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The sun is rising above the trees on the morning of July 4th, 2019, as a man dressed like Thomas Jefferson steps onto the Capital West balcony in Colonial Williamsburg. The sea of people decked out in red, white and blue are quiet and attentive as Jefferson confidently reads the Declaration of Independence. At his conclusion, the crowd bursts into cheers and applause with a number of attendants visibly moved to tears. We spend the rest of the day wandering the historic streets of Colonial Williamsburg, popping into log cabins where cobblers and seamstresses are busy at work adorned in ancient clothes. We listen to audio tours while driving through Jamestown and Yorktown and find a historic home turned bakery for a late afternoon snack. This was the start of our summer trip educating our then 7th graders about Colonial America and the foundations of our country.

We are a family of four that started our homeschool journey at 1st grade. We are currently in our 11th year of homeschooling and have made it a priority to take every opportunity to actually experience the subjects that we’re teaching. With every resource at our fingertips, there is an abundance of ways for our children to learn. Sometimes we watch documentaries or read books, but when we get to physically go to a location and walk through history, it’s a completely different learning experience. We get a front row seat when the switch flips for our kids and we hear, “Wait, I saw a picture of this in that book!”, or, “I recognize this place from that black and white documentary!”

We as parents get to benefit from their education when we go on these adventures as well! We often feel like much of the history we learned as kids was incomplete, biased, and often lacked the truth about the Biblical foundations our country was built on. It’s an education for all of us!

Our summer road trip of 2019 gave us an excellent opportunity to spend July and August traveling up the east coast in our RV and hitting every historic settlement, battlefield, city, museum, fort, monument …and well, anything else of interest that we could find! We spent time at Gettysburg, Valley Forge, Fort Ticonderoga, and Boston to name a few places, but we also took the time to visit Botanical Gardens in Delaware, a small family owned apple orchard in Vermont, and Acadia National Park. There is a historical treasure trove of destinations within a few hours of one another along the east coast that will take you back in time and give you and your children such a rich understanding of the beginnings of America. 

We have been blessed to have the freedom to work from pretty much anywhere, a luxury we don’t take for granted. This particular road trip allowed for us to visit 16 states and 2 Canadian Provinces, but we realize not everyone can take on such a long voyage. Homeschoolers on average have more freedom than most, however, a two month road trip can seem very out of reach. 

So how does the average family find the time to take educational adventures with all the work commitments, extracurricular activities, and busy schedules? Get creative! There is history EVERYWHERE around you if you do a little research! Some google searching or a trip to your town’s visitor center is a great place to start. My personal favorite trip planning website/app is called Roadtrippers and I use it not only to map out a route, but to find all the interesting, unique, scenic and historic spots that are worth seeing. 

America is begging to be rediscovered by today’s generation. Your kids need to know the building blocks that our great country was founded on so they know what to stand for, what to fight for and what freedom really is!

The Ark Encounter     Shenandoah National Park    Colonial Williamsburg/Jamestown/Yorktown     Gettysburg    Valley Forge     Rockwood Museum     Longwood Gardens     Mystic Seaport     Narragansett    Newport     Rosecliff     Cape Cod    Provincetown     Plimouth Plantation     Providence     Boston     Salem     Gloucester     Kennebunkport     Acadia National Park    Quebec City     Mount Washington     Chimney Point State Historic Site     Champlain Orchards     Fort Ticonderoga     Niagara Falls     Mackinac Island     Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore     Indiana Dunes National Park   

 

Ready for your own learning adventure? Be sure to check out the Stepping Stones Scholarship!