Gwendolyn the The Blacksmith's Apprentice

My name is Gwendolyn. I am an apprentice to Mr. James, the Blacksmith. James builds things using iron such as 'shoes' for horses and oxen. He is also a dentist. He has only one cure for toothaches: pulling the tooth out!!! I am learning how to use a cone mandrel so I can make iron rings.

I am the son of a slave

Hi my name is Johnathan Richardson. My father and I are slaves to the White family.
I work in the fields with my father, James Richardson. I never met my Mother. She was sent to another family. Today, in the field, I picked corn. I had to shuck it too. My dad was whipped for not shucking enough corn. Then I had to pick the seasonings. It was hard to find the right herbs. I could see slaves trapped in cages like wild animals. When ever I walked through the town, I can see slaves getting beaten. One day I was walking and saw a man beaten to death.Another day I saw a slave trampled by a horse. It is very upsetting. I know I can never be bad because I don't want a beating. I wish I could run away but I would never leave my father

How to be a gunsmith By Jeremiah

Dear Readers
Hello my name is Jeremiah. I am an apprentice to Mr.John, the gunsmith. When you are a gunsmith you make guns and gun barrels. It is hard work, you have to be in a metal shop mixing gunpowder and working with hot metals. But also it's fun

To be an apprentice to a gunsmith is to make metal and fix broken guns. You have to work with gunpowder which can be dangerous. It takes a lot of hammering to forge metal into a gun barrel.
When I'm a grown up I will make guns in the army for the Patriots against the bad king.
Being a Gunsmith is a very responsible job.

Sincerely
Jeremiah.

How to be a gunsmith

Abagail, the basket maker's apprentice

My name is Abigail. I am an apprentice to Ms.Malory, the basket maker. A basket maker weaves and cuts reeds and wood to make baskets for every one to have.

I am learning how to weave baskets, cut reeds and wood, chop trees for wood, and pick reeds. 'Tis hard to make a basket. There are lots of accidents that could happen like a reed breaking and you can get cut. Some day I will be a great basket maker.

Mallory, the apothocary's apprentice

My name is Mallory. I am apprentice to Mr. Bartholamew, the town apothocary. An apothocary makes and prescribes medicine to sick townspeople. I'm learning how to use spices the right ways, chopping the herbs, mixing liquids with spices, baking the medicines, and putting them on the shelves, ready to buy. Then, because I was so good, we made treats with buttermilk, cinnamon, and vanilla flowers. We made caramels! yum!!! I took some of the caramels home in a baggy. I'm so excited to be an apothocary.

Zacharia the silversmith

My name is Zacharia.

In am an apprentice to Mr.Shorts, the silversmith. I work at a place called The Silver Shop.

A silver smith makes silverware and cups.

I am learning how to make utensils. You mold or beat the cup into a shape with a hammer. I melt it in graphite in a clay crucible to about 2,000 degrees. I pour the liquid silver into a tallow greased, sorted cast iron mold to produce an ingot. Using a large hammer, I would hot forge the ingot into a billet- thick sheet which I then cut into a circle. It is a hard job to do.

Apprentice Priscilla

My name is Priscilla. I am an apprentice to Ms. Tammy the town tailor.

A tailor sews and makes clothes for all the townspeople.

I am learning how to make a hooped petticoat, how to thread a needle, cut fabric, make garments fit and to tighten stays.

I feel very great and excited about being a tailor. When I grow up I want to be the best tailor in town.

I love the colonial america blog From Andrew Isaacson

From the diary of "Malory" McClain

Dear diary,

This morning I wanted to play but my baby sister Abigail woke up with a BAD fever and I had to do all the chores for mother. I milked the cow, took some eggs from the chicken coop, and made breakfast. Later, Mother and I made some medicine for Abigail by boiling up our dried herbs and mashing them until they were a creamy mixture. The baby hates it so we fill up a corn bread piece and close it up so when she eats it she eats the herbs at the same time. It makes her feel better. After the baby has settled down, Mother and I start to prepare dinner. We are having corn and fish with a drink of apple cider. When we fall asleep, Mother makes breakfast for tomorrow. It was a hard day.

How to Make a Whirligig

(SEE VIDEO BELOW OF WHIRLIGIG DEMO!!!)

In colonial days children would make their own toys to play with. Whirligigs are fun to play with and easy to make. This is how we did it:

First: Trace two circles the same size on hard paper

Second: Cut out the circles with scissors.

Third: Glue them together.

Fourth: Make cool designs on both sides of the circle.

Fifth: Make two holes in the center of the circle.

Sixth: Put a string through the holes and tie the two ends together

( Instructions By Andrew " Zacharia" Isaacson

From the Diary of "Nathaniel" Kerner

I've been invited to go hunting with my father and Uncle Tom and my cousins. We had to wake up very early. It was a long walk in the woods my Dad and Uncle Tom had to wait for hours. On the way, I saw many geese and then me and dad saw a turkey with a giant head. I took an aim and killed the turkey. It was my first shot and I got it. I was excited and my Dad was proud. We walked home through the woods . It was a long walk. When we got home it was dark. Mother prepared the turkey to roast.

