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Elizabeth
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I'm taking the crew to Williamsburg next week. It's been awhile since we've toured there.If you've been in the last year or so, can you give me pointers on what not to miss and how to make the best use of our time? We'll do Jamestown on Friday and Williamsburg on Monday, with the State Cup soccer Final Four in between.
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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Mary G
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We LOVE Wmsburg -- we've been twice since we came here last June! Here are the two blog posts I did
November 08
March 2009
... you really can't go too wrong as the "characters" are so into it and want to share with the kids what they know.
Definitely try to do the Governors Palace and the Capital ... I'd also just walk and see what's not too busy
Definitely stop at the Visitors Center to pickup their "what's happening in CW this week" to see what's going on special. I'm sure you've checked the CW website but that has great ideas (and pre- and post-visit activities). We didn't have time to do the museums but those look great -- maybe we'll do those next Fall!
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bfarmmom
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When I asked my children they said "don't miss anything" 
-We loved the reenactments in the center of the town. You do need paid passes to get into that section.
-The silversmith was memorable.
-The farm was really interesting. In each of the out buildings there is a "character" explaining what each building was for. The most memorable was the slave quarter and talking to the gentleman there.
One word of advice, ask a lot of questions. As Mary said The characters really want to share what they know.
Our visit to Jamestown was so rushed, we only had a few hours there, the children enjoyed CW the most.
We really loved CW and can't wait to go back. It was one of our most memorable vacations.
Have a great time!
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JennGM
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I was going to recommend following the American Girl Felicity Tour, but I don't think it's around anymore
Our highlights were the craftsmen, like the musical instruments, silversmiths, bookmakers. Part of the Jamestown exhibit is the glassblowers (separate site from the main place, I think on the way to Williamsburg). That was particularly memorable.
The outside activites in the square are great, the fife and drum marches a particular highlight, and firing the canon, of course.
To tie in with all our gardening and nature studies we loved walking through the gardens (off the beaten path). They are marked on the map, but such great varieties of herbs and flowers that we enjoyed identifying. My son enjoyed opening the gates and wandering around in the back yards.
Wish I could go back soon.
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jenk
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LOVED the reenactments! And there is a farm that's being built from the ground up, in the way they would have done in colonial times... Good Hope Farm? I think. The barn, kitchen and slave house were there when we went last October and they were laying a foundation for the master's quarters. It's located between the visitor center and the Governor's Palace. The docent in the slave house was wonderful. The folks cooking outside were also neat.
My oldest ds (14) also really liked the blacksmith shop. The maze behind the Governor's Palace was a hit... small, you can see through the bushes, but fun. The kitchen off the Palace was very cool- there was a chef cooking all kinds of foods, and everything out on display... the whisk was a small broom 
We liked the apothecary, but I was disappointed to find that they don't have real leeches anymore.
We're actually headed up from FL next week to visit family in the area and plan to do WB with my mom later in the week, so this post is timely for me and has gotten me excited about that part of our trip.
Have fun!!!
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Jen
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guitarnan
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CW is having a special Memorial Day ceremony at 10:00 AM; there will be wreath-layings at three different places in the Historic Area. At the first stop,
Governor's Palace, and second stop, Bruton Parish Church, there will be prayers and musket salutes, and at the final (French gravesite) stop near Providence Hall there will be a cannon salute.
Jamestown is great fun too - I assume you mean the Jamestown Settlement attraction, not the archaeological site? It's very hands-on. My daugher loved learning to tan a deerhide and everyone enjoyed touring the replica ship. Everything at Jamestown Settlement has been spruced up or added to in the last couple of years, and it's really well done. My only complaint is that the cafeteria is pretty small for such a popular attraction - next time I think we'll bring a picnic instead.
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DianaC
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We went last September for homeschool days and can't wait to do it again this year.
Our absolute favorite thing that we still talk about often was a talk given by Patrick Henry. The interpreter who portrays Patrick Henry is absolutely phenomenal. There wasn't a question that he couldn't answer from an 18th century perspective - he discussed schools (or rather home schools), income, taxes, religion, slavery, etc. Someone even asked a question about issues at the time with corporations. I thought it was a silly question (thinking like someone born in the 20th century) and he gave well thought out answers regarding the major tea and slavery 'corporations' and the politics involved with them. We learned so much!!
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KC in TX
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I love Williamsburg! We lived near there for two years a while back. I always make sure to get into the kitchen and watch them cook. It's in the free part. Then, I buy some of their food. It's great fun.
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Becky Le
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My children really enjoyed the tour of Peyton Randolph's house. Each person on the tour is assigned a resident of the home so everyone has a chance to experience a role in the household.
My biggest recommendation on tours is to hang back a bit at the end and spend time talking to the interpreters. They can tell you so much more than what is covered during the tour.
We also highly recommend Patrick Henry. It is part of the Revolutionary City program and is very worth making the effort to see.
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Becky Parker
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We love Williamsburg too. Does anyone know about the homeschool days they offer? I can't find my information now but there are several days in a row when homeschoolers get in at a discounted rate, and there are several programs offered that cater to homeschoolers.
All of our favorites have been mentioned above except for the tavern in which we ate lunch, and I can't think of the name of it!  But the waiter was so much fun! He asked us where we lived and acted completely confused when we said Michigan. Then when my oldest described it he said something like "Oh, way up in Indian country. You must be brave settlers". My younger boys thought that was great. The next day we decided to save money and go to a different restaurant for lunch. It was modern and less expensive. We were totally disappointed, and decided it wasn't worth the savings.
My 2nd grader just mentioned that his favorite part was the Fife and Drum parade at the end of the day. He was only about 5 at the time so I'm surprised he remembered that!
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Jen L.
