Field trip back in time

4th graders in our school district get to go on a field trip to visit a farm museum as part of their Texas history curriculum. As part of the historical foundation many items have been gathered from the founding families in our area and now they are on display for us to learn from. Many old houses have been moved to the site including an old school which has the same name as our current school.

I went the first time with my daughter as a chaperone where I walked with 1/2 a class and read from a manuel at each station. Only 2 of the 12 stations had docents that day. A docent is a volunteer who dresses in peiod costume and specializes at a station to make it more insteresting. Stations range from a smoke house where to talk about caring for animals for meat and branding them, to all the farm equipment they might have used in 1800.

You walk through an old house and tell the story of a family of 14 living in this tiny 4 bedroom house. You talk about their beds stuffed with corn cobs for mattresses and how the wood stove heated the house. On the back porch you describe the one wash tub and what order the family would bath in about once a week.

I found it very interesting the first time. I like history! Then last year I took the opportunity to train at a station to become a docent. I picked my favorite station...the clothing and sewing room. The room is actually the family room of the house but for museum purposes they put all the cloth making equipment in the room. I did this station again this year and maybe when the twins go off to Kindergarten I can volunteer on a more regular basis.

I talk about picking cotton and shearing sheep, then spinning it into thread. You had to dye the thread using things like flowers, walnut shells and Cochoneal bugs. They had an old treadle sewing machine and a quilt frame to talk about. Even a yarn winder which is related to the song Pop goes the weasel. Then I get to demonstrate on the loom where I show them how fabric can be made. The kids love it and I enjoy it.

I have lots of pictures of the groups visiting (taking them for the school scrapbook) but for the sake of these kids privacy I will just post the one picture of me and my son. You can't tell from the picture but I have on my pioneer clothes, including skirt apron and bonnet. He is holding a branding iron that has a TH. And he still loves me!