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Oatlands’ Garden and Grounds OPEN daily 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Visitor Center now open Friday thru Sunday.
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Questions: 703-727-0670

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Oatlands

Historic House and Gardens

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Mt_Gap_School_1940 Learning about the past to make a better future

K-12 School Programs at Oatlands

Bringing children to museums [historic sites]… can help develop higher critical and creative thinking skills, which are integral to future success.”

The Importance of Taking Children to Museums
Study by the National Endowment for the Arts
https://www.arts.gov/art-works/2014/importance-taking-children-museums

Objectives:

Improve student comprehension by connecting abstract concepts to concrete places and objects.

Map to Virginia’s Standards of Learning (SOL’s).

Lessen the gap between low and high income children who visit historic sites, i.e., 20% vs 50%.

Draw on Oatlands’ unique structures, collections, and land to tell the stories and frame the narrative of race past and present.

Partner with professional development networks – scaling the curriculum to a larger number of students.


Student Achievement Research Findings:
Teaching at Historic Sites

National Trust for Historic Preservation and National Park Service in 1991:

— Real historic places generate excitement and curiosity
— Enliven traditional classroom instruction
— Turns students into historians
— Local sites often make stronger impression on students than national sites

Early Childhood Longitudinal Study by The National Center for Education Statistics:

— Low income and at-risk third graders in Reading, Mathematics, and Science scored higher if they visit museums or historic sites

American Alliance of Museums:

— Young children…begin to expand their thinking in new and complex ways.


Mt Gap School 1900s
Mt Gap School 1900s

School Programs at Oatlands
Meet Local Social Studies Goals

— Help young people make meaningful contributions…through the study of history…. Loudoun County Public Schools website

— [Students] develop the knowledge and skills…that have shaped our state and our nation in perspective… Fauquier County Public Schools website

— Students learn basic concepts of chronological time, human geography…and citizenship… Fairfax County Public Schools website


Image for property tour showing an aerial photo of the historic core of Oatlands.
An aerial photo of the historic core of Oatlands.

Oatlands Education Programs
Pre-K through 6

— 8 modules
—— 3 modules Pre-K – Grade 2
—— 3 modules Grade 2 – Grade 4
—— 2 modules Grade 3 – Grade 6
— 20 minutes to 3 hours
— Covers 81 Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL)
— Utilizes Oatlands’ buildings, collections, and land
— Interactive and hands-on
— Emphasis on History and Social Sciences with inter-disciplinary topics including Science, English, and Diversity
— 1,650 students educated in 2018


CURRICULUM

Pre-K through Grade 2
Chores, Games, and Toys

Iron, Straw broom, Ironing board
Iron, Straw broom, Ironing board

Hands-on Artifacts
(K.1.a, 1.10.a, 2.1.a)

Sharing, waiting your turn, being polite and respectful
Sharing, waiting, being polite

Civics
(K.10.a, 1.10.a, 2.11.d)

Games, American Girl doll
Games, American Girl doll

Past and Present
(K.1.g, 1.1.g)

Pre-K through Grade 2
The Life of a Strawberry

Plant Life Cycle
Plant Life Cycle

Plant Life Cycle
(K.5, 1.4,2.4)

Corn meal, strawberries, herbs
Corn meal, strawberries, herbs

Hands-on Objects
(K.1.d, 1.1.d)

Wheat, wheat bread, corn, corn meal
Wheat, bread, corn, corn meal

Compare and Contrast (K.1.e, 1.1.e)

Pre-K through Grade 2
What’s Growing in the Garden?

Animal-plant lifecycle
Animal-plant lifecycle

Plant Life Cycle
(K.5, 1.4,2.4)

Herbs

Hands-on Objects
(K.1.d, 1.1.d)

Ecosystems
Ecosystems

Ecosystems
(K .5, 1.5, 2.5)

Grades 2 through 4
Plantation Life at Oatlands

Identifying Artifacts
Artifacts

Identifying Artifacts
(2.1.a, VS.1.a)

Primary sources
Diary Entries

Primary Sources
(2.1.a, VS.1.a)

African American History
A “freedom seeker” ad

African American History
(2.4.c, VS.5.b)


Grades 2 through 4
Time and Technology Travelers

Old Objects

Identifying Artifacts
(2.1.a, 3.1.a)

New Objects

Connect Past & Present
(2.1.g, 3.1.g, VS.1.g)

Call buttons and box
Call buttons and box

Evaluating Data
(2.1.c, 3.1.c, 4.1.c)

Grades 2 through 4
School’s in Session at the Mtn. Gap School

Segregated Schools

Understanding American History (2.1.a&c, VS.1.a&c)

Slate, water pump, and school bell
Slate, water pump, school bell

Compare and Contrast
(2.1.e, VS.1.g)

Ringing the school bell
Ringing the school bell

Good Citizenship Skills
(2.1.e, VS.1.g)

Grades 3 through 6
Civil War on the Home Front

Elizabeth O. Carter’s diary entry for 23 October 1961, after the Battle of Ball’s Bluff
Elizabeth O. Carter’s diary entry

Primary Sources
(VS.1.a)

Elizabeth Carter, Nathan Evans
Elizabeth Carter, Nathan Evans

Civil War
(VS.7.a, VS.7.b)

Martin Van Buren Buchanan
Martin Van Buren Buchanan

African American history
(VS.7.a, VS.7.b)

Grades 3 through 6
Reclaim Your Story: The Enslaved Community at Oatlands

Robert Carter III, Elizabeth Carter
R. Carter III, Elizabeth Carter

Slavery
(VS.1.a,USI.1.a)

Elizabeth Carter Diary Entry

Primary Sources (VS.1.a,USI.1.a)

Bazil Turner
Bazil Turner

Post-slavery (VS.1.a,USI.1.a)

Grades 3 through 6
Reclaim Your Story: The Enslaved Community at Oatlands

Smokehouse at Oatlands
Smokehouse at Oatlands

Slavery
(VS.1.a,USI.1.a)

“The Agony of Slavery” by Gertrude Evans
“The Agony of Slavery”
by Gertrude Evans

Slavery
(VS.1.a,USI.1.a)

“Mountain Gap Colored School” by Gertrude Evans
“Mountain Gap Colored School” by Gertrude Evans

Post-slavery (VS.1.a,USI.1.a)

Download PowerPoint presentation

Education Program Inquiry

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V I S I T   O A T L A N D S

Garden & Grounds open 10:00 am – 5:00 pm daily. Purchase tickets here.

Guided Tours by appointment.

Last tour at 3:00 p.m.

20850 Oatlands Plantation Lane
Leesburg, VA 20175
Tel: 703-727-0670

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