CA History: Casa Sanchez Adobe Homeschool Day

The location and history are interesting - home to one of the only Mexicans to resist the Bear rebellion and takeover of California by the United States.  We wondered initially whether Jessie Benton Fremont would have stopped by on her journey from San Francisco to Monterey, but quickly realized that her husband, who ignited the American takeover, would probably not have been welcome.  The history at the Adobe has been re-written as "an early protest of Civil Rights" perhaps forgetting that Mexico had only occupied California for 30 years by then and that there were previous occupants from who they had likewise asserted control.  Mark that down as a critical thinking exercise as we discussed the many perspectives and ways those could be presented, accurately and yet incompletely.

The docents who ran this day were overwhelmed; apparently they got a lot of last-minute reservations and there were too many people for the number of volunteers there.  The activities therefore lacked historical or other cohesion - we were instructed to watch a video that couldn't be heard or seen well, then ushered elsewhere before it was over.  We couldn't authentically engage in the activities for fear of breaking tools.  The kids got marvelously messy building "adobe" bricks, but were doing so in an incomplete way, leaving out important ingredients.  We got fed up and left before most, glad we got to see it and the many friends who were there, glad also to go.