MATTHEW WARD/Suffok News Herald
matthew.ward@suffolknewsherald.com

Special to The Tidewater News

ISLE OF WIGHT—Isle of Wight County is inviting home-schoolers to visit its historic sites on April 11 as a service to the area’s many students who don’t have the benefit of field trips with a regular school.

“There’s a lot of home-schoolers coming through the sites, and a lot of museums have home-school day,” said Jennifer Williams England, historic resources manager for the county.

“We wanted to get on board with that and started the program four years ago.”

Home-school Day will include the historic sites of Isle of Wight County Museum, 103 Main St., Smithfield; Boykin’s Tavern, 17146 Monument Circle, Isle of Wight; Fort Boykin, 7410 Fort Boykin Trail, Isle of Wight; Fort Huger, 15080 Talcott Terrace, Isle of Wight; and Nike Park, 13036 Nike Park Road, Carrollton. Participating sites not under the county’s jurisdiction include Historic St. Luke’s Church, 14477 Benns Church Blvd., Smithfield; The Schoolhouse Museum, 516 Main St., Smithfield; and The Old Courthouse of 1750, 130 Main St., Smithfield.

The annual event is put on in coordination with the Home Educators Association of Virginia, England said.

“Most of our sites are going to be geared toward the Civil War, because all the sites are related to it in some way,” she said.

All sites will have activities for various age groups, England said; she gave “I-spy” as an example of activities for younger children.

“With the older kids, we can gear them toward questions that involve a little more thought,” she said.

The program is free, but registration is required. England suggests making the Isle of Wight County Museum the first stop, and to coordinate visits to the other sites from there.

Registrations can be emailed to tneikirk@isleofwightus.net, and more information on the sites, as well as the Isle of Wight County Division of Historic Resources, can be found at www.historicisleofwight.com.