From the Diary of Jerimiah Weinstein

Tuesday, January 12th, 1675

My name is Jerimiah. I had a good day today. I studied my letters on the hornbook. Later I went outside with my friends Jonathan and Zacharia and we had foot races. Jonathan won. He's the fastest of all of us. After, I went fishing with my father at a little pond in the forest. We waited a long time but, in the end, I finally caught a fish. It was a beautiful shiney big trout! My father and I brought the fish home. The family was really proud of us for catching such a big fish. We decided to have it for dinner. We boiled it in a big pot in the hearth and added herbs. It tasted really good, what a family treat! Dad let me light the candles when it got dark. When the girls were cleaning, I played on the floor with my little sister and brother. We played with my marbles and then played hide and seek. When we got tired we curled up in bed and watched the fire die down

From the diary of "Gwendolyn" Albers

Dear Diary,


I woke up at the crack o' dawn this morning.I got out of bed and I was surprised to see Bartholomew, my younger brother, up before me. He looked starved, and was wondering what's for breakfast. "Good morning, sister......." he said in a weak voice as I passed by him. I stepped out the door and fetched some eggs from the chicken coop. There weren't too many eggs, since we forgot to gather some one day. We didn't pay too much attention.....and so most of the eggs hatched. We weren't too happy to find out that there wasn't much food for us to eat, but we at least got to keep the chicks. Then I went to draw a large jug of water from the stream. Then I went back home. Then Bartholomew and I both had breakfast. After I ate, I looked at our old clock that we bought before we left Europe. "We're late for school!" I said. "We must hurry!" We then ran off as fast as our little legs could carry. In a few minutes, Bartholomew and I arrived at Dameschool. "Welcome to class, darlings!" a voice said. "Please sit down!" I realized it was the Schoolmaster's voice. "Young ones, I'd be happy if you introduce yourselves!" she told us. "My name's Gwendolyn-" I couldn't finish my sentience. "And who is this fine gentleman you have with you?" the woman asked. "This is my brother, Bartholomew." I replied. "Hey there!" the little boy said. "I'm so glad to meet you two!" "My, I should have introduced myself!" the teacher told us. My name's Rebbecca." "And here are our wonderful students!" "...?" I interrupted. "Oh, apologies for those big words." " So, Here are our pupils." she told us. "This is Priscilla." she pointed to one of the children. "And here we have Nathaniel, Malory, Jeremiah, Abagail, Johnathan, Zacharia, Peter, Felicity and Amelia." You'll be wearing these." she told us. She handed me a bonnet and an apron. She handed my brother a breech and a vest. "Okay, now let's begin our first lesson." The Schoolmaster said. She gave us some books. "This is the New England Primer." she said. "Use these books for class." she told us. "Now, Let's flip to page 4." "This rhyme uses the letter D." "Can you find it in this poem?" She flipped to the fourth page in the book. 'A dog will bite a thief at night' was written in the book. I tried to read it. I was reading below grade level, so this was quite a challenge for me. ".........A-a-a.....dog....w-w-will....bit-t-ttttte.........a
th-th-thief......a-a-atttt...........n-n-night-t-t." I finished the sentence. "That's pretty good...-" the schoolmaster said. The day wasn't that bad after all!

From the diary of "Abigaill " Losak

Tuesday January 12th 1645

Dear Diary
Tis such a busy day. Early in the morning,I worked on a quilt with Mallory, Gwendolyn, and Priscilla. The quilt was pink and violet and stiched with red thread.

Later I went to Dame school at Ms. Miss Mandorly's house. We read a book called " Sailing Through" and studied our letters on our hornbook. At the end of the school day, I went home with my friends Bartholomew and Gwendolyn. We had to walk through the woods and past Mr. James' beautiful flower garden filled with red red roses and calalillies in bloom. When I got home, I had to help my parents move some furniture around in my new home. My 4 brothers and 5 sisters are all sleeping in the same corner. We have two big blankets to cover us up at night. For dinner, I helped Mother make corn chowder which we had with some hot corn bread. While we were eating, Grandpa came in with this big slimy fish he had caught in the creek. He put it up to boil in the big iron pot we had on the fire. After that, my cousins came back from the well with a big bucket of water that we used to clean up the dishes after dinner. After helping clean up, my Aunt and Uncle came over with a pretty pink shawl and I tried it on and it fit perfectly. Then I went on the matress and squeezed in with my siblings to get comfortable for the night.

Today 5-4 learned that it's very difficult to make hand-dipped candles like they did in Colonial times. It takes a lot of time and you have to be very patient and careful.

FIRST you have to melt the wax (we did it in a microwave, the colonists did it over a fire)

NEXT, once it has turned to liquid, you dip your wick quickly into the melted wax.

THEN, you dip it into cold water so it can become solid

Then you do the same thing again and again and again and again and....

It took a really long time for our candles to even look like candles. Now they are about the size of a little birthday candle.

