Wednesday, May 25, 2011

pioneer days

We are still riding high on the pioneer wagon around here these days.  It is a great theme that still gets put in the rotation of pretend play along with, "Kit in the Depression", "Finding an Orphan", and "School".  Wow, writing that I realize that I need to find some more lighthearted reading material for Eloise.

You can imagine the excitement around here when we were invited to attend a Pioneer Days event at none other than Aunt Vicki's school.  We were set to embark on an event that would combine some of Eloise's top loves---school, 5th graders, learning about pioneers, dressing up like pioneers, and Aunt Vicki.

Aunt Vicki, my sister in law, is the kind of person you meet and think, "Oh, yeah, of course you are a teacher".  She has such a love and passion for teaching, learning, and for reading.  Aunt Vicki is responsible for about 98% of the children's books in our house and believe me, there are many.  She has fostered such a love for reading in my children with her excitement and encouragement---and by always showing up with a book!  When Vicki heard the news I was pregnant with Eloise she drove downtown to surprise me at work with a bag of children's books.  We have probably read each of the books in that first delivery over a thousand times.

Pioneer days was a wonderful event organized by the teachers and the parents at Vicki's school.  There is a family that travels around the country from school to school in an RV with all this authentic pioneer stuff. The 5th graders, and Eloise and Harriet, went to each exhibit  to learn about different aspects of pioneer life in a hands on, museum-like way.  Vicki had told her students that the girls were coming and so they were so excited to take them from station to station and show them around and help them make the most out of each exhibit.   Her students were so sweet and enthusiastic and caring with the girls.  I can see that Aunt Vicki is rubbing off on them.

learning to spin wool
can you spot the 5 year old?


panning for gold


of course, harriet finds a pioneer baby


aunt vicki and students playing with the pioneer toys


rolling out dough they made from wheat


note to self--get a giant pot and fill it
with lincoln logs


eloise reported that the 'laundry station'
was the most boring.
no shit.


aunt vicki in her classroom with her 
favorite students






No comments:

Post a Comment