Homeschool Days
On Sarasota’s coast, science is not confined to a textbook.
By Edit Sarasota Staff
On Sarasota’s coast, science is not confined to a textbook. It moves with the tides, gathers in seagrass beds, and appears in the quiet geometry of a ray gliding through water. Homeschool Days at Mote Science Education Aquarium invite young learners to encounter that living science firsthand, with the kind of questions that begin in a classroom and continue long after the lesson ends.
Designed for homeschool students ages 6 to 14, the program offers hands-on explorations of Mote’s research and the wider world of marine science. Rather than treating the ocean as a distant subject, the classes connect students with the ecosystems, animals, and scientific investigations that shape life along Florida’s Gulf Coast. Participants can expect an active learning experience—one suited to curious minds that learn by observing, making, testing, and asking what happens next.
The program is organized around monthly classes for younger students ages 6 to 9, older students ages 10 to 14, and families seeking a class that accommodates children across the full 6-to-14 age range. All fall semester Homeschool Day programs take place in the afternoons, offering a useful rhythm for families whose school days are built around flexibility and discovery.
That flexibility reflects Sarasota’s broader educational landscape, where families have long found ways to make the region’s cultural and natural resources part of everyday learning. Mote, meanwhile, brings a deep local history of marine research and public education to the experience. Its new Science Education Aquarium at University Town Center extends that mission into a contemporary setting, giving students a place to see how scientific knowledge is gathered, shared, and applied to the challenges facing our oceans.
For children who are fascinated by sea life—and for parents looking to turn a familiar coastal setting into a laboratory—Homeschool Days offer an especially inviting point of entry. The next session takes place Wednesday, October 21, 2026, at Mote Science Education Aquarium, 225 University Town Center Drive, Sarasota. Classes are offered in the afternoon; families should consult Mote for current program times and registration details.