August 17, 2007
JAMESTOWN SETTLEMENT, YORKTOWN VICTORY CENTER
CONTINUE POPULAR PROGRAMS FOR HOME-EDUCATED STUDENTS
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Hands-on history programs for home-educated students will be offered on an advance-reservation basis September 24 and 25 at Jamestown Settlement, a museum of 17th-century Virginia, and the Yorktown Victory Center, a museum of the American Revolution. The two museums are administered by the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, an agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Programs are available for pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade students and include a one-hour classroom component followed by a guided tour for students and their families of the museums’ outdoor interpretive areas – a Powhatan Indian village, replica 1607 ships, re-created colonial fort and riverfront discovery area at Jamestown Settlement, and re-created Continental Army encampment and 1780s farm at the Yorktown Victory Center.
Education programs are taught by trained museum educators and address Virginia and United States Standards of Learning for history and social studies. The following programs will repeat at each museum on September 24 and 25:
Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 2 – In “Living With the Indians” at Jamestown Settlement, students handle and analyze clothing, bone tools and pottery of the Powhatan Indian culture. In the Yorktown Victory Center program “Colonial Life,” students examine tools and materials used on a small Virginia farm to explore life of a typical Tidewater farming family. Programs begin each day at 9:15 and 10:30 a.m. and 1:15 and 2:30 p.m.
Grades 3-6 – In “Cultures at Jamestown” at Jamestown Settlement, students compare and contrast the Powhatan Indian, English and African cultures in contact during the 17th century. In the Yorktown Victory Center program “Revolutionary Virginia,” students analyze primary sources and reproduction artifacts to learn about lives of ordinary 18th-century Virginians. Programs begin each day at 9:15 and 10:30 a.m. and 1:15 and 2:30 p.m.
Grades 7-12 – In “Voyage to Virginia” at Jamestown Settlement, students learn about the 1607 voyage to Virginia by exploring period navigational tools. In the Yorktown Victory Center program “Life of a Private,” students explore a Continental soldier’s haversack, clothing and weapons to relate to the experiences of people during the American Revolution. Programs begin each day at 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.
The program costs $7.25 per family member (youth or adult) for one museum and $10.25 for both museums. The registration deadline is September 18. For more information about the Foundation’s home-educator programs or to register, contact Group Reservations at (757) 253-4939 or toll-free (888) 868-7593, or email groupreservations@jyf.virginia.gov.
Participants are encouraged to plan additional time for Jamestown Settlement’s new permanent exhibition galleries and a new introductory film that chronicle the nation’s 17th-century beginnings in Virginia in the context of its Powhatan Indian, English and African cultures, as well as the special exhibition “The World of 1607.” Jamestown Settlement also features a café and gift shops. At the Yorktown Victory Center, a long-term exhibition, “The Legacy of Yorktown: Virginia Beckons,” tells the story of people who shaped Virginia society and the creation of a new national government with a Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Jamestown Settlement is located on Route 31 South at the Colonial Parkway, adjacent to Historic Jamestowne and just southwest of Williamsburg. The Yorktown Victory Center is located on Route 1020 in Yorktown, near Yorktown Battlefield. To learn more about the museums, call (888) 593-4682 toll-free or (757) 253-4838.
