Part Nine--Colonial Escapade 1990-1991 Closing Days

[Side note: Sometime in the spring of 1991 Karen and her sister planned to present another Integrated Thematic Instruction Workshop--we had been to the last one in August of 1990. I really wanted to attend, but the date was set for the time our family would be traveling back East, so I called Karen, whom I had only met once, and asked her to change the date and she did. It was held May 24-25. And the rest, as they say, is history!]

We had three closures to the year:



1) Abigail Adams returned and brought her husband, John:

(A few years ago Hal told another dad that he wasn't dressing up as a visitor

because he had paid his dues years beforehand. Yes he did).

Here is a short video clip of John and Abigail Adams' visit May 27, 1991

John Adams kisses all the girls’ hands, but licks Jasmyn’s, I mean “Mary Revere’s” hand, and shake’s “George Washington’s” foot.

In the video we teach the children how to do a proper colonial bow (something we learned in Williamsburg).  Hal turns his calf muscle to the front because that is what gentlemen liked to show off in those days. The audio got messed up in one spot where we bow in slow motion.  

 

  

2) Our Last Day of School--Celebrating the American Victory At Yorktown

(The Spirit of '76, Jasmyn, Anna, Hal, Amber)

 

We didn't plan or do anything fancy. But we taught the kids about the last battle of the war and the American victory. I'm sure we had a closing day tea as well.

  3) Each family held a school open house

We sent out invitations to our relatives, friends and neighbors, inviting them to come join in our colonial escapade. Some of them came dressed up.

This Daniel Boone cap Hal IV is wearing was brought by our neighbor...

...who also brought a musket and demonstrated how it works:

(That's Katie, almost nine months pregnant)

 (Yes, that is Uncle Derek is to the right of him.):

We covered our living room walls with our key point mind maps and other posters--you can see the three branches of government, and our timeline below it.

Hal talks to his boss:

  

For refreshments we made gingerbread hornbook cookies. (Hornbooks were boards that displayed the alphabet and usually The Lord's Prayer, and were a child's first "book"). We molded our own hornbook cookie cutter from metal. Along with the cookies was posted this colonial quip which accompanied these original colonial cookies:

"All the letters are digested,

Hateful ignorance detested." 

Katie's family came to our open house and we attended theirs.

Yes, that is a shaving cream macaroni on my head, with flower, ribbon and pearls.

I had wanted to try one all year and it stayed beautifully all evening: 

 

 Katie's daughters Cherie and Anna:

 Amber shares the colonial rag doll she made with a matching dress

(this was the only shot we have. Sorry Amber):

 

   

Almost exactly two years before our colonial field trip back East, we took a family trip to Ohio, New York and Washington D.C. We saw many historical sites like our colonial field trip, but with one great exception--we hadn't studied and lived the history behind those places the way we did for our colonial trip.

These two trips were like night and day--one was a nice trip, and one was an exciting adventure that we will always remember. 

That was also the difference between our first and second years

of homeschooling--night and day. 

This year changed our homeschool lives forever.

(Chase had a colonial hat and little outfit too, but he didn't keep things on for long,

and not long enough for pictures)