Most Visited Memorials

A great way to learn about our presidents and other important political and historical figures and events in the U.S. is to study the places that memorialize them. I’ve been to many of these places and have pictures and brochures, so when we get to one of these events/people in our classroom learning, I make sure to pull out the relevant info so the kids can see what these people have left behind physically, as well as the significance of their actions and lives. I came across this slideshow on Forbes Traveler and figure that the kids should at least be familiar with the most popular memorial sites in the States. So here they are for you to enjoy as well!

1. Arlington National Cemetery – Arlington, Virginia (4,000,000 visitors) – Commemorates the lives of 300,000 veterans from the American Revolution through the current war in Iraq.
2. World War II Memorial – Washington, D.C. (3,547,583 visitors) – Commemorates the sacrifice and celebrates the victory of the WWII generation.
3. Vietnam Veterans Memorial – Washington, D.C. (3,538,479 visitors) – A memorial that honors the lives of Vietnam veterans and those who lost their lives in the Vietnam War.
4. Korean War Veterans Memorial – Washington, D.C. (3,208,690 visitors) – A memorial to those who fought and died in the Korean War.
5. Gettysburg National Military Park – Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (1,702,764 visitors) – Commemorates those who lost their lives during the bloodiest and most important battle of the Civil War.
6. USS Arizona Memorial – Pearl Harbor (Honolulu), Hawaii (1,539,986 visitors) – A memorial to the sailors killed on the USS Arizona ship during the attack on Pearl Harbor by Japanese forces.
7. Valley Forge National Historic Park – King of Prussia, Pennsylvania (1,230,618 visitors) – Important military camp during the American Revolutionary War.
8. Minuteman National Historic Park – Concord, Massachusetts (1,093,352 visitors) – The historic site of the shot heard around the world and memorial for those who fought in the Battles of Lexington and Concord during the American Revolution.
9. Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park – Georgia/Tennessee (923,061 visitors) – Commemorates the sites of two major Civil War battles.
10. Fort Sumter National Monument – Sullivan’s Island – South Carolina (792,933 visitors) – Commemorates those who lost their lives in the first battle of the Civil War.
11. Vicksburg National Military Park – Vicksburg, Mississippi (787,831 visitors) – Site of the 47 day Battle of Vicksburg in the Civil War.
12. Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine – Baltimore, Maryland (610,599 visitors) – The birthplace of the Star Spangled Banner and an important military site during the War of 1812.
13. Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park – Virginia (478,109) – Burial ground and memorial for those who lost their lives in the Civil War.
14. Guilford Courthouse, National Military Park – North Carolina (447,469 visitors) –A museum commemorating one of the most hotly contested battles of the Revolutionary War.
15. Shiloh National Military Park – Tennessee (344,438 visitors) – Site of Civil War battle and burial ground.

Test your kids. See if they know why these places are important! (If they’re in my class now, they’ll know by the end of the year…)

Best Aquariums in the U.S.

Long time no speak! I’ve had a crazy few months – girls in school, girls home schooled, one girl in, one girl out. I think the public school system wants to kill me. For now, both girls are in school and both are happy, so I’m happy. PHEW. The only thing now, is that I really miss them! I miss planning field trips and hanging out with other homeschool moms (and a few dads) and their kids who we’ve become so close with. So I’ve made a point of staying involved in the homeschool community and of still taking the girls on mini fieldtrips on Sundays and after school.

Last year we were all into zoos, and this year it seems like aquariums have stepped up to bat.

• Monterey Bay Aquarium – Monterey, California
• John G. Shedd Aquarium – Chicago, Illinois
• National Aquarium – Baltimore, Maryland
• Sea World – Orlando, Florida
• Sea World – San Diego, California
• Sea World – San Antonio, Texas
• Oregon Coast Aquarium – Newport, Oregon
• The Florida Aquarium – Tampa Bay, Florida
• Aquarium of the Pacific – Long Beach, California
• Dallas World Aquarium – Dallas, Texas
• New York Aquarium – Brooklyn, New York
• New England Aquarium – Boston, Massachusetts
• Georgia Aquarium – Atlanta, Georgia
• Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies – Gatlinburg, Tennessee

(Thank you Forbestraveler.com for the list!)

Enjoy these and have a whale of a time! (Katie just saw that and rolled her eyes.)

A kid’s Brooklyn

I’m a teacher and a dad-to-be (!) so I’ve pretty much always got kids on the mind. I just put together a list of activities in Brooklyn that kids will enjoy for part of my “Explore New York” initiative.

• New York Aquarium
• Brooklyn Children’s Museum
• Prospect Park Zoo
• The Brooklyn Botanic Garden
• Coney Island Boardwalk
• Brighton Beach
• Deno’s Wonder Wheel Amusement Park
• Jewish Children’s Museum
• Astroland Amusement Park at Coney Island

These are great spots for field trips, family outings, and birthday parties. Let me know how it goes!

