Jamestown Settlement, Yorktown Victory Center Offer Fall Special Admission For Homeschool Families

JAMESTOWN SETTLEMENT, YORKTOWN VICTORY CENTER OFFER FALL SPECIAL ADMISSION FOR HOMESCHOOL FAMILIES

August 28, 2008 

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – A special ticket for homeschool families will be availableSeptember 8-19, 2008 for admission to 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.

At $10.25 per family member, the ticket provides unlimited admission to both museumsSeptember 8-19, 2008 and the opportunity to pre-register at no additional cost for optional student hands-on classroom programs and either family hands-on programs or family guided tours of the museums’ outdoor living-history areas – 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.

New homeschool family offerings at Jamestown Settlement this fall include a homeschool parent workshop on September 10 and family tours on September 17 of the British Museum special exhibition “A New World: England’s First View of America,” featuring the 16th-century watercolor drawings of John White, the earliest visual record by an Englishman of the flora, fauna and people of the New World.

Classroom programs last one hour and address Virginia and United States standards of learning for history and social studies. Students can enroll in one of three programs at each museum, according to grade level. The following hands-on history programs, guided tours and homeschool parent workshop, taught and led by trained museum educators, are available:

Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 2 
September 8, 11, 19: In “Living With the Indians” at Jamestown Settlement, students handle and analyze clothing, bone tools and pottery of the Powhatan Indian culture.Programs begin at 10:30 a.m., 1:15 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.

September 9, 12, 18: 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 at 10:30 a.m., 1:15 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.

Grades 3-6
September 8, 11, 19: In “Cultures at Jamestown” at Jamestown Settlement, students compare and contrast the Powhatan Indian, English and African cultures in contact during the 17th century. Programs begin at 10:30 a.m., 1:15 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.

September 9, 12, 18: 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 at 10:30 a.m., 1:15 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.

Grades 7-12
September 8, 11, 19: In “Voyage to Virginia” at Jamestown Settlement, students learn about the 1607 voyage to Virginia by exploring period navigational tools. Programs begin at 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.

September 9, 12, 18: 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 at 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.

Family Hands-On Programs
September 15: In “Living With the Indians” at Jamestown Settlement, families can try corn grinding, hide scraping and cordage making in the re-created Powhatan Indian village as they explore Powhatan culture. Program begins at 10:00 a.m.

September 15: In “Life at Jamestown” at Jamestown Settlement, families are introduced to daily life, economic ventures, and early struggles in the Jamestown colony through hands-on demonstrations such as open-hearth cooking and musket firing in the re-created colonial fort. Program begins at 2 p.m.

September 16: In “Life of a Private” at the Yorktown Victory Center, families investigate the key issues that led to the American Revolution and experience what life was like for an average soldier. Program begins at 10 a.m.

September 16: In “Colonial Medicine” at the Yorktown Victory Center, families learn about 18th-century health care in the Continental Army encampment and 1780s Virginia farm.Program begins at 2 p.m.

Family Guided Tours of Outdoor Living-History Areas
September 8, 11, 19: A two-hour, hands-on history tour of Jamestown Settlement includes visits to outdoor re-creations of a Powhatan Indian village, three 1607 ships and colonial fort, and a riverfront discovery area. Tours begin at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

September 9, 12, 18: A two-hour, hands-on history tour of the Yorktown Victory Center includes visits to outdoor re-creations of a Continental Army encampment and 1780s farm.Tours begin at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Family Guided Tours of “A New World: England’s First View of America”
September 17: A 30-minute tour of this Jamestown Settlement special exhibition from the British Museum that showcases the earliest visual record by an Englishman of the flora, fauna and people of the New World. White accompanied a number of expeditions sponsored by Sir Walter Raleigh to “Virginia” in the 1580s and was governor of the short-lived colony at Roanoke Island, part of modern North Carolina.  More than 70 watercolor drawings are on public display as a group for the first time in more than 40 years, and will be on exhibit through October 15 before they return to the British Museum. Tours begin at 10 a.m., 11 a.m., 12 noon, 1 p.m., 2 p.m. 3 p.m. and 4 p.m.

“Re-encountering the New World” Hands-on Homeschool Parent/Teacher Workshop
September 10: A 3 ½ -hour workshop at Jamestown Settlement explores the story of John White, the Roanoke expeditions and the “Lost Colony” and features an interactive tour of the “A New World: England’s First View of America” special exhibition with an emphasis on developing skills in artistic and historical analysis. A walking tour of the museum’s re-created Powhatan Indian village will focus on how primary sources, including John White’s watercolors and archaeology, are used to interpret the Powhatan culture and to make inferences about people and events in history. 1-4:30 p.m. Space limited; registration required. Workshop designed for homeschool parents only. 

The homeschool ticket is $10.25 per family member (youth or adult) for unlimited admission to both museums from September 8 through 19. Children ages three and under receive complimentary admission. The deadline to register for hands-on classroom programs and guided tours is 5 p.m. three business days prior to the program or tour. For more information about the Foundation’s homeschool programs or to register, contact Group Reservations at (757) 253-4939 or toll-free (888) 868-7593, or e-mail  group.reservations@jyf.virginia.gov.

Jamestown Settlement is located on Route 31 South at the Colonial Parkway, adjacent to Historic Jamestown and just southwest of Williamsburg.  The Yorktown Victory Center is located on Route 1020 in Yorktown, near Yorktown Battlefield.  Jamestown Settlement’s permanent exhibition galleries and introductory film chronicle the nation’s 17th-century beginnings in Virginia in the context of its Powhatan Indian, English and African cultures.  Jamestown Settlement also features a café and gift shops. Gallery exhibits at the Yorktown Victory Center relate the experiences of ordinary men and women who lived during the Revolutionary era. Exhibits provide eyewitness accounts of the American Revolution, describe the convergence of forces on Yorktown in 1781 for the climactic military engagement of the Revolution, and examine the development of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and how people from many different cultures shaped a new society.

To learn more about the museums, call (888) 593-4682 toll-free or (757) 253-4838.