Who Am I?

Our local homeschool group organizes a history fair every year.  The kids can present a person or event from history in any way they choose.  Many will wear costumes and tell the audience about the person, ending with, "Who am I?"  Others come with posters or food cooked from that era.  One creative brother/sister team even did a puppet show, complete with homemade puppets.  But first, its location was full of history in and of itself.

 

The Jefferson Market Library in Greenwich Village is a beautiful Victorian Gothic building constructed in 1875.  It was a civil courthouse, a prison, and a market.  What is now the Children's Room was originally the police court where prisoners would be brought.

Ella's friend Finn as Thomas Jefferson

Twenty kids presented, including Ella.  Holden, unsurprisingly, who is too shy to order his own meal from a waitress, wasn't going to get anywhere near the stage.

We were really proud of Ella who had spent the last two weeks researching and writing her first full report on Charles Darwin.  Anytime I can get science involved, whether it's history or math or composition, she's much more interested.

Ella stood in front of a room filled with about 60 parents and kids and read her first person narrative of Darwin and had the audience guess who she was.

She was presented with an award and a pocket microscope, very apropos.  For as shy as she comes across, she never shies away from participating in public speaking or performing, which I find so confusing.

We celebrated properly with ice cream sundaes and an afternoon exploring the Village.

And to continue with our history theme, we're off on a historical adventure to explore Charleston, South Carolina and Savannah, Georgia (and everything in between) for the next week.  The kids have been studying slavery and the Civil War for the last few months and we're really excited to visit a plantation, Fort Sumter, and many Civil War sites over the Thanksgiving week.  I'll try to post while we're away.

Meanwhile, I hope you people have a happy and safe Thanksgiving yourselves.  Much love.  xoxo