Happy Thanksgiving Month!

In my classroom, November is Turkey Month. Why celebrate a fun and meaningful holiday for only one day when you can celebrate all month long? Besides spending a lot of time focusing on what we are thankful for, collecting charity for those less fortunate than we are, and learning about (and cooking) traditional American and Native American food, we spend a lot of time talking about the first settlers, American history, and early American geography. I simulate a Mayflower journey to America and we travel around the East Coast delving into all these subjects. Here are the highlights from our historical journey through New England. Ask your kids—they should be able to tell you the early significance of all these places (that is, if they have a teacher as good as I am!):

• Plymouth, Massachusetts
• Plymouth Rock / Pilgrim Memorial State Park – Plymouth, Massachusetts
• Plimoth Plantation – Massachusetts
• Mayflower Society Museum – Plymouth, Massachusetts
• Pilgrim Hall Museum
• Pilgrim Monument & Provincetown Museum – Provincetown, Massachusetts
• Roger Williams National Memorial – Providence, Rhode Island
• Aptuxcet Trading Post – Bourne, Massachusetts

Happy Turkey Month!

5 Ways to Celebrate going back to School

It’s not easy going back to school after a fun-filled summer. I remember from when I was a kid, but more, I see it every morning during these last few weeks as I try and drag my kids out of bed, into clothes, and to the bus. Here are a few ideas of how to make this transition time less miserable…maybe even fun!

1. Remind your kids that they still have the weekends. Have them look forward to Saturdays and Sundays by having them help you plan little day trips. (Last week we went to Six Flags Over Georgia!
2. On a particularly difficult morning, set out an ice cream sundae buffet on the kitchen table. Make it healthy with frozen yogurt, fruit toppings, and granola! (We did this on the first day of school, but it’s also great if a birthday fall out midweek.)
3. “Forget” to pack your kids lunch and then swing by school later with fresh slices of pizza.
4. The day doesn’t have to end at 2:30 when school is out—bring you kids (and even a few friends) to the mall for a few hours and let them roam around like they did in the summer. (Cumberland Mall and Lenox Square Mall (both in Atlanta) are great for roaming.)
5. Help your kid’s class organize field trips, like to the local zoo or aquarium. Volunteer to chaperone if that will help the cause. (I’ve already volunteered for Zoo Atlanta and the Georgia Aquarium—must start saving up my lunch hours…no one said back to school was easy for mom!)

And for mom—take advantage of the fact that your kids are going to bed a little earlier and take a bubble bath or catch up on your reading. Or, go to sleep early yourself!

New York City Field Trips

The school year has finally begun and with it, curriculum finalizations and field trip bookings. Teaching in New York City should be every teacher’s dream—while one does need to be careful about crowds, the field trip possibilities are truly endless and the entire city becomes an extended classroom.

So for all you teachers out there (or just if you’re visiting NYC with kids), here is a list of great field trip locations in New York City:

• American Museum of Natural History
• Bird Watching in Central Park and the Central Park Zoo
• Bronx Zoo
• Statue of Liberty National Monument
• New York City Hall
• Lower East Side Tenement Museum, maybe better for older kids.
• New York Hall of Science
• Ellis Island
• Skyscraper Museum
• New York City Fire Museum
• New York City Police Museum
• Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art
• Children’s Museum of the Native American
• Children’s Museum of the Arts
• Children’s Museum of Manhattan
• Drawing Center

Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I think parents are excited when they’re kids end up in my class because they know it’ll be a year on the go, both because of the “simulated U.S. travel itinerary” and the actual New York City traveling that goes on during the year. Looking forward to another great school year!

A Kid’s Guide to L.A.

It’s been a while since I’ve put in my two cents on the California scene, and when my sister and her two little kids came for a visit, it inspired me to do a little research. So here’s a list of fun activities for kids in the Los Angeles area. Some are more obvious and some are a bit more obscure. Feel free to add to the list!

• Disneyland – Anaheim
• Six Flags Magic Mountain – Valencia
• Knott’s Berry Farm Theme Park – Buena Park
• Santa Monica Pier
• Museum of Television and Radio – Beverly Hills
• Magicopolis
• Legoland – Carlsbad, California
• Museum of Science & Technology
• Los Angeles County Natural History Museum
• Sea World – San Diego, California
• Knott’s Soak City Water Park – Buena Park (Orange County)
• Pacific Park
• Venice Beach – Los Angeles
• Zimmer Children’s Museum
• Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens
• LA Children’s Museum

San Francisco

I can’t believe our family trip has already come and gone so quickly! I don’t think I have ever had such a jam packed vacation. Usually we’ll go somewhere A LOT smaller and spend most of the time on the beach or hiking, with a museum or theme park thrown in for kicks. This time, we spent the entire time on the go. it was exhausting, to say the least, but fun. The kids had a great time and I really felt like they deserved it after a difficult year, moving and all.

