Many times (read as almost daily) I wish that I lived about 100 years ago on a picturesque farm, at the edge of a quaint village enjoying a slower pace of life without all the modern day mumbo jumbo. And then I remember how much I dislike scooping animal dung and washing dishes by hand. And that brings me back to reality pretty quick.
Still, part of me wants to be a pioneer of sorts. I love old homes and all things "farm"(minus the dung). So today's field trip was perfect. It was quick, educational, interesting, hands on and best of all we had superb weather! Superb weather is not something we see often in this neck of the woods in March!
Our lovely tour guide is a former preschool teacher and was so patient and understanding with our young group of 12 children, ranging in ages from 1 to 10. She did a great job of connecting this field trip to our Kinderboy unit on Community Workers. She gave several examples of how neighbors worked together and relied on each other to make the community function. It was a good reminder for all of us. No man is an island. We need each other.
We learned a bit about our town's history. It started as a logging community when "explorers" from Seattle made their way up the river and discovered LOTS of big trees here. They soon had a sawmill and a couple general stores here, which quickly built up the community. In the picture below, our guide is pointing to the first mayor's hat, made from beaver fur.
The kitchen was not offiicially part of our tour, but I loved it so I snapped this pic
We then walked over to the little cabin where we saw what life was like in the 1880s for most families.
From there we took a quick walk (like 20 steps or less!) over to the little school house. This was my favorite part. Out front was the old school bell that called the children to class.
And then we got to be "old-school" students! I sure wish I had a school room as charming as this:
The slates and slate pencils were the coolest! Can't you just imagine the kids studying so hard back in the day?
I love the manikin in the corner. So life like. Our tour guide is holding up the original bell that belonged to the teacher who taught here. The local families had to pool their money to hire a teacher. The first term they could only afford her for a total of four months. Then they had to keep saving until they could hire her back!
Hm, imagine that! Parents funding their own children's education in cooperation with neighbors. No government programs or institutions? No free lunches? Wow! What a novel idea!
Love these school rules.
The kids really enjoyed all the hands on activities at the back of the school room. There were type writers, wooden toys, stamps,an old phone, a flip book (predating animation), stamps and the like.
After the tour the kids bolted to the park for a chance to bask in this rare sunshine and stretch those growing legs. Ah. Homeschooling is great!
This is the river that made it all happen for our town!
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