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I just posted some info about the Homeschool Days here
We are so looking forward to our trip!
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Jen
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hmbress
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Hello ladies. We are planning a Colonial Williamsburg trip at the end of May. We will actually be in the area for 10 days, so there will be plenty of time to explore CW, Jamestown, and Yorktown at a leisurely pace. And we live close enough that we can return anytime we like over the years. My boys are 8 and 5.
Several questions: How much pre-trip study would you do? I'm wondering what might help them best enjoy the experience. My 8yo is a voracious and advanced reader. I could easily just strew the books from the Serendipity Colonial American and the Revolution Study in advance. Or do you think it would be better to use the trip to pique interest then do the more in-depth study once we return home? My biggest worry is that if we do too much ahead, he might claim boredom during our trip, since he'll think he already knows everything. (This happens often, no matter what field trips and outside classes we take since he is so widely read).
Secondly, many people are advising me not to bother purchasing actual tickets for our first visit, given the boys' ages and the fact that we can easily return. Apparently there is a lot that can be experienced just from wandering through the town.
Lastly, I've picked up a number of books from the Dear America and My America series. Can I assume these are all appropriate without pre-reading? Is there anything similar featuring a boy's perspective/experiences?
I'd love your thoughts on these questions. Thank you so much!
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RyaneM
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oh.. "listening in" on this one as we are planning a trip for late September.
I had not heard the recommendation about not buying tickets and that there might be things that can be seen w/o tickets. That's good to know. My kids are quite young so that may be enough for us this go 'round.
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JodieLyn
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My Name is America is the similiar series with boy main characters. But I would pre-read them myself. The books tend to be realistic so they aren't looking at the times through rose-colored glasses and you might have some rather graphic descriptions.
If your boys get "bored" from knowing about it ahead of time. Then I wouldn't do much to prepare them for it.
The American Girl movie/books Felicity are set in Colonial Williamsburg and even my boys enjoy them.
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guitarnan
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You may not need tix to CW, but I would highly recommend them for Jamestown Settlement (note this is NOT where the archaeological dig is going on - that is part of the NPS and a different site) and Yorktown Victory Center (also not the same as the Yorktown Battlefield).
(Yes, that means there are five places you could visit.)
I might do a bit of pre-trip study (especially if your guys have seen the Disney Pocahontas movie - they will need to know the real story) but there's so much to experience there that they will remember a great deal just doing the hands-on activities at JS and YVC.
If you need a run-around place, the Yorktown Battlefield site has lots of open space. And cannon.
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cathhomeschool
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We tend to pre-study on trips like this. It helps my kids enjoy and understand more when they are there.
Dear America -- We've only read a few but think they're fine.
Homeschool in the Woods has a free sample unit on Colonial life.
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Janette (4 boys - 22, 21, 15, 14)
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eschuetter
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Thanks for this thread - we're planning a trip this fall.
It will be our first time in the Williamsburg area - and there seems to be so much to do. I'm not sure we'll be back in the area again soon, so I want to make the most of our time.
Favorite things we should be sure "not to miss"?
Recommendations for programs/classes that Williamsburg runs during their Homeschool week?
We've not finalized our timeline yet, how many days do you suggest in Williamsburg (to do it justice)?
I'd love to hear more about Jamestown Settlement and the Yorktown Victory Center
Our kids love the National Park System's Junior Ranger program, so are leaning toward these sites:
Historic Jamestowne (NPS)
Yorktown Battlefield (NPS)
Pros and cons for the Jamestown/Yorktown museums vs. National Park sites would be very appreciated.
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hmbress
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We just returned from our 9 day visit. We actually did not do any of Colonial Williamsburg at all, as we live close enough to return anytime and would rather do that during a homeschool week sometime. But we did very much enjoy both Jamestown locations. The Settlement is the living history re-enactment portion and is very well done. We spent about 4 hours there and could have spent more. My boys are 8 and 5 so we focused on the film and the outdoor areas, which include a Powhatan village, replicas of the ships which brought the settlers to Jamestown, and the fort. Dh and I would have liked to spend more time in the indoor museum.
Historic Jamestown was also great. I wasn't expecting that the kids would enjoy it as much but they did. They did the Junior Ranger program and the variety of different activities for different ages kept them both engaged. I think we spent about 3-1/2 hours there and didn't see everything. The Archearium is pretty neat - it's an Archeology museum set on top of a dig site with glass floors in places so you can see below. They have an Archeology Quest where each child gets a photo of an artifact and they have to find it and describe it to win a prize.
The Yorktown Victory center was very good, I think we spent maybe 3 hours. The kids enjoyed the artillery demonstrations, the surgeon's talk about medicine back in Revolutionary times, and the camp cook's demonstration. They like the film in the museum so much they watched it twice, giving me a chance to see more of the wonderful museum exhibits. The working family farm was also a hit.
We did not visit Yorktown Battlefield, it was VERY large and spread out, so I imagine it would take several hours to do it justice. I believe there are ranger-led tours and Junior Ranger programs there as well.
We were pretty laid back about how we spent our time. We had a cottage across the James River high up on a bluff with a private beach below. It wasn't the most convenient for sightseeing in Williamsburg, since we needed to take a ferry back and forth (which was fun in itself), but it was SO relaxing and just what we needed.
Hope that helps!
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Heather Rose (ds13, ds10)
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eschuetter
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Heather - thank you for the details - just the kind of insight I was looking for!
Your cottage sounds wonderful and I'm sure the ferry was great fun!
...made me think of this:
We were very tired, we were very merry--
We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry.
-- Edna St. Vincent Millay
thanks again!
Erica
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Erica in OH
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4Real Forums : Across Time and Place
Topic: Colonial Williamsburg/Jamestown