We did the things that were on my list: Basic Brown Bear Factory (loved it!), the Wax Museum at Fisherman’s Wharf (helloooo Elvis!), and Alcatraz Island (Julia threw up on the ferry, but otherwise, fun!). We also went to Pier 39, at Fisherman’s Wharf where we bought tons of junk and saw sea lions (which Justin loved).

Other big hits were the Exploratorium which was fantastic, the de Young Museum which I loved, but mainly because it was just me and my dad. My mom took the kids to the Golden Gate Park. One day we went to the Ghirardelli store and then rented bikes and rode across the Golden Gate Bridge into Sausalito. Had lunch, and ferried back (Julia was fine that time). That was probably the best day.

We spent a day on Baker Beach only having to shield the kids’ eyes a few times. (NOTE: if you want to stick near clothed (at least minimally) beach goers, stay away from the northern section of the beach). We went to Oakland Zoo, Children’s Fairyland (cute), the Chabot Space & Science Center, and Waterworld Park.

And more! It was definitely our best trip. I only got into a few fights with my parents (which is NOTHING) and the kids got to see their cousin and my brother is doing great. it was such a relief to have things out of my hands, the planning, the paying, the transportation. And the best part…is that it’s nice to be home!

The Parsons are in Minneapolis!

And we are having a blast! We only got here yesterday and have already explored the area around our hotel (we walked all over Downtown Minneapolis), went to the Walker Art Center, and out for a nice family dinner. Today Rick started his slew of business meetings and the girls and I spent the entire day at the Mall of America, which was just thrilling—what a world in there! The girls particularly liked the Park at Mall of America, but I was a big fan of the shopping part of the Mall of America. Not it’s after midnight and I should really be getting to bed because I know the girls are going to wake up early and make me take them down to breakfast…

In store for tomorrow is the Science Museum of Minnesota or the Water Park of America. And then also in the next week we’ll visit the Como Zoo. For our last two days, we’ll be staying near Itasca State Park, which is Minnesota’s oldest state park with over 100 lakes. and hopefully the weather will be nice because the Parsons are going to try something new and exciting—we’re going to be camping out! We borrowed a whole slew of gear that we brought with us and we’ll be renting a car, parking it, and then will hike and camp for two days. The girls are really excited—in fact is was their idea (I guess it’s obvious that it wasn’t mine or Rick’s idea…).
Wish us luck!!

Five Days of Disney

Seth Stevenson asks a shrewd question in Slate: Why would anyone want to go to Disney World every year? And as an elementary school teacher who sees the same kids go to Disney World year after year after year, I’m curious to know his answer.

Stevenson explains that Mr. Walt Disney did not just create a company and open a few theme parks, but created a Disney ideology—he calls it Disneyism. Walt Disney’s career arc is comparable maybe to L. Ron Hubbard of Scientology fame, who also grew up in middle America and exploded into the mass-market. The “Disney-as-religion”, as Stevenson calls it, is indoctrinated into Disney visitors from the overabundance of souvenirs available to the five weddings a day that take place at the iconical Disney castle. Utopianism spills out of Disney’s ears and captures children and parents, convincing them that because things are so cheery, they must be doing something good.

I think Stevenson’s point (I didn’t get through the treatise he wrote on the subject) is that people flock to the Disney Empire because the Walt Disney Co. has done a fantastic job transforming the ordinary into the magical. The movie rides at MGM Studios are larger than life; the innovations at Epcot are sensational.

I’ve never been to Disney World, and if all Mr. Stevenson says is true, and all that my hundreds of students say is true, Disney World probably is just a bit as magical as it seems. I will probably take our kids there when they are at an age where they’ll love it and remember it. But only once. I certainly don’t need my (future) intelligent, creative children being sucked into believing that it’s an every summer sort of trip. And besides for the fact that I think my wife and I would go crazy, I think about all the other places that I want our (again, future) kids to experience, like the Grand Canyon or Niagara Falls.

The Disney empire in the U.S. includes:

• Disneyland – Anaheim, California
• Disney’s California Adventure – Anaheim, California
• Walt Disney World Tour – Orlando, Florida
• Disney’s Animal Kingdom – Walt Disney World – Orlando, Florida
• Magic Kingdom – Walt Disney World – Orlando, Florida
• MGM Studios – Walt Disney World – Orlando, Florida
• Epcot Center – Walt Disney World – Orlando, Florida
• Typhoon Lagoon Water Park – Walt Disney World – Orlando, Florida
• Disney’s Animal Kingdom – Lake Buena Vista, Florid