American History field trip

[kittywitty]

I'd like to take the kids east for a field trip of major American History sites this summer. I was thinking Boston, D.C., Philadelphia...I just don't know exactly where to go/what to see/what to do, really. I haven't been since I lived in New York as a kid. Has anyone gone on an educational field trip of the area?

[woodchick]

In Boston you could walk the Freedom Trail and then visit Plimoth Plantation to the South and Lexington and Concord to the West.  There is sooo much more you could see, but those three sites would give a good overview of early American (or at least Early New England) history.

The Lowell Mills are a fantastic site for Industrial Revolution and Immigration history as well.

[AAK]

I lived in Boston for a while, and toured DC.  How old are your kids?  The entire Freedom Trail can get a bit long for little ones, but you could still visit some of the key parts of the trail.  

Also, make sure that you discuss before hand some of the history topics.  That way, it will connect when you visit the location.  For example: The story of "Old Ironsides" is pretty cool.  I believe it is at the end of the Freedom Trail in Charleston and would be fun to visit. I would at least go over how the ship got the nick name before you visit.  It makes it fun to think, "wow this is the ship mom told us about!"

Amy

[kittywitty]

They are 2 months to ten years old. We're studying a lot of American History right now. We've watched the History of US, too. Thanks!

[Danielle0407]

Harpers ferry, WV is a really cool place to check out. My ds was 2 over the summer when we went and he had a blast, and my DD is 6 and she really enjoyed it. There is also part of the Appalachian trail, with a foot and train bridge that goes over the potomac river. Lots of cool stuff also about John Brown's raid. There are also lots of other battlefields close by and its on the way to PA

[sierramv]

We did this last year with our three kids, 7,3,and 1.5. We went in April because our final destination was a family reunion in Maryland. We are from MA so it was the perfect starting off

point. We attended a HUGE Battle Road Re-enactment where the "shot heard around the world" was fired, and visited Paul Revere's capture site (Lexington and Concord). We had done the The Freedom Trail in Boston, and although some of the stops were cool, it was hard for the little kids to visualize what "was" in a huge, busy, city. Plimoth Plantation is incredible and the replica of the Mayflower in Plimoth Harbor. There is also Old Sturbridge Village in MA that is equally, if not more fantastic. Great recreation of Colonial life.

After that we drove to Trenton, New Jersey and visited the Old Barracks, where Washington crossed the Delaware and took the fort of Hessian soldiers (this was very cool). From there we went to Pennsylvania and there is an equal amount of history there, The First Post Office, Benjamin Franklins Printing Press, Liberty Bell, Continental Congress Building (we also toured the Mint and checked out the Zoo - very cool).

We were going to take a detour from here to Valley Forge (not that far away) but skipped it because of weather. We then pushed on to DC (our car broke down here and missed all the sites- but you could spend weeks here, all the Smithsonians are free and the National Zoo, we were going to do the monument tour on this trip but missed it. We did however go to Mount Vernon, which was BEAUTIFUL. From there we went to Virginia and visited Williamsburg (which is a must), Jamestown settlement, and ended our tour at Yorktown (where the war ended).

We were using the Winter Promise American Story 1 package. We bought the History of Us by Joy Hakim series, and would highly recommend it. We use this as our spine now. I would also recommend the series Liberty Kids, and 500 Nations if you are studying early American History.

Good Luck, it was an icredible journey, and with doing the frequent stops we were never in the car for more than 5 hours. We were gone ten days, but did the return from Maryland to Massachusetts in one straight shot. 10 hours. Have fun!!

[Lakeeffectsnow]

We loved Plimoth Plantation!

[Mere]

I am very interested in this thread, as I have been pondering the same sort of trip for my dcs (9,almost 7, and almost 4).  Dh however thinks they are too young and will be bored and/or won't really grasp the significance of what they're seeing because they don't have a good context for understanding it yet.  It's so hard to know! 

I grew up in the DC area though, and I have to admit that as a child I was generally bored by things that were there.  Then again, maybe that was just my perception, because we saw and had access to those things all the time.  All that aside though, DC is of course full of wonderful museums and activities that are free, so if the kids are bored then you can just move on.  I hear that for many of the big attractions you now have to get [free] tickets ahead of time though, so be aware. The National Mall is also SO big that your kids need to be able to do a lot of walking. 

As a kid, I do have good memories of Mt. Vernon, and if you can get to down to Charlottesville Monticello is well worth a visit.   

[kittywitty]

We actually did go to Monticello in 2006 when my kids were 1-5 years old. The oldest two still remember and had a blast. We may have to stop back in while we're over there. Good thing my kids are history nerds like me.

I think it really depends on the kids and how used to car trips they are. We drive a lot to go see family 2 states away, so other than the baby that hates the car seat, they don't mind the trips. But they are just bouncing with excitement over this trip. I told them some of what you all have said on here and they can not wait. As far as context...it wasn't until college that I really got a lot of the more abstract parts of it and context in the ultimate line of history for some things, but it makes it real to see and feel history.

[jackson'smama]

not sure about time/distance, but i live in Virginia, so here are some suggestions:

mount vernon

monticello

Williamsburg, Jamestown, Yorktown

museum of american frontier culture