Two of our grandchildren (aged nine and seven) visited us recently for a few days. Since we live in the historic triangle of Virginia, Jamestown, Williamsburg, Yorktown, it seemed like a great opportunity to share with them some our colonial history.
One day I took them to the Jamestown Settlement. The
museums and videos there were great as was being able to see the recreation of:
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| The Susan Constant |
the Indian
village and how they lived
the
settler’s fort and how they lived
the three
small ships, Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery
It was on to Historic Jamestowne, where we saw the actual site of the fort where there is a museum, the church, and many ongoing archeological sites.
Later in the week, we visited the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown where there is a fascinating recreation of a small farm as well as canon and musket demonstration, all very kid-friendly.
We had already visited Colonial Williamsburg and will do that again.
The learning experience was enhanced by:
Reading:
1. The Light and the Glory for Young Readers (Discovering God's Plan for America): 1492-1793 by Peter Marshall, David Manuel, and Anna Wilson Fishel
(This is the first book in a series of history books written for young readers.We read the book through the Jamestown period. The children now have the book to read the rest of it on their own.)
2. THE TRUE POCAHONTAS ~ A STORY YOU MAY NOT KNOW
http://janetgrunst.com/the-true-pocahontas-a-story-you-may-not-know/
(In the interest of time, I read them this post instead of the entire book The True Story of Pocahontas.)
Video Recording:
We watched parts of the mini-series George Washington released in the mid-eighties.
Map Studies:
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| By Aude - self-made, map data from National Atlas (USGS), CC BY-SA 3.0, w/index.php?curid=2058243 |
We studied maps of Christopher Columbus’ travels to the new world
and of the Virginia Company’s travels to Virginia and the founding of Jamestowne.
We put together a 300 piece jigsaw puzzle of the world.
Food:
We studied how the food was preserved during colonial times. After grinding corn at Jamestown, we came home and made (and ate) cornbread and had some Virginia ham.
When they had to leave, we all agreed we had loads of fun learning about the early days of the colonization of Virginia and some of the last battles of the Revolutionary War.
http://JanetGrunst.com
http://colonialquills.blogspot.com/
http://colonialquills.blogspot.com/
Oh, I'd love to see these things! I love history! We lived in VA when I was young but it was right outside DC. It sounds like a lot of fun!
ReplyDeleteI just read the real story of Pocahontas. How interesting! Those are facts I never knew. Do you have any idea why they weren't taught in schools? Do you know how
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments Beverly. So many interesting and important historical events have been left out of our schools for decades. I would encourage you to read The Light and The Glory and the author's subsequent books (for adults). I was privileged to meet the author of The True Story of Pocahontas, Dr. Linwood “Little Bear” Custalow, a chief of one of the Powhatan tribes. They established a line of chiefs specifically to maintain their oral, and later written history. It's a fascinating book.
ReplyDeleteJanet, what fun and creative ideas you devised for your grands' visit!! Love your ideas and hope I can introduce my own grandchildren to American History in such a fun way.
ReplyDeleteI have no doubt that you will do just that, Elaine.
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