Benedict Arnold Likes Red Shoes

I was thinking the other day that I haven't written much about homeschooling.  I've stuck a couple sentences about it in other posts, but this is my first post dedicated entirely to homeschooling.  Yup, I like to live life on the edge.  Anyway, I'm in my second year educating our kids at home, and besides it being a huge responsibility, it also prompts us to take advantage of educational opportunities anywhere from our backyard to places actually designed to be educational in the first place.

So following is my plug for Colonial Williamsburg.  And no, I'm not getting any freebies for it; we just love the place!  Actually, Byron's parents graciously blessed us with year passes a couple months ago, so we're thinking of going back soon to enjoy the holiday scene circa 1776.  During our visit there with my in-laws, we enjoyed re-enactments, house tours, learning from various artisans and shopkeepers, eating at a tavern, and a most amazing concert featuring the harpsichord.  And Byron's parents put us up in a colonial tavern.  Believe me, I'm not gloating here; we just really, really appreciated their generosity because we wouldn't normally treat ourselves to anything like this...and at the moment it's out of our budget.

Anyway, Williamsburg has some sweet deals for homeschoolers.  They host two homeschool weeks yearly: one in the spring and one in the fall.  The tickets are comparatively dirt cheap, too.  Upcoming dates for 2011 are:

Spring Homeschooler Experience: February 26-March 5, 2011
Fall Homeschooler Experience: September 10-25, 2011

Unfortunately, when the homeschool kids' dad is a teacher, it's tough to take days off to take advantage of the special weeks.  But if you go at any other time, you can still get discounted tickets.  Just bring proof of belonging to a homeschool organization (I had to run back to the car to get mine, but at least I'd brought it).  And public school teachers get discounts, too!  Byron didn't have his ID with him, but they were able to find him on the staff listing on his high school's website.  Click here to go to a link for homeschoolers.

Here are a few photos of what we enjoyed:

One of the first events we attended was the reading of the Declaration of Independence.  Several actors shared in the reading, which made it quite captivating.

A bit of Revolutionary City.  Here Benedict Arnold threatens the revolutionaries, but he did complement Akea on her red shoes.  Not that that suddenly makes him an admirable historical figure.

Some photos I took on the tour of the Peyton Randolf House...

Old school brooms.

Can you tell I like rusticity??

Akea and Charlie with Grandma and Granddaddy

In addition, we visited the Governor's Palace and ate way too many ginger cakes.  I'm sure I'm leaving something out, but we really did have a fun, educational journey back in time, and got to spend a couple days with Byron's parents, who we don't see very often because they live a few thousand miles away.  If you have the opportunity, Colonial Williamsburg is a pretty unique place to visit!

Where do you like to go as a family?