Garden School Tattler

I'm back - just. It was a splendid few days away, and Katy and I enjoyed everything we did. The thing I enjoyed most was the antiquity, and I realized it is possible to live well in the 21st century and still surround yourself with the past. The question is why would anyone want to do that? And I think the answer is "so don't forget."

The struggle, the work, the human effort put into the life unforgotten in all those places is without measure, and it is through this example that we can best grow into the best people we can be.

In this very modern city children were lost. The historic places like Mount Vernon had not a single thing to say about children. Who were the children? Nobody knew. From reading, I know that the children were a very important part of our founding parent's lives, and yet one would little guess that today with the restoration efforts.

Bridging the gap between history reclaimed and history in the classroom is hard sometimes, that's why the little domestic things are so important. I carefully studied the homes, the art work on the walls, the little things children would have held dear, and the configuration of rooms that they would have run about in. I know the history because I've read it, but I wanted to see the places and Katy and I managed to visit some of them including Mount Vernon - picture.

We visited Mount Vernon. The farm was really interesting. It all began with four rooms smaller than mine at home. Washington had slaves. Two did the washing, and six did the knitting and more did the cooking and the household chores. It was a way of life. More about the trip later.

This month in school is music month. We'll spend the whole month working on the concepts of music. Yesterday we talked about instruments. Today we will learn to play some.

It was hard getting back to work yesterday, but we managed rather nicely.