Heritage Village Field Trip

We learned what a typical child did everyday 100 years ago in Canada. They would get up at 4am do farm chores, walk to school, stay at school all day, walk home, do more chores, eat, do homework, and go to bed. This particular school house had one teacher and about 50 students. There were two entrance doors. One was for boys and the other for girls. A wood stove in the middle of the classroom provided heat in the winter. The windows were on the left side to provide light for them to write with their right hand. If caught using their left hand students were punished. We got to experience a school day in the life of a Canadian child from our past. We even got renamed to common names from that time. Above you can see our name tags.

When a student was to answer a question or ask a question that student stood beside their seat and spoke. We went through a typical day and the teacher asked questions while kids put up their hands and stood beside their seats to answer. One child didn't know an answer so another child helped him out and the teacher saw it as cheating. They both got punished. She had to sit with a dunce cap at the front of the room and he got the leather strap (he didn't really get hit). 

We learned about the history of the dunce cap. There was once a man with the last name of Dunce and he believed that all intelligence came from above and that the shape of the cap pulled in that intelligence into the child's mind. It was a compliment at first to be called a "dunce" but over time the term changed and people didn't believe in it anymore. It became punishment and today being called a "dunce" isn't nice.

We did a lesson on our slate boards.

Children helped the teacher in the classroom. Here Austyn is collecting chalks from the students.

We did, what was called, "Elocution" class. This is where students were asked to stand up and read what was on the board. It was to practice reading but also to practice speaking since the sentences on the board were tongue twisters.

We had recess and learned what the kids in the past played with. 

Zoe didn't come with us for the first time. She wasn't feeling well that morning. So, Austyn and I had our time together. We had lunch in the old diner. Here we are with our mouths full of food. I noticed that without his sister around he was more focused. 

We learned about family life in a typical Canadian home. How much work they did to live healthy and happy. We talked about what the typical jobs were for each person in the family. We talked about typical flat bread that was made, how nothing was wasted, we made butter and we got to taste it.

We went in the jail house.

We learned that there was no electricity, video games, televisions, or lights. People used candles. So, we made some candles.

We had a list of questions to answer and we explored the village to find the answers. We had access to all of the buildings. The kids had fun going through each building and looking at all of the old furniture and everyday items.

Because Austyn is so into making things out of Lego and inventing, we have already covered Thomas Edison at home. We recognized a couple of old things that Thomas invented. It was exciting to see them in real life.