PIONEER CABIN PROGRAM

The Pioneer Cabin Program is a full school day experience which is an important part of the district's elementary social studies curriculum. The program centers around an authentic log cabin which has been reconstructed at the Center. This program was also developed over 30 years ago to allow young children to have a series of first-hand experiences to help them understand what pioneer life was like in Michigan at the time when the city of Battle Creek was still a young, growing community.

Each morning during September and October one of the district's third grade classes comes to the Center for the Pioneer Cabin Program. The students hike down a trail to find the Cabin nestled in a heavily wooded area resembling a homestead. When the students arrive at the cabin, they meet two characters, known as Ma and Pa Merrill, who are reenacting life in 1838 and invite the students to spend the day with them. The students spend the day helping this pioneer family with a variety of daily chores.During a typical day each student might have experiences in fire building, using pioneer tools, wood working, making applesauce, preparing a stew for lunch, baking bread, making butter, making candles, and washing clothes. This approach to learning is called living history. The students observe how pioneer families obtained, cured, and stored their food and provided for their clothing needs.

Through this experience, the students soon realize life was quite different without all of the modern conveniences we enjoy today. At the conclusion of their "first-hand" experiences at the Cabin site, the students return to school with a better understanding of the lifestyle of early Michiganders and how it compares to our lifestyle today.