Field Trip to Hillsborough!

We had a fun field trip to Hillsborough and were able to find 2 great outing for both the younger and the older students that were just a couple of blocks from each other!  Unfortunately, it was a rainy day so no hanging out to picnic afterwards.  

The older students (6th and up) went to the Burwell School Historic Site.  Isn't it a beautiful home?

While here they had two programs.   One was on herbal remedies that were used to cure illnesses.  The other was on exercise and play while exploring different games that were enjoyed during the 1800s.

The younger students visited the Orange County Historical Museum.  What a great site with wonderful volunteers!

There is a small museum on the first floor of the building which holds a variety of artifacts to examine and learn about.

The boys especially enjoyed seeing the variety of weapons.

The staff working here was wonderful with the children!

After some time exploring on our own, we headed upstairs for a program.

We learned about life as a Revolutionary War soldier.

Isn't the room pretty too?

We were able to see some of the items that they used such as these tin items for meals.

And one of the coats of a soldier.

It was very heavy!  I can imagine that it felt nice in the winter, but can't imagine wearing it in the summer in the south!

Loved this detail on the inside of the coat.  

We were told that this was pretty traditional to have the hearts inside the jacket like this too.

The kids did a small scavenger hunt around the museum too.  They were looking for a variety of things.

Such as furniture, weapons, documents and more.

This is a system of weights and measures.

Eliana working hard on her list along with her helper.

A letter written by a local man that was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

This is the scavenger hunt.  When they found everything, they were able to get it stamped and then keep it as a bookmark.  What a great idea!

The girls are proud of their bookmarks!

Cute sign out front.

Leaving the museum and then heading back to find the older kids.  We had a great day and look forward to going back again.

I love that we have so many neat resources near our home to explore!

Blessings
Leslie

FIAR Volume 4: The Hatmaker's Sign

Doing Five in a Row is so much fun - and having an eager student just adds to the joy!  This is Daniel's favorite part of our school day!  I love this and I am really having fun with him.

We gathered with our friends for a co-op.  I didn't get a lot of pictures as I was holding a little sweetie.  They talked some about Ben Franklin and some of the different things that he did.  I loved that she used a variety of props to give clues about some of the jobs he has held.  He is quite an amazing and interesting person.

As you can see, they chose hats to wear and then started working on making signs for their own business.  This story focuses on a man who made a sign for his shop and thought he had gotten it just right but he then got input from many different people as to changes he could make so that it would be even better.  Thankfully, there was no such input today and they just had fun making signs.

 Daniel made one to advertise his painting business.  He even painted some while we were there and sold them with the money that they had each received when money was discussed.

 They used their money to buy snacks of their choosing.  They all had a great time with this!  It was another delightful afternoon!

 We did some fun things at home with this too.  One was learning to write with a quill pen.  Daniel enjoyed trying out his hand at this.

 I love his note!

 Of course we cooked the meal from the FIAR cookbook too.  This was a traditional meal from the colonial period.  Daniel is a good cook and loves to help out in the kitchen.  All of my children have liked to cook and I know that is a blessing - both now and in the future too!

 In addition to cooking, Daniel helped to set a pretty table.

 This meal even came with a yummy cake for dessert.  (Nuts on one side only to appeal to all tastes.)

 These are some of the additional books that we read while doing this study.  And Daniel also watched a lot of Liberty's Kids.  These are great shows which share a lot about our nation's history!  I highly recommend them!

 Daniel made several Lego creations during this time too.  I loved his Hatmaker's shop.

 The militia is gathering.

Between the painting, the discussions, watching Liberty's kids, food and more, Daniel has decided that this is his favorite book thus far!  We had a great two weeks and look forward to out next story ... Hanna's Cold Winter.

Blessings

Leslie

More Shakespeare - Co-ops 2 and 3

I'm going to combine 2 co-op meetings in this post.  We continued to work on various scenes from The Comedy of Errors.   We are all really enjoying the story too.  We covered Acts 1 & 2 through discussion, student readings and viewing different versions of the same scenes.  

 The students also has a lesson discussing ships/navigation of the Elizabethan times.

Additionally they learned about compasses.

And spent some hands-on time with making them.

 Afterwards, some of us went to the deli across the street for lunch.  Yum!

 In the next co-op, we covered Acts 3 and 4 from the play.

I loved the interesting ways the discussion of the book was held using questions, props and input from the students!  Great job involving all of them!

Next was an acting exercise.  The students took turns counting to 20 (I think) and were to use different emotions as they went through the numbers.  Emotions ranging from happiness to sadness to anger and more.

 There was a lot of laughter as they took turns and watched each other.

 I think they learned a lot from observing each other too!

 I thought it was a creative way to get them thinking about how they express emotions - with their voices, facial expressions and bodies.

More opportunities to act out various scenes in small groups.

 This was an opportunity both for the students to find roles that they enjoyed as well as to help in casting them for a future performance.

 It has been delightful seeing how much they have enjoyed all of this too!  I'm so thankful as my boys would have totally missed all of this fun if it had been up to me as I've never before (until now) found enjoyment in Shakespeare.  Thankful for friends who have shared their love of it with me and my boys!

We also had a lesson about Pentecost.  And learned the meaning of a covenant.  I wish that I could more clearly explain the significance of the things that were shared, but I'm sure that I would miss many of the details.  There is so much to be learned about our awesome God in studying the details He has laid out for us in the scriptures.  The feast provide great lessons.

They learned about the sacrifices and the significance of these.

 All of this from a friend that is very passionate about this topic and enjoys and opportunity to share it with others.

 I love this co-op and the many opportunities we have to share and learn from each other.  This is just what a co-op should be in my mind.  Each of us using our strengths to give and all benefiting and being blessed.

It was another fun day with this special group.

Blessings
Leslie