Roadschooling in Savannah, Georgia

Roadschooling in Savannah, Georgia

Savannah is one of my favorite places to visit, mostly because my sister and her family live there, but it’s also a beautiful city with lots of history.

Before our visit, I found this See 3 Pass where you can choose to visit 3 of the 5 museums on the list for a discounted price, which ends up being equivalent to a buy 2 get one free. Take note where it says, “Valid for 3 days from the date of purchase.” That’s important to know as some museums are closed on some days and the train may only ride on certain days at different times of the year.

If you’ve been hanging around here, you know I have 2 small children. I chose the 3 museums that I thought would work best for us, but you might think the others would be more interesting to your family.

Our Savannah Museum Experiences:

Day1. Old Fort Jackson 

To be honest, due to the ages of my children, this was my third choice from the list of museums, but after our visits, this turned out to be my favorite. The fort itself is pretty small, there are several canons, and a variety of rooms with some educational artifacts. What made it so special was the employee dressed in time period garb who brought this fort to life and made every part of it fun and educational for adults and children alike! 

After doing our own walking tour of the facilities, the employee (I wish I knew his name to give him credit) invited all the visitors to come together to learn more about weapons fired during the Civil War. He asked for volunteers, which ended up being Caleb and Lily. He taught them how to stand in line and march to commands like the soldiers did. They were each given a wooden shotgun and taught how the soldiers would carry it. Then, in front of the audience, he demonstrated how soldiers of this time period would load their gun while guiding my kids to load their guns in a similar way. Then, he demonstrated firing the gun while my children “pretended” to fire their own guns in like fashion a safe distance away. Even after the presentation, my children were allowed to pretend with these guns. They’re favorite thing to do was to stick them through the windows to “shoot” at the enemy just like soldiers of the past. When their interest started to wan, he invited Caleb and Lily to learn about Morse code first hand using a telegraph. He showed them how one machine was used to send messages while the other received them and what to do to the machines to switch their uses. Then, he allowed them to send and receive messages to each other. He also gave them a one on one demonstration on how soldiers sent messages to others in Savannah using flags and let them practice waving flags to make the letters in their name. The last demonstration was the firing of the canon, but again this employee did not just stand and talk to the crowd who patiently awaited a loud, KA-BOOM! Instead, he asked for volunteers. My two children, another older girl, and myself were enlisted. He gave us each a job that a real solider had and instructed us on how to do each task the way the real soldier would have to fire this canon, up to the point of firing it, but not. When he finished, we all moved a safe distance away and watched him complete all the steps himself to demonstrate firing the canon.

KA-BOOM!

The entire visit was interesting, fun, and educational. I credit this particular employee who had a great demeanor with both adults and children with making our experience so wonderful. I highly recommend this museum.

On a side note… BEWARE of the Crabs! There are about a gazillion crabs especially around the moat, but that’s not the only place they are. These critters climb walls, which with their pointy little feet is quite amazing. I know in my head these guys are much more scared of me then I should be of them, but when you go to the bathroom and reach for the toilet paper hanging on the wall, you don’t expect to see a crab hanging on the wall just above it! I swear I swallowed my heart!

Day 2. Savannah Children’s Museum 

 

We love children’s museums. We’ve been to many all over the country and some are better than others. This is the first children’s museum that was completely outside. In Savannah, even at the end of September, it was hot. There were some shaded areas and there’s a train car that is air conditioned where kids could read books, play with trains, and draw. Even though it was outside, it had many of the same activities that most other children’s museums have like large building blocks, a water table, musical instruments, and dress up. There was a playground, but half of it was roped off for some reason. They also had a misting station and a giant maze. It looked like they were remodeling a building next door to provide additional experiences about the U.S.S Colonial and Marsh Lands. Would we go back? Yes. It was a fun experience for the kids.

