learning goals accomplished and,
If all else failed, we’d find a place for a good picnic (and maybe a bike trail)
Typical Day Trip Itinerary
We would often drive more than an hour away to library hop. It really depended on the library and the local amenities but generally speaking this was our routine:
Car ride with en route learning
Reading, writing & computer work
Lunch at a local restaurant or,
Picnic at a nearby park
Bonus: Visit a local attraction
Milton Library Example
Have you ever been to Milton library? So cool! It’s not technically in Southeast Wisconsin but close enough. Here’s a recap of one of our visits:
The Car Ride
What can you learn on the road? We were fortunate that nobody in our family had issues reading in the car so we knocked that out or used the time to listen to audiobooks and discuss. We also leaned on music. When the kids were young, Animaniacs provided entertainment and helped us memorize states and countries. For math, we’d pass around the ol’ smartphone for a few rounds of Math Speed Drill. It was not uncommon for us to accomplish 75% of our learning goals before we got to the library. Get creative! Think about how you can leverage a 30-60 minute car ride as part of your instructional hours.
Table Topics:
Once we arrived at the library, we took a quick tour to find a cozy nook for our table topics. Milton has so many fun spaces! We settled into a booth on the main level to work on creative writing, grammar and handwriting practice for about 30-45 minutes. After the kids completed that work, we used the computers for CTC Math, Prodigy and Typing. While they worked independently, I used this time to chat with the youth librarian and ask my standard questions:
Is there a cool playground nearby?
What about a popular cafe or unique restaurant for lunch?
What’s Milton’s most popular attraction?
Books, books and more books
The kids could never stop at a new library without looking through the book selection. The older one headed off to the young adult area while my youngest hunted through the tween section for graphic novels to check out. For libraries that were outside of our library system we would pull up our local library on the interwebs and place a hold on that title for pick up. It is possible to get cards for different libraries but I knew we’d quickly amass an unreasonable book-stack from our hops that would eventually need to be returned!
Story Garden Picnic
On this particular trip we had packed our own lunches. Milton has several nice spots outside in their Story Garden to enjoy some fresh air and have a picnic. The sculpture walk was a nice feature and the flowers were in full bloom.
Local Attraction: The Milton House
The first time we went to Milton we didn’t have time to visit The Milton House but we made a point to go back. The Milton House is a historic limestone structure that dates back to the 1840s and served as a stop on the Underground Railroad. This was a timely discovery! We were in our second year of studying American History and the Civil War was fresh in our minds. The youngest was a little spooked, but overall it was an interesting stop.
10 out of 10. Highly recommend!
Milton Public Library was one of our faves. On a cold, gloomy, gray winter day this library would pop to mind. The bright lighting, unique study nooks, and colorful artwork always re-energized me and added a little spice to our learning time.
When you think of a library being too far away, I would encourage you to consider some of these benefits:
You have a captive audience in the car for audiobooks, sing-alongs, discussions etc.
It offers a quiet learning environment for reading, writing and computer work
It starts the week off strong or brings energy to a midweek slump
It can mitigate over-the-top meltdowns
It serves as a visitor center before exploring the local community
It can introduce you to new parks & trails and,
It can check the box for socialization!
