Since Will's latest school project is based on local tourist spots, we have taken a few days here and there to tour our own town. Last Saturday, our family headed to the McClendon House. We had a tour guide show us through the historic home, and we asked her for the kid-friendly version. I think that meant she left out some of the details to keep it at their attention level. It was a neat home full of antiques that most recently belonged to White House reporter Sarah McClendon.
That same day, we went to the Rose Gardens. Though we have visited the gardens many times, we have not ever been while all the roses were blooming. It was beautiful!! (... and that word just doesn't say enough.) All the kids took turns snapping photos of the vibrant flora, and I was pleasantly surprised that some of the shots they got were great (Jon's photo is of the red roses, Will's is the yellow one with a bee)! We toured the Rose Museum for the first time; Maddie enjoyed all the gorgeous bejeweled gowns, the boys had fun with all the halls and rooms the museum had.
At the end of the week, Will and I took a Tour of Tyler field trip with others from his school. The walking tour was similar to so many I've taken in other cities, but I hadn't taken a tour of Tyler yet. We stopped and read many of the historic markers around the downtown square, went inside the Smith County History Museum, stopped in an interesting antique store, heard about a shoot out, peeked into the windows of the underground tunnels between the jail and courthouse, and listened to many other tales of history. We ended the tour at the Cotton Belt Depot Museum that we visited a couple weeks before.
It has been interesting to be acting like a tourist in the town we visit almost daily. I've learned a bit more about local history -- both real and legendary. I've enjoyed seeing the sites through the eyes of children.
Will wrapped up the project today, and Allen and I were able to attend the Community Fair that his school presented. The students looked sharp and they were so proud of their projects! Will's station was at the front of his class's room about West Tyler. He stood near the door passing out brochures and answering questions about about community attractions such as those we visited. Several of his group projects were throughout the room. The brochures were part of the English and Language Arts class. The science aspect included collages of different types of erosion in West Tyler and salt-dough land form models of the area. In math, the kids created maps of the area with coordinates, calculate the area and perimeters of the region and areas within it, and give directions for how to get from one place to another. For art, each student had a sketch book with some art history, but also sketches of the area -- Will's class had drawn scenes from the zoo and rose gardens. Also, around the room were different posters that had been hanging for the several weeks the kids worked on this set of projects.
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