Homeschool Field Trips

We had a couple of field trips last week with our homeschool group.  The first was on Thursday, the 15th, to a Civil War Exhibit in Pella that focused on Marion County's Civil war involvement.  It was free and very informative.

They had a children's area with a simulated camp area set up.  And then Ephraim was picked to wear an army hat during a pretend march.  

An exhibit of what the women did during the war:  canned food, made blankets, prepared bandages and wrote letters.

A big mural of Andersonville Prison.

Many exhibit cases to check out.  

Some original, one-of-a-kind letters, only located here.  These letters were part of the effort to send messages among the generals.  Some were in code, too.

Guns and wooden bullets.

Info on the Battle of Shiloh.

I'd have to say that it was very interesting and I could have stayed there longer and read all the letters and posters, but we took  in what we could considering the ages of my kids and the subject matter being a bit more mature.  

The next day, Friday the 16th,  we had the opportunity to attend a free musical, The Berenstain Bears.

It was a cute, one-hour story about stranger danger, good eating habits and manners.  The children enjoyed it and it was free.  That's a win-win in my book!