School Programs Curriculum-based school programs have been a priority at the Concord Museum for over 20 years, and in 1998, more than 11,000 students from communities all over the country participated in 500 education programs and tours. The Museum's school programs place special emphasis on experiential learning, encouraging historical detective work, interdisciplinary approaches and critical thinking. In-house programs are designed to better a student's understanding of a particular time period by closely examining different aspects of everyday life. The programs involve students in an investigation of the Museum's collections by connecting artifacts with people, places, and ideas. The education staff of the Museum is also willing to work with teachers to tailor programs to an existing school curriculum.
Most programs are approximately two hours in length.
Through the creation of dioramas and the identification and study of artifacts with related activities, participants will gain an understanding and appreciation of Native American life and culture. Cultural development covering 10,000 years will be traced. Contact with the first European colonists is presented, comparing and contrasting the two cultures as they existed during the 17th century. Students will be offered a variety of experiences such as grinding corn, preparing and tasting Native American food, or becoming an archaeologist for the day while participating in a simulated dig. Schooling, reform, gender issues, immigration, the flowering of American literature, technological change, or the relationship of man to the land can be explored.