For the past two school weeks , Lana has been "Virginia Harris," a name chosen for her by her teacher. (Totally a coincidence!) Every year the fourth graders end the school year by simulating an old fashioned school called Apple Valley. It takes place in 1886. For you American Girl fans, this is during Kirsten's time.
Lana was part of the Harris family. She was a twin to Victoria Harris and a sister to twin boys, Thaddeus and Theodore. Their father was a doctor and they lived in town. They were not rich, however, as their father was usually given payment of an animal or food of some kind for his services.
Each day the children earned points toward their Apple Valley graduation. One way they could earn points was to dress up in an old fashioned way. I was delighted to find my old GunneSax dress in my cedar chest. My mom loved this dress and probably spent more on it than she "should have" at the time! So, it was super fun to use it again. Lana liked to wear it to school. She was reading a Kirsten book and came up with the cool hair-do. We only did that one a few times. It was a bit more labor intensive than most school mornings allowed!
Another way they could earn points was to interview older people about their school days. They could bring in old items or an apple for the teacher. Good grades earned points as well as clean fingernails and good behavior. The children could also LOSE points by talking out of turn, not standing up before they spoke, being dealt a "fate" card, etc.
It's a fun program! To end it all, a graduation ceremony was held. The children did some reciting, we played drop the handkercheif, and ate apple crisp (made from all the donated apples!!)
Here is a picture of a few of the Apple Valley children as they were reciting their old fashioned poems and stories at the graduation...
