There are many entertainment venues and businesses that have special “Homeschool Days” and discounts for educators in California. As I learn about them, I will share them here with you. If you have any to share, please email me.
I also recommend checking these links out for more great events!:
HSC’s Online Calendar of Homeschool Events
CHN’s Online Calendar of Homeschool Events
Local Discounts:
- Big Fresno Fair: Free admission and parking on their “Education Days”. Plus you can take your own lunch and they keep it cool until noon. Must apply early for tickets.
- Fresno Art Museum – Family Days with free admission and family-friendly activities and entertainment.
Statewide Homeschooler/Educator Discounts:
Click on the links to be taken to complete info on homeschool or educator days and discounts.
- Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose
- Knott’s Berry Farms, Buena Park
- Legoland, Carlsbad (Near San Diego)–Discounted admission for homeschoolers…and special programs and activities.
- Six Flags’ Magic Mountain, Valencia
- Six Flags’ Discovery Kingdom, Vallejo. This is the park that used to be Marine World, and they still have many of their animal shows, which are extremely educational (far superior to SeaWorld…all about conservation and education.)
They used to have specific homeschool days (with only homeschoolers attending! It was awesome!), but now they instead have “Education Days.” And there are now 2 days a year instead of 1…and it’s still a discount! You just need to get a group together to get this discount. See the link above for the details. - SeaWorld, San Diego
- Monterey Bay Aquarium–register in October for one of 6 dates available for homeschool families to get in free.
- Schulz Museum, Santa Rosa (Go ice skating at Redwood Empire Ice Arena while you’re there!)
Call 707-579-4452, ext. 273 for info …limited to 100 students - Homeschool Family Retreats/Camp, Angelus Oaks –Put “homeschool” in the search box.
- San Jose Raging Waters–(408) 223-3951 for info
- Bay Area Discovery Museum, Sausalito…also free for everyone the first Wednesday of every month
- San Diego Zoo, Homeschool Tuesdays
- UNofficial Homeschool Day at Disneyland
- Disneyland/California Adventure–education program with reduced-price tickets. The ticket includes a 3-hour presentation on California history at California Adventure Park. (Must have a minimum of 10 students.)
- Aquarium of the Pacific
- J. Paul Getty Museum, L.A./Getty Villa, Malibu— Free admission for school groups/tours
- Natural History Museum, Exposition Park, Los Angeles – 4 homeschool days annually.
- La Brea Tar Pits/Page Museum, Los Angeles–4 Homeschool Days per school year.
These are great discounts for anyone to take advantage of:
- Museum Day–Visit a museum for FREE. The closest locally is in Hanford and Tulare. However, if you are willing to travel, there are many in California!
Since Los Angeles is full of a wealth of educational opportunities and is a reasonable distance for a weekend trip (or longer) from the Fresno area…here are some great ideas for homeschoolers to help plan trips to the area…
FREE Museums in Los Angeles:
(These are museums in L.A. that are always free)
- Annenberg Space for Photography
- Armory Center for the Arts-$5 “suggested donation”
- Automobile Driving Museum (“Suggestion donation” of $10 for adults, $5 for kids)
- Cabrillo Marine Aquarium–$5 “suggested donation” adults, $1 kids. Closed Mondays.
- California African American Museum–Exposition Park
- California Science Center–Exposition Park
- Chinese American Museum–“Suggested admission” of $3 for adults
- Dominguez Rancho Adobe Museum–California history
- El Segundo Museum of Art
- Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising Museum
- Fowler Museum at UCLA–cultural artifacts
- The Getty Center
- The Getty Villa–Pacific Palisades. Free, but an advance timed-entry ticket is required. Each ticket allows you to bring up to three children ages 15 and under with you in one car.
- Griffith Observatory–Griffith Park. Free parking.
- Hammer Museum at UCLA–art museum
- La Brea Tar Pits/Page Museum–daily to EBT holders w/ID, teachers w/ID, active/retired military w/ID, children 2 & under (also see special days below for everyone else)
- La Plaz de Cultura y Artes–Mexican-American culture museum. Downtown L.A.
