School in the 1800s

Published on April 14, 2005 By JillUser In Home & Family

Next week my son's second grade class will be attending an historic one room schoolhouse for two days. He is to wear authentic 1800s clothes and bring lunches that are appropriate for the time period. They will be using chalk slates and books from the period. I signed on to make homemade bread for the class.

My mother fashioned two period outfits for him consisting of knickers with suspenders, a cotton blousy shirt and cap. My son said that the teacher is going to take a picture of them each wearing the dunce cap. They will play games and sing songs from the period also.

Did anyone else get to do this sort of thing in grade school? I didn't and think it is really a neat opportunity. I would have absolutely loved it when I was a girl. I lived in the country and watched "Little House on the Prairie" after school every day. It made me appreciate what I had when I was feeling sorry for myself for not having cable TV and other amenities my "city" friends had.

I think it will be a great opportunity for him.

Comments

greywar

on Apr 14, 2005

Wow that is pretty cool! We didn't do anythin like that but then again my school was so small that it was nearly a one-roomer anyways:)

Zoomba

on Apr 14, 2005

Growing up in PA, we had a lot of historic villages around us, usually of the coal mining variety. On several occassions we would take a day trip to one of them and go through an average day for kids in the town (minus the dangerous hard labor). We'd grade coal, do some washing, attend a lesson in the school house and watch all sorts of demonstrations. These trips were definitely the highlight of grade school for me.

Sadly, with the rash of fear over potential terrorist attacks, my old school district has a new rule saying no trips beyond 50mi from the area. Sadly there is nothing of note within 50mi of where I grew up, so they don't get to do trips anymore. I think they're cheating the kids out of some amazing experiences.

Dynosoar

on Apr 14, 2005

My kids never got to do anything like that, but I can remember being a young teen during the bicentenial and doing the period thing for a week at a nearby Revolutionary war park.
It's about the only thing I do remember from my Jr high days............

JillUser

on Apr 14, 2005

It's about the only thing I do remember from my Jr high days

I think my guy is going to have some good memories from this. If he is anything like me, he will retain a lot more from the hands on experience than what he read about in the text books.

Gideon MacLeish

on Apr 14, 2005

I think it's VERY cool (I'm a history geek). Our children have often participated in various reenactments over the years, and it has always been time wel spent.

That being said, I will be encouraged when the TEACHERS learn a bit more from the one room schoolhouse model. I feel it was a more efficient means of education, and that students brought more out of it (for many reasons: a separate blog).

C H Wood

on Apr 15, 2005

We got to see what the expeirence was like but only for a day field trip and not with period clothes. As for the slate chalk boards, I can remember using those in first grade along with the Dick and Jane books. Our town did have old fashioned days when I was a kid where the whole town would be done up in clothing from the 1800s and their would be mock battles between the indians and the soldiers. They would also serve some period foods. My mom would make us customes from that were for old fashioned days. I remember having the bonnet and apron and a flowered shirt and skirt.

JillUser

on Apr 15, 2005

Hi H! You're from Northern MI right? Have you ever heard of the book "Little Mossback Amelia"? My mom used to read it to me at night. It is about a girl (Amelia) and her family who settled in the woods of Petoskey in the 1800s. I asked the 2nd grade teacher if she had read it and she hadn't so I let her borrow it. I think it is a reprint from the MIchigan Historical Society. It is like Little House on the Prairie but I could picture all the places they mentioned since I grew up up there.

C H Wood

on Apr 20, 2005

Hey Jill - Yep, I am a Northern Michigan girl for at least part of my childhood. I have heard of the book but I don't remember the story. I always appreciated period pieces that were connected to the area where you live. It makes it more of a reality I think especially to kids.

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