With a chill in the air, the pilgrims lined up. One by one they retrieved their four pennies from their moneybags and paid their passage aboard the Mayflower.
They signed their names in the ship’s log and grabbed their breakfast – beef jerky and a biscuit.

When everyone had paid and signed, they walked up the ramp and boarded the cramped ship.

They huddled together for warmth and lack of space. They swayed as the waves rocked the ship and when they heard the sounds of seagulls, they excitedly grabbed their spyglasses to search the horizon.

“Land ho!” they shouted, pointing and shaking their hands.

The kindergarten students in Miss Jessica Moore’s class had finally arrived in the New World. They had survived their journey from England.

Every year Independent Day School puts together its Living Thanksgiving. It’s a weeklong program that teaches kindergarten and pre-kindergarten students what life was like for the pilgrims who traveled from England and struggled to survive their first winter.

Before the students boarded their ship, Miss Moore talked with them about that the pilgrims had experienced.

Could they take all their toys and clothes with them? Could they bring their friends? Their family?

They could take just one change of clothes and, if they were lucky, a toy.
“The poor pilgrims!” Miss Moore said as the students ate their pilgrim snack.
Halfway through their boat ride, Miss Moore reminded the children that they were crossing the ocean.

“The water’s very, very rough,” she said as she started to sway back and forth. The children joined her.

Onlookers had to divert their gaze lest they begin to feel as seasick as the pilgrims surely had.

The original pilgrims spent 66 days aboard the Mayflower, rocking back and forth while eating their meager meals, sewing, cleaning, sleeping.
They learned to read charts and maps while aboard and were put to work keeping the ship running.

“Is this a Disney Cruise?” Miss Moore asked her students.

“No!” they shouted over the roar of the ocean’s wave.

Friday, Nov. 9, was just the first day for the students participating in the Living Thanksgiving.

This week, starting Tuesday, they will be performing various chores the pilgrims would have had to do.

“This unit provides the opportunity for children to understand how different life was for the early settlers,” said Jean Harrison, one of the school’s kindergarten teacher. “This hands-on learning helps them compare and contrast life today with that of long ago.”

The students will learn how to thatch a roof, make household supplies, including brooms, candles, beds and pillows, and will also search for food.

On Thursday, Squanto will visit the students to teach them how to plant crops. “Squanto” is played by an actor who teaches the children to communicate without words – replicating what it would have been like for the pilgrims to communicate with the Native Americans at the time.

As if that weren't enough, the children will also be weaving cloth, grinding corn, making butter, and washing clothes.

For 5-year-old Peyten Hernandez, this is her second Living Thanksgiving. Her favorite part is making the candles.

Joshua Leeds, also 5, said that his favorite part so far has been looking at the inside of the ship before getting on board.

“It looked really gross under there,” he said. It was so stinky, he said, that it made him cough.