Posted by Cindy on November 23, 2009
Our farm has a rich 1800′s history. And considering the arrowheads we find occasionally, probably a lot of prior history as well.
I’ve told you before about how we find 19th and 20th century garbage as we plow the garden every year. Near the garden spot once stood a large red brick home with a rock foundation, several fireplaces, a stately staircase and amazing trim work. The bricks were handmade from the clay on the farm – maybe by slaves, maybe by paid help? There was a basement with two small rooms with one window in each room, rock walls and a small fireplace for heat. These were undoubtedly quarters for some sort of house help.
Sadly, by the time we moved onto the farm, the once majestic show house was in far too desperate shape to save. This picture is actually the Mary Todd Lincoln House in Lexington. Although the house on our farm was not this majestic, it at least gives you an idea of the style since we never took a good picture of it before it’s demise. Shame on us!
As we tore down the house, we saved as many things as possible. The stone foundation became our fireplace and the poplar floor joists became our flooring. Many of the other materials like doors, fireplace mantles, windows and even the bricks have been sold to people who are reusing them in loving projects. We’ve saved some of those architectural pieces for ourselves (if we ever get around to doing interesting projects again.)
After reading a little of the history, I know you’ll find it just as exciting as me that there are remnants of a rock wall on the back of the farm. History claims that the rock walls in this area were built by migrant Irish workers who came to America because of the Irish Potato Famine. I’m just in awe every time I go back to see this wall that was built by such strong and courageous people so many years ago. Even if the rock wall has mostly been washed away and I’m only able to treasure about 20 feet of it!
Two other interesting historical finds on our farm and a neighboring farm…
A rock root cellar – the entrance is nearly caved-in.
A horse-drawn farm wagon that sadly sits below the ruble of a fallen barn.
I love learning the history of our farm, town, county and state. Just a little research will lead you to so many wonderful field trips, classes and other opportunities to learn about the history in your backyard!
Posted by Cindy on June 26, 2009
Don’t ever call me completely punctual. We studied early pioneers and settlers of Kentucky at the beginning of last school year. A trip to Fort Boonesborough – the first pioneer settlement in KY – was planned then, but we never made it. My children never fear, though – eventually I tend to fulfill my promises. 
You can learn more about Fort Boonesborough at:
Kentucky State Parks
Fort Boonesborough Living History
Fort Boonesborough Foundation
We had a great time touring the fort, watching an action-packed film, visiting with reinactors and taking a walk down to the beach located on the KY River. Field trips are worth their weight in gold!
Outside the fort
Inside the fort
Learning to start a fire
Caleb’s favorite part – the jail
Visiting with Daniel Boone to get our land deed
A view of the beach
Posted by Cindy on February 21, 2009
Well, time flies! We finished off our Westward Expansion unit with a “project week”. On Monday, I gave the kids a test and a project list, both of which were to be completed by Friday. I don’t always give tests, but I like to surprise them once in a while with new methods of assessment. As for projects, Caleb had to choose three to complete and present, while Mahayla had to choose four. Besides math and a little grammar and reading, projects were the only things on the schooling agenda.
(I’m not sure my links show up very well, so I wanted to point out that you can access my test and project list at hslaunch. Run your mouse over those words in the paragraph above and they will link to the files.)
Here’s what the kids came up with. As usual, I’m not only pleased, but very surprised at their ingenuity and eagerness to do a good job. Give ‘em and inch and they’ll take a mile – that’s a good thing in this case!
Mahayla had to choose four projects. She couldn’t decide, so chose to complete five instead. (Next time I complain, remind me of this!)
A diorama and file folder report on Lewis and Clark
A quilt square. She researched pioneer quilt squares on the internet and came up with this one named “Oh Suzanna”. She completed the entire quilt square from start to finish without any help from me. Not bad for a first timer, huh? My granny would be so proud!
A five page report on Sam Houston, who happens to be in our family line. She had to interview my mom who has done extensive geneology research, and had to find information on her own.
A cowboy meal of chili and homemade crackers.
Homemade Crackers
1 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
1/2 cube butter
1/4 c milk
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix flour, baking powder and salt. Use fork to mash butter in until it looks like crumbs. Add milk and stir until dough forms a ball. Sprinkle flour on counter and roll dough into a flat rectangle with a rolling pin. Use a knife to cut the dough into small squares. Place onto a greased cookie sheet and poke holes into the crackers with a fork. Bake for 9 minutes. Makes about 24 crackers.
And she was Flying Sparrow in their original play entitled “Cowboy and Indian”. It was complete with five scenes, a playbill and a script!
Caleb had to choose three projects. In his usual fashion, he chose projects that required lots of hands-on and little writing. That’s okay, though, because he was still required to give a presentation about the projects. Even with very little writing, the information he gleaned and presented was very good.
A model of the Lewis and Clark keelboat.
A model of the corner watchtower from a fort that might have been set up along one of the trails west. He said he would have built the whole fort, but ran out of Lincoln Logs!
And he was Jeremiah (with a great country accent) in their play “Cowboy and Indian”. As you can see, the play ended rather sadly. Jeremiah and Flying Sparrow couldn’t find a better way to solve their conflict except through the use of guns. Maybe we watch too many Gunsmoke episodes on Sunday afternoons?
Posted by Cindy on February 16, 2009
We’re nearing the end of our Westward Expansion unit, so I’m moving the resources from my sidebar into a post for future reference. I’ll be adding Slavery and Civil War resources to the side bar over the next few days.
My Spine – Amanda Bennett Pioneers Unit
Research Questions
Teacher Planet Links
Louisiana Purchase Game
Lewis and Clark Lessons
Lewis and Clark Mapping Activities
Easy Fun School Lewis and Clark Unit
Easy Fun School Santa Fe Trail Unit
Easy Fun School Gold Rush Unit
Posted by Cindy on January 21, 2009
Lewis and Clark kept wonderfully detailed journals as they charted unknown American territory in the early 1800′s. Their journals included everything from a daily diary of events to sketches and descriptions of new plants and animals along the way to maps of the land around them.
To help my children understand the scope of what was included in the Lewis and Clark journals, we created worn leather journals from old paper bags in which I asked the kids to jot down all sorts of notes throughout one of our homeschool days.
The journals….
Take a flat section of brown paper bag and crinkle it up until it looks like worn leather when smoothed out again.
Carefully burn the edges to give the journal even more of a weathered look.
Line several sheets of white paper on top of the paper bag.
Lay the papers on top of a piece of wood. Hammer several holes all the way through the papers using a large nail and a hammer.
Use whatever string you desire (we used raffia) and whatever lacing method you desire to lace the pages together.
Fold the notebook in half and there you have a ready-made journal.
Here’s what we included in the journals throughout the day…
Notes from important events throughout the day.
Sketches of interesting plants and animals we found on a winter nature walk. I also asked the kids to include notes to describe the plants and animals as if they’d never seen them before. If we were able to find tracks from the animals, they added sketches of those as well.
We couldn’t decide who had made these little tracks, but they were one of the few finds on our cold and blustery walk.
And finally, the journals included a map of the hiking area.
We tracked our journey into the “unknown” so we could find our way home. (This left nice little treats for the critters, too.)
This was all part of our super-fun unit study day yesterday. Today we’ve caught Oregon Fever!
