Sunday, November 16, 2008

Field Trip - Oct 16 to Duke Homestead - Retropost (again!)

We continue to enjoy wonderful field trips with our Five in a Row homeschool group.  I'm thankful to be a part of the wonderful group of families.  We go on field trips every other month and I enjoy these so much.  One of our trips this month was to Duke Homestead which is one of our State Historic Sites.  (Click on the name if you'd like to visit the website.) 



Because we had a large group, we were split in half to participate in the planned activities.  We started with a film in which we learned what life was like on a farm in the early 1900s.  Next, the children learned how to play townball.  It is similar to baseball in some ways, though different enough that the younger children were not at a disadvantage in playing.  It was a lot of fun!



Listening to instructions.



My biggest and smallest boys.





It is hard to tell, but the bat is longer than a typical bat and flat.



The children ran clockwise around 4 bases (not including "home").  The tall sticks in the ground are bases.


Next, we did an archeology project.  The children worked in groups to discover things hidden in a box of sand.  They learned about measuring and recording data.  They then discussed what they might learn from the things that they found.  My younger boys loved doing this!




Lastly, we learned about food preservation.  They talked about types of foods eaten and how to save or preserve them.  They helped to churn butter and then ate some buttered bread.





When we finished, we had a picnic lunch at the site.  It was a beautiful fall day and it was a great time to relax, play and spend time with friends. 


Blessings, 



Leslie