In Social Studies this week, second graders began our study of the town of Montclair. Before we delve into what makes our town unique today, each class visited the Montclair Historical Society in the Israel Crane House right up the street from Brookside campus! We learned what life was like in the town over 200 years ago when the Crane family lived there and helped to grow the town of Montclair. After getting an understanding of how life was different by building a timeline with our bodies, we entered the museum to see inside the house. We saw furniture in bedrooms, the living room, and the dining room. Without electricity and plumbing, life in the house was very different from what we know now! We learned about the hard work servants had to do in the kitchen to feed the family too. They churned butter and cream, dried herbs, and over an open fire, they cooked vegetables from the garden. It was not easy to run the house. Finally, we visited the General Store and the schoolhouse where certain children learned. Our docent, Ms. Angelica, acted as our teacher and taught us the way students learned 200 years ago. It certainly made us miss our classrooms and iPads! Overall, the trip was exciting and an opportunity to step back in time.
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