1817 Schoolhouse
What were New York schools like before their reformation in the 1800's? Your students can go back in time & experience a day in school over 150 years ago. After a brief discussion of role playing and expectations of children in the 1800's, the students will mind their manners, toe the mark, and recite from original text for a costumed school teacher.

Students will be able to:

• compare and contrast the following topics as they relate to the 1817 schoolhouse, their present school, and Ashokan: the physical buildings, types of discipline, methods of learning/teaching, and subjects taught;
• describe the role of children in the early 1800's;
• realize the importance and value of education;
• evaluate their personal experiences in school and realize areas they would like to see improved;
• explain and participate in a role-play.

Indian Village
The Indian Village is a reconstruction of a typical seasonal hunting & fishing camp of the Lenape people at the time of the first contact with Europeans. The camp includes a wigwam and Big House (not an Iroquois longhouse), dugout canoe, fish drying racks, storage bins, cooking utensils, tools & trade goods. Students will be involved in daily life activities that may include games, tool making, fire building, cooking, and storytelling, with the emphasis being the lifestyle and culture of the Indian people.

Students will be able to:

• compare Native American life before and after European contact;
• list the natural resources the Lenape used in daily life and describe their usage (e.g. tools, medicinal plants, housing, etc.);
• explain and demonstrate the process of at least one Native American craft or skill (ulu making, flint and steel fires, twine making, stalking, storytelling, etc.);
• realize the common stereotypes people hold about Native Americans, past and present, and examine the consequences of these.

Trapper's Cabin
Hike to the reconstructed 1895 Western trapper's cabin in the woods and learn about the life of the woodsman. The conservation vs. preservation schools of thought are discussed, as well as natural resource management, historic and economic aspects of trapping, types of traps, the life and hardships of the trapper, and trapping today.

Students will be able to:

• describe the life of a typical trapper and his role in the fur trade;
• explain how and why the fur trade affected the population of beavers and other fur bearing animals;
• evaluate the positive and negative impacts of trapping;
• list the different types of animal signs and identify them in the field.

1830 Homestead
Students experience the "Age of Homespun" at our pioneer homestead. They hike out to visit the log house & join the daily life of the Homesteader. Activities change with the season, and may include: cooking, spinning, shingle splitting, wood cutting, and games of the era. This class is scheduled to run into free time.

Homestead Afternoon: The activity described above can also be offered as a two period/three-and- a-half-hour option for the entire group (< 60 students) or two afternoons for larger groups. The activities would be set up as stations, with all students getting each activity. This will be planned to run rain or shine, so make sure the students are prepared!

Students will be able to:

• describe the daily, and/or seasonal, tasks of a typical homesteader (e.g. cooking, tool work, wool processing) and participate in some of these chores;
• compare and contrast the life of a homesteader and life today, evaluating the benefits and hardships of homestead life (e.g. roles of men and women, technology, community, health, etc.);
• list the historical reasons for the homestead/homespun era.

Cemetery Hike
A small local cemetery with graves dating back to the early 1800's provides a place to hike to for math, history or language arts activities as well as discussions of old time traditions and population dynamics.

Students will be able to:

• examine gravestones within a cemetery and hypothesize about the lifestyle and living conditions of the people;
• relate the stories of some of the people buried in the cemetery in order to have a better understanding of the local history;
• understand death's role in the cycle of life.