Day 3. Georgia State Railroad Museum 

This was actually located in the exact same location as the Children’s Museum. At this museum, you can take a walking guided tour or go on your own around the train yard. In addition, you can take a short train ride tour around the yard and learn about how this train yard had been used and changed over the years. On different days, they will pull out different trains to pull the passenger cars (diesel and steam).

We got to ride the steam train, which was neat, but make sure they wipe down the passenger seats before you sit down. Initially, we thought Caleb and Lily had been rolling around in the train yard somewhere as their legs were covered in a black chalky powder. Later, we found out it came from the seats in the passenger car. Everyone had black soot on their shorts rears when we went and it obviously wasn’t the first time as the conductor was telling us secret ingredients of how to wash our clothes to get the stains out!

 

I thought this museum pass was a great deal and I’d definitely do it again. We had a lot of fun learning in historical and modern ways. I look forward to visiting Savannah again as I miss my family and I’m excited about the many more learning opportunities this city offers.

Have you been to Savannah lately? What have you and your family done that you enjoyed and found educational? I’d love to add some more ideas to our list of learning stops! Thanks for sharing in advance!

God Bless You on Your Learning Journey ~

The Planned... and the Unplanned Field Trips

I remember when I was in pre-school visiting the city jail and fire station when I was four years old. One of the most vivid memories of this trip was the fact that both of these facilities were located across the street from the church school I attended and our whole class had to walk across the street. That must have been a big deal for me because I still remember that to this day, but I also remember meeting the police officers and fire fighters and the big red fire truck in the station. It was neat to look around the stations and walk through the jail. I remember feeling quite scared and holding my best friend, Sara’s, hand. She was never scared of anything. I think it is important for children to get out in the world and see these things first hand like we used to.  

When I taught in the public school, I was discouraged every year as field trips were cut to fewer and fewer until we just had one due to budget cuts. It is really sad that when there’s a budget crunch, it always seems like the most beneficial forms of education get cut (field trips, the arts, etc.).  

It makes me happy that I home roadschool Caleb and Lily Anne. They really get to see and be out in the world first hand. Today, was a field trip day to the Children’s Museum of the Highlands. They have a “Tot Time” where a teacher reads a book, sings songs, plays some games, and does a craft with the kids. It’s a really nice program. Today was Caleb’s first day and while he didn’t participate too much this time, I know with another visit or two he will be taking over the classroom. I watched him as he observed the other children dancing with scarves, studied the teacher’s reactions to him (she was great by the way) and listened to everyone singing. He was absorbing it all in. One area he did jump right into was  the craft, probably because we do so many together at home he felt very comfortable with this, not that we don’t sing and dance, but there aren’t any other children around except Lily Anne… 

After “Tot Time,” he explored the museum.  It’s a lot like the Interactive Neighborhood for Kids that we visited in Gainsville, GA about 2 months ago. It has a grocery store, a train that moves when you push the button, a real airplane, race car, fire truck, mail jeep, a water play area, life-size bubbles area, and so much more! He played, he explored, and he learned more than I know in these few hours. It was a good day…

But that was just the planned field trip…   As we were walking down the street to a local diner for lunch, Caleb pointed and said, “Fire truck… Wooo Wooo.” We all looked down the street and there was a fire truck pulled out in front of the station. We weren’t in a hurry, so we walked down to get a closer look. We met two firemen working on the truck. One offered to let Caleb sit in the fire truck. I whipped out my camera and started taking pictures when he offered to get a picture of the whole family. Then, while we took a look at the ladder truck, rescue truck, and 2 other fire trucks they had stationed there, the fireman ran inside and got Caleb a sticker badge and fire safety magnet. Caleb wore his badge proudly all day! The fireman gave us a brief tour inside the station where there are poles to slide down and more trucks out back! It was a very exciting day!

I encourage homeschooling parents and even public school teachers to contact your local civil services to see if they provide tours and can talk to your child(ren)/students about their profession. It is so much better to see these community helpers first hand in their place of business.

Blessed Learning ~