The Byron Forest Preserve offers home school classes in a variety of formats. Each month during the school year, the education department plans a four-hour program geared toward elementary and middle school children. These programs are designed to be hands-on and interactive, and catered to home school families so that they are supplemental to Illinois learning standards while remaining a unique and intense experience that can’t be found in a classroom.

If you seek a program with a group, you may schedule a program during the week that follows a classroom field trip curriculum. We offer these topics, and may also be able to customize something for you: prairie or woodland habitats, museum tour with live animals, pollinators and decomposers, geology, astronomy, farm life, fur traders, and Illinois’ native peoples. For a group size of up to 20 students (minimum 2 chaperones), we charge $5/student for a half day or $10/student for a full day.

Finally, you may have a smaller group, or just wish to visit with your family. We charge $25 for a group of up to 15 people, and a more in-depth and personalized program lasting 1-2 hours. These are available during the week or weekend, day or evening. You may choose from one of the field trip topics listed above, and also: makerspace, water study, night hike, biodiversity lab, cross country skiing, candles and cornbread at the Heritage Farm, survival/bushcraft, map and compass, geocaching, or a fossil hunt.