This fall the Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel Kindergarten class, while playing outside on the temple grounds, unearthed relics from another century. These included two old bottles, one from the 1880s, and a quarter dated from 1894.
Corie Robie, who teaches the kindergarten class along with Rachel Reed, said, “When the first bottle was found, a child asked, ‘Can we take some time to learn about this?’ And we were able to say, ‘Absolutely, yes!’” This became an excellent opportunity for the kindergarten students to explore archaeology through all areas—science, social studies, math, art, and writing.
One way the class did so was by inviting TSTI member Sarah Barack to come and join them. Ms. Barack is the Head of Conservation at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York City, the nation’s only museum dedicated to historic and contemporary design, with a collection of over 210,000 design objects spanning thirty centuries.
Ms. Barack talked with the kids about the life cycle of an object/artifact, as well as how conservators observe, describe, and date artifacts. About the experience, she said, “I love the enthusiasm and excitement of the group. They were so much fun to teach!”
Ms. Robie added, “Most importantly, the children were extremely invested in their learning, as their interests were guiding the exploration. We all learned a lot!”
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