On November 2, 2012 we took a field trip to Mount Vernon. It was a commitment to travel but I think it was worth it. Miss L was so excited when we got there. They have guided maps for kids with questions concerning different parts of the property that give you letters to answer the question at the end. Miss L wasn't too interested in answering the questions but she was really excited that she had a map and practiced her map reading skills while we walked around.
She was really impressed with the size of this tree. (She should go to Monticello!)
She wanted to take a photo of me. :o)
We waited for a bit in line to get into the house for the tour, but we kept busy playing in the rock path.
Miss L was really interested in figuring out how people lived long ago. She loved looking in each room. When we were finished we walked around looking at all the buildings exploring the purpose of each one. They had live blacksmiths in the blacksmith shop. We talked about what a person might have to do if you couldn't go to the store to buy what you needed. It was really interesting for both of us.
Down by the eight sided barn they had a bunch of displays set up with lots of hands on activities that would have been happening during Washington's time. So... I'm white. I remember learning about slavery and finding it repulsive, but I didn't learn about slavery as a person who would have been a slave. Being white sheltered me from that reality. The people who taught me about slavery were also white. So, I have a lot of issues about teaching miss L about slavery. I want to be honest. I want her to know how horrific slavery really was and how we sort of present slaves at the homes of our country's founders as having an "okay" life and that we sort of revere them even though they did this bad thing, but everyone was doing it. I want her to know that's wrong. I want her to know that it's an awful thing that isn't okay just because "everyone else was doing it." I also want her to be proud that slaves pretty much built all of the amazing things that our state has to offer. I want her to know how strong they were to deal with what they had. I also want to tell her all of these things in the right time and when she's ready to hear them. On the way to Mount Vernon that day I tried to bring up the subject. I tried to tell her that some people treat other people differently because of the way they look. Some people treat people differently because they are bigger, for example. Also, some people treat people differently because of the color of their skin. She was interested in this. We talked a little about it. I told her that in today's world that most people know that it's wrong to treat a person differently because of the color of their skin. I told her that it's against the law to treat a person differently because of the color of their skin but that doesn't stop everyone. We talked about how a long time ago that it wasn't against the law to treat someone differently and in fact that places like Mount Vernon had people with brown skin like hers and kept them as slaves, meaning they didn't get paid. She was pretty quiet during this part and I'm not sure that she really understood so I just told her that was very very bad and that she should be proud that people with brown skin did so much to build and run Mount Vernon even though some very bad people had put them in that position and even though George Washington was great that it was very very bad that he owned slaves. At this point I know it was over her head. I hope that a little of it seeped in though and we'll talk about it again the next time it's relevant.
So... it wasn't lost on me that almost all of the activities we participated in at Mount Vernon were things that would have been performed by slaves. I tried to add that in to her now and again but she didn't really want to talk about it and that's okay.
They had candle makers.
They had a demonstration in the eight sided barn. The grain was put on the upper level and horses walked in circles on top of it separating the kernels from the stalks. The kernels would fall through the floor. The man who was in charge of the exhibit asked miss L lots of questions like, "why do you think the barn is shaped like a circle?" and miss L answered them all. Smart girl!
Miss L made butter.
She did a maze with her eyes shut (but would not hold the shoulders of a stranger in front of her).
She tried her hand at threshing flax. We learned that most of the clothing worn at Mount Vernon was linen (made of flax). Before the invention of the cotton gin, cotton had to be picked and seeded by hand which made it a really work intensive crop. The cotton grown at Mount Vernon was sold and exported rather than used because they could get such a good price for it.
She worked on combing cotton and wool.
She played games that kids would have played during the time that George Washington lived here.
...and she washed clothes with soap made on the estate. I think this was her favorite activity.
After that we explored the visitor's center a bit. Miss L got to dress up like a woman would have during that time.
Mister W dressed like George Washington himself.
...and we explored the farm.
What a great day and a great learning experience!
