Yesterday our 4th grade students took a day trip to Walnut Grove, Minnesota to visit the site of one of their favorite books: On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Below you will find a lovely recap of their trip, written by class teacher Timothy Frantzich:
The three-hour bus ride seemed to go quickly and it turned out to be a rare chance to just “be” together. Spirits were bright, treats were brought, windows were open, manure was smelled and the sun was the only thing in the blue sky.
We arrived in Walnut Grove around 11:00 am, and our guides Hazel, Joel and Abbie jumped in the bus and we immediately headed for the Dugout Site and Plum Creek. The guide started in as we drove away from town, “this is the exact path walked each day my Mary and Laura as they went to and from school… 1.5 miles.”
When we arrived at the little car park we stepped out into an open, quiet, sunlit day. We were the only people for a mile in any direction. Our guides told us how Laura’s family lived, children asked questions, ate, wrote and played. At the dugout site, we read passages out loud from On the Banks of Plum Creek. We imagined the plague of grasshoppers. We imagined an ox’s leg falling through the dugout roof. We felt the simple beauties that Laura wrote about.
After a couple hours at Plum Creek we headed to the museum where the children saw everything from an outhouse to a dugout replica to a wash “machine” to a post office to a wee schoolhouse. When all was said and done, we walked to a park and played like there was no tomorrow.
It was a blessed day which means it was a combination of deep learning, wild fun, open prairie and sunshine.
Thanks Katie for your thoughtful presence. Parents, thank you for your support: pizza, cookies, early drop off, late pick up and more.
In the new life of Springtime,
Timothy
For more photos from the trip, please visit our Facebook page.