The Chaperone

When we first moved to Idaho 9.8 years ago, I remember thinking that I couldn't wait for my baby to be in the 4th grade so I could learn some Idaho state history. Well, time flies; my baby is in the 4th grade, learning Idaho history and teaching some to me.

Ever since Sabrina started school, I wanted to be a chaperone on a field trip - even more after Sabrina came home from the all day field trip to Zoo Boise/Julia Davis Park in the first grade when she was so excited to have sat next to the "chapperphones" on the bus. I finally got my oportunity last week when her class went to Bown House. Bown House was constructed in 1879 by Joseph Bown and family. Boise School District purchased the land that the house was built on for another elementary school and decided to renovate it to use for field trips. The house has 6 rooms in it that show off different aspects of life in 19th century Idaho. Farming, School, Kitchen, Parlor, Geography/Oregon Trail, and History/Newspaper.

In the farming room the kids got to play a game where they picked crops to plant, purchase tools that would make cultivating plants easier, pick a part-time job for Ma and Pa to do in the off season.

In the school room, there was a real live school marm with all the rules that you see in Little House on the Prairie or Anne of Green Gables. The students totally joined in the role play. In this picture, you see Sabrina having her penmanship looked at and the teacher is doing a "hygeine check" which was look at their hands and behind their ears. She was very shocked to see pink nail polish on one of the girls. They read from a reader, did math problems on a slate. Sabrina says it is hard to write in cursive on a slate.

In the kitchen, they got to pump water, churn butter (pretend), slice an apple (and then eat the slices, yum) and roll out biscuits (made out of play dough).

In the parlor, they got to dress up in period clothes. The kids were surprised that they would only have 2 pair of clothes to wear during the week. One pair for Monday-Saturday and one pair for Sunday. The girls got to work on some quilt blocks; all of them could look in the Bown family bible, and play with a moon spinner or a Jacob's ladder.

In the Geography room, they answered questions about the Oregon Trail and played a game. Mr. Bown came west first, to get rich in the gold mines, but when that didn't work out too well, he decided to move his family to Idaho to farm and make money selling stuff to the miners. In order to get back to Iowa for his family, he traveled from Boise to San Francisco to Panama to New York. I never realized that was an option I figured you'd just go backwards along the Oregon Trail.

In the Newspaper room, they learned about events that happened during the lifetime of Joseph and Temperance Bown. Like gold strikes, communication advances - Pony Express, telegraph, telephone; electric lights, automobiles, airplanes.

What a fun morning! Next time I'll have to stay at school with Sabrina and eat lunch with her.