Education Programs
The Haddam Historical Society offers five education programs for students in the Elementary and Middles Schools. Based on the Social Studies curriculum of Regional District 17, each program makes history come alive by inviting students to explore and reenact a period of the past. Many of the activities take place in and around the Thankful Arnold House Museum, the home of the Haddam Historical Society.

For further information, contact: Sarah Neal, Education Director at the Haddam Historical Society. (860) 345-2400; education@haddamhistory.org

GRADE TWO

October & November

Mrs. Arnold’s House and Neighborhood*

Second graders enter the home of Mrs. Thankful Arnold, and each student makes a booklet showing the three construction phases of the house. The entire class creates a mural-sized map of Mrs. Arnold’s 19 th century neighborhood. A hand-on activity invites students to examine obsolete household items and discuss their uses.

Curriculum connection : Social Studies - Maps: compare community to map of community, identify and locate places on map, know directions; Neighborhoods/Communities: define a neighborhood and community, recognize families as community groups.

* This program received an Award of Merit from the Connecticut League of History Organizations.

GRADE THREE

April to June

History of Your Town

1. Students take part in a Haddam or Killingworth History Scavenger Hunt. They search for local historical riches, such as examples of houses, churches, schoolhouses, graves, stone walls, signs of transportation, even trees dating to the 18 th and 19 th centuries. A coordinator from the Haddam Historical Society will introduce this activity and its guidelines to the class.

Curriculum connection : Social Studies: Communities of yesterday: familiarity with the history of local community, use and creation of time lines.

Haddam Center Tour

2. Students visit six sites relating to Haddam history and government. The Thankful Arnold House, Courthouse Green, The Ancient Burial Yard, and Brainerd Academy all reveal pieces of Haddam’s past. At the Town Office Building students learn about Haddam’s present. Curriculum connection: Social Studies - Community Government and Services: job of the Board of Selectmen, what a town meeting is; Communities of yesterday and today: familiarity with history of local community.

GRADE FOUR

May & June

A Connecticut Schoolhouse

Fourth graders step back 200 years when they enter the door of Killingworth’s fully restored Union District Schoolhouse. Students experience first-hand a one-room schoolhouse with activities such as a spelling bee, writing on slates, map work, oral recitation, and outdoor games at recess. This program is offered in conjunction with the Killingworth Historical Society. Curriculum connection: The History of Connecticut: role of Connecticut as leader in education from Colonial period on; Noah Webster’s contribution to state and nation.

GRADE FIVE

March & April

Life in an Early American Home

Girls and boys of today discover how different their roles were in the Early America. Girls stitch a mini-sampler and realize the importance of their domestic skills. Boys make a kite and learn how many chores outside the home depended on them. Curriculum connection: Social Studies - General Geography: regions of the US; use and creation of time line; New England Colonies and Revolutionary War (home life).

 

Program	Time Length
Neighborhood Map and Picture Book (Grade 2)	2 hours
History of Your Town (Grade 3)	independent
Haddam Center Tour (Grade 3)	½ day
The Union District Schoolhouse (Grade 4)	1½ hours
Cross-stitch and Kites (Grade 5)	2 hours

To request an educational brochure or register for a program, please contact Sarah Neal, coordinator of the Education Programs at the Haddam Historical Society 345-4972 or education@haddamhistory.org