GCVM December 12, 2013

Today we went to the Genesee Country Village Museum for their Christmas homeschooling days. We have been looking forward to this field trip since October. We were supposed to go there for a Cider making event in October, but it got cancelled because of the weather.  Today, I had to bundle up in layers so that I would be warm enough. It was only 9 degrees outside and snowy. I was so glad when mom told me it did not get cancelled.

 We waited for the other homeschoolers to arrive for 30 minutes. Then our guide took us to an old barn, where we made crackers full of candy, like people did in the 18^th century. Crackers were toilet paper rolls wrapped in tissue paper and decorated pretty. Inside the roll was candy. People from England used to make these holiday treats.

Then, we went to an old house and someone talked about how Christmas began and some of the older Christmas traditions. Before Christmas was ever the celebration of Jesus, people celebrated the winter solstice and the coming of spring. Some people went crazy during this festival. They would go around town and ring bells and yell. We got to do this too!

We stopped into another house next door. There was an old lady there who grew up in Germany. She was dressed as if she lived in the 18^th century too. She taught us about the first Christmas trees and how they were first to celebrate Adam and Eve’s birth. We saw many hand-made decorations.

               After lunch, we went to an old-fashioned General Store. It had a wood-stove in the center, and it was warmer than the other buildings. We all went immediately to the stove to warm up our hands. The storekeeper told us about all the different items that would be sold in a General Store in the 18^th century. They had a lot of stuff there, such as fabric, buckets, marbles, watering cans, wooden toys, and mail boxes. The General Store was also the post office.

          We walked to the church next. We sang Christmas carols and learned some of the carols history. For example, the song Silent Night was first a poem that a man made up when he was taking a night-time stroll on a cold, clear night. His friend came over and made up guitar music to with the poem because the organ in the church was broken.

          Our last stop was an old house from Rochester NY. There, a man read “Twas the Night Before Christmas” to us. A guy was dressed up as St. Nick, the way that he used to dress. We saw some pictures of different ways that St. Nick is thought of in other countries and long ago.

          We didn’t get to do the last activity, which was dancing, because we had to come home to meet the little kids’ bus. I learned a lot about old Christmas traditions today. I felt cold, but I thought it was worth bravi

Today we went to the Genesee Country Village Museum for their Christmas homeschooling days. We have been looking forward to this field trip since October. We were supposed to go there for a Cider making event in October, but it got cancelled because of the weather.  Today, I had to bundle up in layers so that I would be warm enough. It was only 9 degrees outside and snowy. I was so glad when mom told me it did not get cancelled.

 We waited for the other homeschoolers to arrive for 30 minutes. Then our guide took us to an old barn, where we made crackers full of candy, like people did in the 18^th century. Crackers were toilet paper rolls wrapped in tissue paper and decorated pretty. Inside the roll was candy. People from England used to make these holiday treats.

Then, we went to an old house and someone talked about how Christmas began and some of the older Christmas traditions. Before Christmas was ever the celebration of Jesus, people celebrated the winter solstice and the coming of spring. Some people went crazy during this festival. They would go around town and ring bells and yell. We got to do this too!

We stopped into another house next door. There was an old lady there who grew up in Germany. She was dressed as if she lived in the 18^th century too. She taught us about the first Christmas trees and how they were first to celebrate Adam and Eve’s birth. We saw many hand-made decorations.

               After lunch, we went to an old-fashioned General Store. It had a wood-stove in the center, and it was warmer than the other buildings. We all went immediately to the stove to warm up our hands. The storekeeper told us about all the different items that would be sold in a General Store in the 18^th century. They had a lot of stuff there, such as fabric, buckets, marbles, watering cans, wooden toys, and mail boxes. The General Store was also the post office.

          We walked to the church next. We sang Christmas carols and learned some of the carols history. For example, the song Silent Night was first a poem that a man made up when he was taking a night-time stroll on a cold, clear night. His friend came over and made up guitar music to with the poem because the organ in the church was broken.

          Our last stop was an old house from Rochester NY. There, a man read “Twas the Night Before Christmas” to us. A guy was dressed up as St. Nick, the way that he used to dress. We saw some pictures of different ways that St. Nick is thought of in other countries and long ago.

          We didn’t get to do the last activity, which was dancing, because we had to come home to meet the little kids’ bus. I learned a lot about old Christmas traditions today. I felt cold, but I thought it was worth braving the weather.