Earlier this month, I stepped back 100 years in time with 1ds9 and 2dd7 on a field trip to a one room schoolhouse. It was one of the best field trips that we've ever been on (and there have been many)! We had visited one-room schoolhouses previously, and received a short lesson from a period reenactor, but the difference in this school-house visit was that we all reenacted an entire school day: from 9:30am to 2:30pm. We tagged along with a friend and her kids who had been invited by a group from their old church.
We were required to dress in period appropriate clothes and bring an appropriate lunch (we chose cornbread and cheese-- wrapped in wax paper, apples, cloth napkins, and Mason jars full of water).
The school day began when the school marm rang the bell and the children lined up to enter the schoolhouse. The teacher then called roll and the children were required to stand when their name was called and she spoke to each one individually about community and family happenings ("Please, thank your mother for the plums, tell your father that you will be staying after school next week to prepare for the box social...").
Elianna was so nervous, but she stood up and answered properly anyway, "Yes, Ma'am."
Class proceded with instruction in geography and government, writing with ink pens, cyphering (working math problems) on slates, learning a phonics jingle ("Be, Bi, Biddly I, Bo..."), reading groups using McGuffey's readers, a Spelldown (can I say that there were no homeschool spelling bee winners in this group?....I was absolutely appauled!) lunch, and recess!
 
Recess, of course, was a fabulous time! The kids had sack races, played stick ball, practiced on wooden and tin can stilts, played jacks, marbles, and with hoops. What began as a chilly fall day resulted in a glorious sunny afternoon ideal for wholesome play!
 
The woman who ran the school and taught us, did a phenomenal job! The kids were enthralled by the entire experience, and I had a great time myself. It was one of the most fun times we've had homeschooling! At one point in the day, I wondered whether we might be more likely to send the kids to school if this was the type of school they could attend. "No," I decided, "they still belong at home!"
But we will probably go back to visit again when we can take the younger two girls too!
|
