Victoria Mansion offers an active roster of educational programs for students and adults. Educational programs range from interactive activities for school children to lectures and symposia for adults. Because we believe the Mansion itself is our most important resource for studying life in the 19th century, when possible educational programs are offered on site to include a tour. Victoria Mansion welcomes working with individual teachers to offer tours and/or programs that incorporate classroom-specific curriculum and encourages teachers to schedule a free visit prior to bringing students. Students in pre-K, K-12, college, and graduate school visit the site each year.

School Tours
In accordance with the Maine Learning Results, a visit to Victoria Mansion can help students:

• to better understand themes, turning points, events, consequences, persons, and timeframes of the Civil War and Reconstruction, Industrialization, and the Progressive Era within the history of the community, Maine, and the Unites States (Social Studies E1)
• to propose and revise research questions and to collect information from a variety of sources (English Language Arts C1)
• to recognize a variety of purposes for making art, including telling a story, communicating emotion, or beautifying functional objects (Visual and Performing Arts B2 - Visual Arts - Artist's Purpose)
• to observe, research, and explain how art and artists reflect and influence culture and periods of time (Visual and Performing Arts A1 - Visual Arts - Artist's Purpose)
• as a source of inspiration for creating original art works including paintings, three-dimensional objects, drawings from imagination and real life, and a variety of other media and visual art forms (Visual and Performing Arts B2 - Visual Arts - Composition Skills)
• to learn about art forms by asking questions that further their understanding of the concepts, skills, and processes used to create the work of art (Visual and Performing Arts D1 - Aesthetics and Criticism)

School Programs
School programs are designed to complement student learning. A tour at Victoria Mansion lasts approximately one hour. School programs also are about one hour. When requested, teacher resources are available prior to the scheduled visit. Portland schools may request a free Power Point introduction to Victoria Mansion at their school prior to visiting. School tours and programs are available beginning at 8:00 a.m. For admission costs and reservations (which should be made a minimum of two weeks in advance), please call 207-772-4841 ext. 15 or e-mail tquimby@victoriamasion.org . Programs include:

• Train Up a Child (Grades 3 & 4) Penmanship, calling cards, proper etiquette, polite parlor games, and good posture - all were part of the upbringing of a child in the 19th century. Train Up a Child gives students a chance to try out these activities and more, and gives them a new perspective on their own lives in the 21st century.
• Scavenger Hunt (Grades K-12) Designed to encourage close examination of the exterior architectural elements of Victoria Mansion, the Carriage House, and the grounds, this self-led activity has students inspect windows, doors, columns, quoins, and much more.
• Holiday Program (Grades 3 & 4) Each year Victoria Mansion offers a program related to the current year's holiday theme. The program often includes the reading of a short story written during or about the 19th century, followed by the students creating a 19th-century craft that may be taken home and given as a gift.

New! One-Time Only Program for Fourth Grade Classrooms

American History Magic Lantern Show
We are pleased to offer "one of the nation's most remarkable theater productions" - a performance by The American Magic Lantern Theater www.magiclanternshows.com of their popular American History Magic Lantern Show. The show is an authentic re-creation of the combination of projected images, live drama, live music, and animated comedy that led to the movies over 100 years ago. It covers American history from 1492-1898 in story and song, and provides a great introduction to the Civil War on the eve of its commemoration.

In accordance with the Maine Learning Results, this show can help students:

• to better identify and understand themes, turning points, events, consequences, persons, and timeframes of the Colonial Era, the Revolutionary Era, Nation Building and the Expanding Nation, the Civil War and Reconstruction, and Industrialization within the history of the Unites States (Social Studies E1)
• to recognize a variety of purposes for making art, including telling a story, communicating emotion, or beautifying functional objects (Visual and Performing Arts B2 -Visual Arts - Artist's Purpose)
• as a source of inspiration for creating original art works including paintings, three-dimensional objects, drawings from imagination and real life, and a variety of other media and visual art forms (Visual and Performing Arts B2 - Visual Arts - Composition Skills)
• to learn about art forms by asking questions that further their understanding of the concepts, skills, and processes used to create the work of art (Visual and Performing Arts D1 -Aesthetics and Criticism)
  

This one-time only performance will take place at 10AM on Friday, November 19, 2010 at John Ford Theater, Portland Public High School, 284 Cumberland Avenue, Portland, Maine. Seating is limited. To reserve seats for your class, please call 207-772-4841 ext. 15 or email tquimby@victoriamansion.org. Upon registration, you will receive an 8-page Teacher's Edition of pre and post activities and teaching masters to help prepare students for what they will see and to emphasize the relevant educational content.

Funded in part by the New England States Touring Program of the New England Foundation for the Arts, made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts Regional Touring Program and the six New England state arts agencies. Funded in part by a grant form the Maine Arts Commission, an independent state agency supported by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Maine Humanities Council, a private non-profit organization affiliated with the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Adult Programs
The Mansion offers public lectures, specialized tours, reading and discussion groups, and symposia on varied 19th-century topics. Most programs are one-time events and will be listed in the Events section of this website.