Montpelier, the home of our fourth president and Father of the Constitution, James Madison, held its first annual homeschool day on April 1, 2013.
That day also happened to be my oldest child's tenth birthday, but she is a history fanatic, much like her mother. I packed all three children up and off we headed to Orange, Va. I know, I know, you are questioning my sanity for heading out alone to an historic home with a ten, six, and two year old. If you are going to undertake a trip like this without another adult, a homeschool day provides your best chance of success. As long as your children are polite and well-behaved (which they should be the majority of the time any way), no one will mind your two year old spouting out half-discernible words during the tour. Most of the other people have already lived through it themselves or will soon.
My wish was to be there for the first tour (after all, we had a full birthday schedule ahead of us), but anyone with children will know about the best laid plans. We still did fairly well, arriving with time to tour the gallery before watching a short film and still making the third tour of the day. My oldest insisted on reading every label in the gallery and learned quite a bit. My six-year-old just wanted to look at the military drum and the lock of Madison's hair. We all discussed the walking cane that belonged to Thomas Jefferson, was bequeathed to Madison, then returned in Madison's will to Jefferson's oldest grandson, Thomas Jefferson Randolph.
The film was of an appropriate length to keep the older children's attention without running too long. It was informative without having the brow-beating political correctness that accompanies so many of these selections. There were quite a few adult chuckles in the room when the serious discussion of the importance of our nation's Constitution concluded with a photo of a president we all know would like to rip that document to shreds.
Our tour of the mansion was interesting and pleasant. My two-year-old babbled a few times, but she answered the guide with "thank yous" and "okays" as we left each room, which made our whole group laugh. Our guide was very knowledgeable and talked about various aspects of Madison's life as well as different family members. The DuPonts were also given their due credit for keeping the house from falling into complete ruin. My only suggestion would be to allow the children time to ask questions. I understand this was Montpelier's first homeschooling day, so let me tell them a fact about homeschoolers - they love to ask questions!
Once we spilled out upon the back lawn, staff had prepared all kinds of fun activities for the kids to try. There were colonial games, from the physically active hoop to the mentally challenging chess. Children could sit and read various books under the shade of a large, old tree. Many little ones enjoyed climbing the framing of the slave dwellings while their parents read the descriptions of slave life to them.
After the children tired of those options, we went to stroll through the DuPont formal gardens. Let me be honest: I had to talk the kids into this, because they were ready to hit the gift shop. They were reticent about the prospect . . . until we entered the gardens. By this point, my youngest was in the stroller because my back couldn't handle carrying her any longer after holding her for the entire house tour. When I saw the garden was terraced, I thought we would have to forgo exploring because of the stroller. Imagine my surprise when the older two were disappointed! So, little one sat in her stroller, happily eating Goldfish crackers while her siblings found "hidden" paths. I think the biggest source of excitement was the fact they got to be out from under momma's watchful eye for a few minutes. The setting was perfect: I could hear their laughter while they experienced that thrilling feeling of being on their own for a little while.
After our fun in the garden, we did manage a brief visit to the gift shop before leaving the grounds of Montpelier. All-in-all, I considered the trip to be both an academic and entertainment success. The children enjoyed the experience and were able to tell their father things they learned about Mr. Madison, his family, and our country. We will definitely be returning . . . in fact, we had such a wonderful time we plan on visiting again before the next Homeschool Day!
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