Why I want to educate my kids through travel

After I graduated from college, I began teaching music in the St. Paul Public Schools until I married my current husband.  Then we relocated to Arizona for his new job in the Phoenix area.  One big thing I observed as a teacher was that the more the emphasis was placed on students to pass these high-stakes standardized tests, the less they were learning about social studies, sciences and the arts.  Traveling to historical places, science museums and the National and state parks has been one way for me to help give my kids and myself a deeper understanding of these subject areas they aren’t getting in the classroom.

 I remember even from my own experience growing up that because of my family’s road trips, I would constantly beat all the other kids in the class at a states’ geography game we played when I was in fourth grade.  The game was a race to the U.S. map and find the states and capitols as quickly as possible.

Also, as a kinesthetic learner, myself, I find that I remember things much better by doing them.  I want to physically touch objects and view life within its context and travel provides that learning opportunity for me.  For instance, take the whole social studies theme of the “U.S. Presidents”.  When I was in eighth grade our class was required to memorize the whole list of U.S. Presidents for a test and then write a report on just one of the presidents.  For the life of me, I can’t remember all of the Presidents from the 19^th century by having memorized that stupid list.  But I can certainly tell you a bit more about the lives of Abraham Lincoln, William McKinley, Ulysses S. Grant, Bill Clinton, and Warren G. Harding because I have visited Lincoln’s birthplace in Kentucky, McKinley’s museum and memorial in Canton, Ohio, Grant’s post-Civil War home in Galena, Illinois, the President William Clinton Library & Museum in Little Rock, Arkansas and Harding’s home in Marion, Ohio.  There are many more Presidents’ sites waiting to be discovered as either National Historic Sites (managed by the National Park Service) or as state historical sites.  I want to share more of these visits to the Presidents’ homes and libraries/museums with my kids as we travel to help my kids appreciate the story of U.S. History as we study each President’s life.  We can’t fully appreciate our lives as Americans unless we study our nation’s history first.

 A list of Presidential sites to visit:

·      President’s Park (White House), Visitor center located at: 1450 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington, D.C. (see www.nps.gov/whho for more info)

·      First Ladies National Historic Site, Canton, Ohio (see www.nps.gov/fila for more info)

·      Adams National Historical Park, Quincy, Massachusetts (see www.nps.gov/adam for more info)

·      Chester Arthur Historic Site, Fairfield, Vermont (go to www.historicvermont.org/sites/html/arthur.html)

·      James Buchanan’s Wheatland, Lancaster, Pennsylvania (go to www.lancasterhistory.org for more info)

·      George Herbert Walker Bush Presidential Library & Museum, College Station, Texas (go to bushlibrary.tamu.edu for more info)

·      Jimmy Carter National Historic Site, Plains, Georgia (see www.nps.gov/jica for more info)

·      Jimmy Carter Presidential Library & Museum, Atlanta, Georgia (go to www.jimmycarterlibrary.gov for more info)

·      Grover Cleveland Birthplace, Caldwell, New Jersey (go to www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/historic/grover_cleveland/gc_home.htm)

·      William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum, Little Rock, Arkansas (go to www.clintonlibrary.gov for more info)

·      President Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site, Plymouth Notch, Vermont (go to www.historicvermont.org/coolidge/ for more info)

·      Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum, Northampton, Massachusetts (go to www.forbeslibrary.org for more info)

·      Eisenhower National Historic Site in Pennsylvania (visitors must board shuttle buses at the Gettysburg National Military Park Visitor Center in order to get there—check www.nps.gov/eise for more info)

·      Millard Fillmore House in East Aurora, New York (go to www.nps.gov/nr/travel/presidents/millard_fillmore_house.html for more info)

·      Gerald Ford Presidential Library & Museum, Grand Rapids, Michigan (go to www.ford.utexas.edu for more info)

·      James A. Garfield National Historic Site, Mentor, Ohio (see www.nps.gov/jaga for more info)

·      General Grant National Memorial, New York, New York (see www.nps.gov/gegr for more info)

·      Ulysses S. Grant Home in Point Pleasant, Ohio and birthplace in Georgetown, Ohio near New Richmond, Ohio and schoolhouse in Georgetown, Ohio (go to www.ohiohistory.org for more info)

·      Ulysses S. Grant post-Civil War home in Galena, Illinois (go to www.granthome.com for more info)

·      Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site, St. Louis, Missouri (see www.nps.gov/uslg for more info)

·      Warren Harding Home and Tomb, Marion, Ohio (Go to www.ohiohistory.org for more info)

·      Benjamin Harrison Home, Indianapolis, Indiana (Go to www.presidentbenjaminharrison.org/visit for more info)

·      William H. Harrison’s Berkeley Plantation in Charles City, Virginia (go to www.berkeleyplantation.com for more info)

·      Harrison Tomb, North Bend, Ohio (Go to www.ohiohistory.org for more info)

·      Hayes Presidential Center, Fremont, Ohio (Go to www.ohiohistory.org for more info)

