A couple of my homeschooling friends had taken their children to our local veterans museum last year and were very impressed by the vast amount of knowledge that the curators had regarding the lost art of bringing history to a personal level by telling its story through the eyes of those who lived it. This lasting impression led these mamas to ask the museum curators if they would be interested in teaching a class for our homeschoolers. The response? An overwhelming YES! The local museum which houses artifacts from thousands of soldiers across the United States has offered to have hands on learning for our public schoolers but has found that with so much testing and test preparedness, the students don't have time to do extra supplementary learning...WHAT???
So, enter my dismay...this is why I HATED history in school. It was so textbook BORING that I could barely keep my eyes opened. It was like flying in a plane and looking down, you see an overall picture of what the terrain looks like, but you have no knowledge of the intricacies that make up the land...ie the stories of the people who lived through and fought our wars are liking walking on the nature path and seeing the plants and animals versus the flying plane overhead and getting an overview...that would be like reading a broad summary from most textbooks...make sense?
Well, not only did these curators agree to do a class, but they agreed to make it a weekly affair for a whole year!!! They are covering the beginning of our country through the current state of affairs for 32 weeks! We had our first class a few days ago and the children were advised that they would see re-enactments, get to try on civil war uniforms, get to meet holocast survivors and really get immersed in the study of our American History from historians and first hand accounts of veterans. To say that I am excited is an UNDERSTATEMENT!
Our first class was an overview but the children were also taught about proper handling of our American Flag, we reviewed the colors and symbols on the flag and the children were instructed about flying the flag at half mass...which was occurring on the day of our first history class- September 11.
So, enter my dismay...this is why I HATED history in school. It was so textbook BORING that I could barely keep my eyes opened. It was like flying in a plane and looking down, you see an overall picture of what the terrain looks like, but you have no knowledge of the intricacies that make up the land...ie the stories of the people who lived through and fought our wars are liking walking on the nature path and seeing the plants and animals versus the flying plane overhead and getting an overview...that would be like reading a broad summary from most textbooks...make sense?
Well, not only did these curators agree to do a class, but they agreed to make it a weekly affair for a whole year!!! They are covering the beginning of our country through the current state of affairs for 32 weeks! We had our first class a few days ago and the children were advised that they would see re-enactments, get to try on civil war uniforms, get to meet holocast survivors and really get immersed in the study of our American History from historians and first hand accounts of veterans. To say that I am excited is an UNDERSTATEMENT!
Our first class was an overview but the children were also taught about proper handling of our American Flag, we reviewed the colors and symbols on the flag and the children were instructed about flying the flag at half mass...which was occurring on the day of our first history class- September 11.
We did receive an amazing compliment as well for our group, the speaker let us know that a few weeks ago a group of boy scouts came in and they were rambunctious, disrespectful and loud and that our group was very pleasant to have...way to go kids!
A few of our kids volunteered to help learn to properly fold a flag too.
A few of our kids volunteered to help learn to properly fold a flag too.
Even the littlest ones were intrigued.
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