- Los Angeles County Museum of Art–free membership to kids 17 and younger.
- Los Angeles Fire Department Museum–Hollywood (open only Saturdays 10am-4pm. Off-hours tours available by special request.)
- LAX Flight Path Learning Center–Aviation museum in Westchester. Free parking.
- Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust–free audio tours, in Pan Pacific Park. Free parking.
- Madrona Marsh Preserve–marsh in the middle of a city!
- The Muckenthaler Cultural Center–Free Wed-Sun, 12-4pm
- Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County –daily to EBT holders w/ID, teachers w/ID, active/retired military w/ID, children 2 & under (also see special days below for everyone else)
- Nethercutt Museum–15151 Bledsoe St, Sylmar, CA–classic cars, musical instruments & more!
- Paley Center for Media–Suggested contribution $10 adults. $5 kids. Open Wed-Sun, 12-5pm.
- The Rancho Los Alamitos–Long Beach
- Santa Monica Museum of Art
- Sunnylands Center & Gardens–Open Thurs-Sun, 9am-4pm, free.
- Torrance Art Museum–South Bay
- Travel Town Museum–in Griffith Park…Trains!!
- UCLA Meteorite Gallery–on the UCLA campus
- USC Fisher Museum of Art–on the USC campus
- Valley Relics Museum–Chatsworth
- Vincent Price Art Museum–on East Los Angeles College campus
Free Admission on a Day of the Week:
Sunday:
Craft and Folk Art Museum–“Pay what you want” on every Sunday! Children under 10 always free. Right across from the Tar Pits!
Museum of Latin American Art–Free every Sunday.
Thursday:
Museum of Contemporary Art–Free every Thursday evening (5-8pm). Downtown.
Skirball Cultural Center–Free every Thursday (first come, first served). Free parking. Jewish heritage museum.
Japanese American National Museum–Free every Thursday evening (5-8pm)
Palm Springs Art Museum–Free every Thursday.
Friday:
Orange County Museum of Art–Free every Friday. Free parking.
Free Admission: First Week of the Month
Tuesday:
Kidspace Children’s Museum (4pm-8pm)–Free 1st Tuesday of every month. Pasadena.
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County–Free 1st Tuesday of every month except July and August…& every Tues in September.
La Brea Tar Pits/Page Museum–Free 1st Tuesday of every month except July and August.
Thursday:
Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens–Free 1st Thursday of every month, with advance tickets. San Marino. Free parking. Info from a comment on another site that sounds important to know:
“You have to follow a link on their website at 9am on the 1st of every month to get tickets for the first Thursday of the following month (9/1 for 10/2). The tix go fast and are usually all gone by 9:15. There is a max 6 ticket limit per household and you must give them a name for each ticket holder online. They don’t check ID’s at the door though. Even kids/babies in strollers need their own ticket, and there is no eating on their grounds.”
Laguna Art Museum—Free 1st Thursday of every month from 5-9pm.
Friday:
Norton Simon Museum (5pm-8pm)–Free 1st Friday of every month. Art museum. Free parking.
Free Admission: Second Week of the Month
Tuesday:
Autry National Center of the American West–Free 2nd Tuesday of every month. Also free on New Year’s Day, MLK Jr Day and President’s Day. Griffith Park.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art–Free 2nd Tuesday of every month. Also on MLK Jr Day, President’s Day and Memorial Day.
Sunday:
USC Pacific Asia Museum–Free the 2nd Sunday of every month. Pasadena.
Free Admission: Third Week of the Month
Tuesday:
Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden–Free 3rd Tuesday of every month. Arcadia.
South Coast Botanic Garden–Free 3rd Tuesday of every month. Palos Verdes Peninsula
Thursday:
Japanese American National Museum–Free 3rd Thursday of every month. (all day)
Free Admission: Fourth Week of the Month
Friday:
Museum of Latin American Art–Free 4th Friday of every month from 5–9pm.