·      Herbert Hoover National Historic Site (includes Presidential Library & Museum), West Branch, Iowa (see www.nps.gov/heho or hoover.archives.gov for more info)

·      Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage, near Nashville, Tennessee (go to www.thehermitage.com for more info)

·      Andrew Jackson State Park, Lancaster, South Carolina (has a statue of the President—go to www.southcarolinaparks.com for more info)

·      Thomas Jefferson Memorial, Washington, D.C. (see www. nps.gov/thje for more info)

·      Jefferson’s Monticello, Charlottesville, Virginia (go to www.monticello.org for more info)

·      Andrew Johnson National Historic Site, Greeneville, Tennessee (go to www.nps.gov/anjo for more info)

·      L.B. Johnson Memorial Grove-on-the-Potomac, Washington, D.C. (Go to www.nps.gov/lyba for more info)

·      Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park, Johnson City, Texas (see www.nps.gov/lyjo for more info)

·      Lyndon Johnson Library, Austin, Texas (go to www.lbjlibrary.org for more info)

·      John F. Kennedy National Historic Site in Brookline, Massachusetts (Go to www.nps.gov/jofi for more info)

·      John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum, Boston, Massachusetts (go to www.jfklibrary.org for more info)

·      James Madison’s Montpelier in Orange, Virginia (go to www.montpelier.org for more info)

·      William McKinley Museum and Memorial, Canton, Ohio (go to www.mckinleymuseum.org for more info)

·      Lincoln Memorial, Washington,D.C. (Go to www.nps.gov/linc for more info)

·      Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Park, Hodgenville, Kentucky (go to www.nps.gov/abli for more info)

·      Lincoln Home National Historic Site, Springfield, Illinois (go to www.nps.gov/liho for more info)

·      Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial, Lincoln City, Indiana (go to www.nps.gov/libo for more info)

·      James Monroe’s Ash Lawn-Highland, Charlottesville, Virginia (go to www.ashlawnhighland.org for more info)

·      Richard M. Nixon Library & Museum, College Park, Maryland and Yorba Linda, California (go to www.nixonlibrary.gov for more info)

·      Franklin Pierce Homestead, Hillsborough, New Hampshire (go to www.nhstateparks.com/franklin.html for more info)

·      James K. Polk’s home in Columbia, Tennessee (go to www.jameskpolk.com for more info)

·      Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Simi Valley, California (go to www.reaganlibrary.com for more info)

·      Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site, Hyde Park, New York (Go to www.nps.gov/elro for more info)

·      Franklin D. Roosevelt Home National Historic Site, Hyde Park, New York (Go to www.nps.gov/hofr for more info)

·      Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial, Washington, D.C. (Go to www.nps.gov/frde for more info)

·      Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum, near the FDR NHS, Hyde Park, New York (go to www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu for more info)

·      Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site, New York, New York (Go to www.nps.gov/thrb for more info)

·      Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site, Buffalo, New York(Go to www.nps.gov/thri for more info)

·      Theodore Roosevelt Island, Arlington, Virginia (see www.nps.gov/this for more info)

·      Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Medora, North Dakota (Roosevelt’s cabin is located near the visitor center of the south section of the park.  See www.nps.gov/thro for more info)

·      William H. Taft National Historic Site, Cincinnati, Ohio (see www.nps.gov/wiho for more info)

·      Zachary Taylor National Cemetery, Louisville, Kentucky-- www.cem.va.gov/cems/nchp/zacharytaylor.asp

·      Harry S Truman National Historic Site, Independence, Missouri (go to www.nps.gov/hstr for more info)

·      Harry S Truman Library, Independence, Missouri (go to www.trumanlibrary.org for more info)

·      John Tyler’s Sherwood Forest, Charles City, Virginia (go to www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/jamesriver/she.htm for more info)

·      Martin Van Buren National Historic Site, Kinderhook, New York (Go to www.nps.gov/mava for more info)

·      George Washington Birthplace National Monument in Virginia (go to www.nps.gov/gewa for more info)

·      Washington Monument National Memorial in Washington, D.C. (go to www.nps.gov.wamo for more info)

·      Mount Vernon (George Washington’s home), Virginia (go to www.mountvernon.org for more info)

·      Woodrow Wilson House, Washington, D.C. (go to www.woodrowwilsonhouse.org for more info)

·      Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library, Staunton, Virginia (go to www.woodrowwilson.org for more info)

(George W. Bush’s museum has not yet been built; his foundation seems to accepting donations towards this cause.  Other than Presidents Bush and Obama this is a complete list of all the presidents, listed in alphabetical order by last name.)

 

Comments

[Ellie]

Amy, your blog is awesome! I will definitely follow it. I love your views on educating children through travel. I also love all the resources you post. so helpful! Keep it up!!!!!

[Top_of_the_Bell_Curve]

Thanks for the support, Ellie. I now have postings set to be out daily through October 1st. More to come as I compose them.--Amy