(written by Marshall, Holly, Luke and Josh-AKA Jonathan, Priscilla, Nathaniel and Jeremiah)

Behavior expected of Colonial Children

In Colonial days children weren’t given as much freedom as they are today. In fact, at a very young age children were expected to act like grown-ups, with grown-up responsibilities and jobs. By the time a child was 3 years old, he dressed in the same style clothes as his/her parents, just a smaller size, Girls were expected to help out with their mother's chores around the house like cooking and cleaning and sewing and mending and caring for the younger siblings. Boys were expected to help out in the barns with their fathers, in the fields and, once they learned how to use a gun, to help out hunting.

While little children had adult responsibilities they didn’t always get adult privileges. At the dinner table, children were not allowed to sit on the few chairs in the house. They had to stand the whole meal. They weren’t permitted to talk during meals either. That was something only adults could do.

At school, if a child wasn’t concentrating, he or she could be punished and embarrassed. Sometimes teachers even hit children with a switch (a stick) if they weren’t listening or doing their work. If a teacher thought a child was being lazy or disrespectful, the child would often be put in a corner wearing a big cone shaped hat with the work “Dunce” on it. Sometimes, the child also had to wear a sign around the neck that said something about the child being bad or lazy.

Even though we've learned that in many basic ways the lives of children in Colonial Days weren't so different than the lives of children now, as far as discipline and decorum was concerned , the lives of children was very different then than it is now.

Ms. Felicity

How to make corn bread with whole corn and currents

(In colonial days corn would be left out in the sun to dry then it would be taken to a mill where it would be ground into meal or grainy powder. nowadays we can buy corn meal in packages and even cornbread meal which has added sugar and baking soda in it.)

Buy a packet of cornbread mix. follow the directions on the packet, after mixing in liquids add a half a bag of frozen corn to bowl and a half a cup of currents and mix thoroughly. Bake at the specified temperature and time.

From the diary of "Zacheria" Issacson

Andrew

Today I went hunting for the first time with my brother Jonathan, my Dad, my Grandpa, and my Uncle. We got up very early. I put on my hunting clothes that are green so that the animals can’t see me. I got my first gun. We went to the woods, it was very scary. It was freezing outside. We had to wait for two hours until we saw a turkey. When the turkey came, it tried to run away when he heard us, but we shot it. Then it was time to go home and cook it for dinner. On the way back I saw my friends Jeremiah, Pricilla, and Mallory. They were proud of me. I had a great day.


Love, Zacheria

From the Diary of "Jonathan " Richardson

Marshall


Today was my first day hunting. I got up and got dressed in my hunting suit, grabbed my musket and went out to catch dinner. My dad and I went into the woods to meet my uncles and kill my first turkey. We walked a long way until we came across our first turkey. And then we tip toed to it so that it would not see us. Then we loaded up our muskets. I felt kind of excited. My Dad said that he would take this shot to show me how to do it. So, he loaded up his musket and aimed and shot. He got the turkey straight in the head. He felt great. And then we walked a little while longer and we found a whole lot of turkeys so we tip toed again and my Dad said this time, “Try to get one.” So I loaded up my musket and took like twenty shots. “I got one!!!!!” So we ran to the turkey that I shot we tied it up and carried it back. Then we took the feathers off and got the meat out. Then we all gathered around the fire place and ate our turkey.

From the Diary of "Priscilla" Shaum

Tuesday, January 12th, 1645, 8pm

Dear Diary,

I woke up at 6am. I had to milk the cow and collect the eggs from the chicken coop. I helped mom make eggs for breakfast in a heavy iron skillet I held over the fireplace. Then I went to wake up my little siblings Peter and Abigail. When I finished washing the wooden dishes in the basin I left and then I walked to school with Zacharia. When we got to Dame School I sat next to Malory and Gwendolyn. We kept reading our book The Way To Sail. Our school teacher Ms. Felicity is rich so she can afford books. Not many people are rich in Plymouth. The book reminds me about sailing from England. We also studied our alphabet on our hornbooks. This is my last year in Dame School. I'm going to miss my friends. After Dame School was over I walked home with Jeremiah. Me and Jeremiah are neighbors so we usually walk home from Dame School together. When I got home Dad and Peter came back from fishing. Peter is too young to go to school so he's home all day doing chores. Abigail is just a baby so she can't go to school either. I helped mom fry salmon in the heavy iron skillet over the fire. After dinner me and Peter played marbles. Abigail watched us. After that I worked on my quilt a little. Then I went to sleep with Peter and Abigail.

Priscilla

What is a hornbook?

In colonial days, instead of notebooks, children carried hornbooks around with them to study with. A hornbook was made from wood and was shaped like an eight inch square with a handle and a loop to carry it around the neck. It's called a hornbook because on top of their paper notes was attached a thin piece of horn to protect it.

(written by Leila, Andrew and Luke)

How to Make a Bonnett

Step 1: Find a piece of fabric and cut out a circle witha 16 inch diameter.

Step 2: Draw a circle 2 +1/2 inches from the edge of the circle.

Step 3: Make small cuts with a scissor every 1+1/2 inches around that inner circle.

Step 4: With a ribbon that fits through the slits, weave in and out of the slits , pull to pleat and knot at the end.