I’ve posted before about my children’s experiences while learning about the Civil War in school. It’s no surprise that the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania school districts spend a great deal of time studying the 'War Between the States' as so much of it took place here. All of my children’s schools are located near VA Civil War Trails and/or roadside markers of significance, and each one uses a variety of media resources in order to present a very fair and balanced course.

One of these invaluable resources is the Educational Planner that has been made available online by the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park Service. In addition to tour stop options, field trip guidelines, teaching plans, and other educational resources, the site also provides teachers and students access to a wonderful array of archives including newspaper files and “The Valley of the Shadow” project.

Regardless if you are a teacher or not, these resources are an excellent tool to help teach your children about the events that transpired here and/or plan a trip to the area that is both educational and entertaining.

Many of our local museums are also incorporating more ‘hands-on’ school-related activities such as the Civil War Life Museum, who now offers a Civil War photography 'class' in which students learn about the history of the medium and then have wet-plate photos taken of themselves. The Free Lance-Star recently ran an article on this new program in which Harrison Road Elementary teacher Cheryl Hodges stated, “Kids tend to remember things that are made more personal for them."

I couldn’t agree more.