Finally, A Pioneer Day for Janae

Three years ago, when Ben was in Grade 3, he had a "Pioneer Day" at school, where the kids got to dress in old-fashioned clothes and play games from the early 1900s.  They had been learning about their Canadian heritage, and this was a sort of celebration of that unit.

 

 

Janae was in kindergarten at the time, and didn't get to dress up, but she was still involved with an 80th anniversary celebration the school was having that day, where they sang songs about the school's history and got to go into the old school house--which is still on the grounds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also on that day, Janae started planning what she would wear three years later when SHE was in Grade 3 :)

 

Janae loves anything old-fashioned or antique.  Her grandma has several "fancy" things like porcelain dolls, and other items that people used long ago, and I have shown her movies like Anne of Green Gables and Sense and Sensibility, which immediately became some of her favorites.  Once I took her to a store that sold vintage décor, and she has been asking to go back ever since.

 

She likes to dress up in old-style clothes any chance she gets, even if it's a hot day--

 

 

and will play "olden days," even if it means doing extra work.

 

 

When she picked an American Girl doll, her choice was Caroline from the 1800s, and she loves all the old-style clothes, shoes, etc. that go with her.

 

 

Needless to say, if there are vintage dresses on display--they will get her attention.

 

 

So, when yesterday finally rolled around--and Janae got to dress up like a pioneer and visit a 1920s village museum with HER Grade 3 class, she was ready.

 

 

Grandma made her the perfect dress, and let her borrow the hat she had picked out for the occasion three years earlier.  It was so cute seeing all the kids lined up to go into school, dressed in their pioneer clothes.

 

 

BUT the part of the story that was not expected came afterwards.  When I picked Janae up from school yesterday, her teacher told me that at the museum school house there is a very strict teacher.  She told the group that in the olden days kids did things like memorize Shakespeare.  Then she asked if anyone knew any Shakespeare. 

 

Janae--who, though loud and confident at home, is often soft-spoken or even shy at school--put up her hand.  The teacher then asked her if she could recite something, and Janae rattled off Sonnet #18 in its entirety ("Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? . . .).  The woman at the museum told Janae's teacher that in all her years of taking classes through, she had never heard anyone do anything like that.  Janae's teacher told me everyone had goosebumps.

 

So . . . Janae could actually pass for a pioneer girl, not just by her looks, but by her knowledge.  

 

What a great experience for her to have on her long-awaited Pioneer Day!