Programs for Families
Children learn differently from adults. They ask different questions, notice different details, and connect with culture and art in altogether different ways than their parents.
Our Family Program embraces these differences. Designed by a museum educator and guided by our many years’ experience working with families, the walks in this program draw on the latest approaches to on-site learning to craft amazing experiences for parents and their children. The emphasis is very much on the children themselves, and our objective is often to find ways to get them excited about art or archaeology or whatever material we’re dealing with. But we don’t forget about the parents and that this is a group experience. And, so, the activities and methods employed seek as well to get the whole family involved in a collective learning experience.
The docents in our Family Program are all trained in Visual Thinking Strategies and Inquiry-Based Learning. (See “resources” below for more information.) Many of them have taught children of all age ranges or are parents themselves, making them uniquely equipped to bring the city and its rich history to life for travelers of all ages. Handouts, interactive activities like sketching, and other materials are often employed as teaching tools on-site.
We currently offer specialized family walks in the following cities:
These walks are all private walks, and therefore allow for customization. The more information you can give us about your family, the better equipped we'll be to develop the program best suited for you. If you have a unique interest that is not listed or are not sure where to begin, as always we are available to give suggestions by contacting info@contexttravel.com.
Notes.
In Rome, many families very much want to visit the Vatican. While we have a tightly structured Family walk to the Vatican, which you’ll find on the list above, we strongly urge families to consider other sites. The Vatican is extremely crowded, and the waits can be very long. In our experience it is one of lesser sites in Rome for truly engaging a young person.
For more information about Visual Thinking Strategies visit VUE. For more information about Inquiry-Based Learning try this Channel Thirteen (Boston) program.