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School Programs

Historic Hudson Valley's educational programs are designed to meet teachers' curriculum needs, support national learning standards, and take full advantage of the resources of our properties. Each of our sites has a story to tell and serves as a primary source for learning history.

Touching The Past

at Philipsburg Manor

Grades: 1-2 | Program length: 1½ hours
Admission: $7 | Group limit: 60

A touch tour oriented towards younger students. Students visit the barn/farm, activity center, mill, and other areas of the site. Depending on the season and time of day, students learn about colonial life through activities such as threshing wheat, picking and carding wool, preparing food, and touching and examining a wide variety of colonial goods.

PLEASE NOTE: Students should dress for the weather. Programs involve long periods of being outdoors or in unheated spaces and are held rain, snow, or shine.


 

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Millers and Merchants

at Philipsburg Manor

Grades: 3-5 | Program length: 1 3/4 hours 
Admission: $7 | Group limit: 60 

The program focuses on the interconnected roles of the enslaved Africans, Anglo-Dutch landowners, and tenant farmers who lived and worked within the colonial economic system. Students visit the farm, mill, activity center, and manor house where they participate in an interactive lesson that teaches them about Philipsburg Manor’s role in the developing world of international trade.

PLEASE NOTE: Students should dress for the weather. Programs involve long periods of being outdoors or in unheated spaces and are held rain, snow, or shine.

 

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Pinkster School Program

at Philipsburg Manor

Grades: 4-12 | Program length: 2 hours
Admission: $8 | Group limit: 100 

Come to Pinkster Day, a celebration of spring that was brought to the Hudson River Valley by Dutch settlers and adapted by Africans in the New World. Pinkster provided enslaved and free Africans a rare opportunity to celebrate community and preserve and enjoy their African traditions. Classes hear African folk tales and participate in African colonial dancing and African drumming workshops.

PLEASE NOTE: Students should dress for the weather. Programs involve long periods of being outdoors or in unheated spaces and are held rain, snow, or shine.

2013 Dates: May 20-22
 

 

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Work and Community

at Philipsburg Manor

Grades: 4-7 | Program length: 2 1/2 hours
Admission: $450 per class | Group limit: 28

Students examine the structure of rural colonial society through their morning's work: farming, milling, cooking, or making cloth. Small groups of students spend an hour learning these skills and their significance to the community. The class then visits the farm, the mill, and the activity center, where their fellow students share their experiences. A snack, created by students, is included.

PLEASE NOTE: Students should dress for the weather. Programs involve long periods of being outdoors or in unheated spaces and are held rain, snow, or shine.

2013 Dates: February Only
 

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Crafts & Tasks

at Van Cortlandt Manor

Grades: 3-8 | Program length: 4½ hours 
Admission: $18 | Group limit: 80 

Students visit several stations throughout the historic property to participate in and observe 18th-century household chores, crafts, or leisure activities. This intensive, in-depth experience may include workshops in open-hearth cooking, medicine, textiles, games, tin smithing, and limner. The program is customized to meet your curriculum needs.

PLEASE NOTE: Students should dress for the weather. Programs involve long periods of being outdoors or in unheated spaces and are held rain, snow, or shine.

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Hard Work and Hand Work

at Van Cortlandt Manor

Grades: 2-5 | Program length: 3 3/4 hours 
Admission: $12 | Group limit: 300

Tin smithing, broom making, wool dyeing, candle making, and open-hearth cooking are only a few of the more than engaging, hands-on activities your students experience when they participate in this new program. This is a full, rich day filled with things to do and learn. In small groups led by museum educators, students navigate the busy landscape and gain an understanding of the skills, trades, and chores that were part of daily life on the Manor during the New Nation Era. A child-focused tour of the Manor’s historic buildings completes the educational visit. This program begins at 10:00 am and concludes at 1:45 pm, with a half-hour lunch break. (Activities may change, subject to seasonality.)

PLEASE NOTE: Students should dress for the weather. Programs involve long periods of being outdoors or in unheated spaces and are held rain, snow, or shine.

2013 Dates: April 17-19, May 15-17, June 5-7, 10-12

Through Young Eyes: 18th-Century Community

at Van Cortlandt Manor

Grades: K-2 | Program length: 1½ hours 
Admission: $8 | Group limit: 30

The young child is inspired to compare his or her life with that of children from the past. Students explore the different roles of the people who lived on the manor: the Van Cortlandts, the enslaved Africans, tenant farmers, and craftsmen. A hands-on tour offers the student a chance to churn butter, pick and card wool, and try on clothing of the period.

PLEASE NOTE: Students should dress for the weather. Programs involve long periods of being outdoors or in unheated spaces and are held rain, snow, or shine.

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Reflections of Everyday Life

at Van Cortlandt Manor

Grades: 3-11 | Program length: 2 hours
Admission: $9 | Group limit: 80

Discover how citizens in early America met their fundamental needs. Students explore the physical and cultural aspects of daily life through a site tour and hands-on workshop(s). Workshops may include open-hearth cooking, medicine, and textiles.

PLEASE NOTE: Students should dress for the weather. Programs involve long periods of being outdoors or in unheated spaces and are held rain, snow, or shine.

This program features two workshops per student.

 

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Every Window Tells a Story: Matisse & Chagall

at Union Church of Pocantico Hills

Grades: 3-8 | Program length: 1 1/4 hours
Admission: $7 | Group limit: 30

Students learn about the history of the stained glass windows at Union Church and about Henri Matisse and Marc Chagall, the artists who designed the stained glass windows. Students then carry out a guided interpretation of the windows, geared to their age and ability, followed by an art workshop where they create their own stained glass designs.