Education Programs

Student Activities

 

Within the walls of Fairfield House, students are in a space built during the time when Loyalists were establishing new homes, enterprises and communities in Canada to replace those they had lost in the American Revolution. In 1784 the Fairfield family arrived on their Crown grant of land. By 1793, they had built the farmhouse that still stands on the lakefront.

From its limestone cellar to the pine rafters in its attic, Fairfield House holds clues to its construction in the early 1790's and its use during the next 100 years. In 1959 the Fairfield family donated their homestead and a few acres of its farm to the province to be preserved as a heritage site.

The education programs at Fairfield House are provided by the Fairfield Homestead Heritage Assocation, formed in 1990 with two main aims:

• To ensure the preservation of the Fairfield Homestead; the collection of documents, furniture, and other artifacts associated with the house; and the surrounding landscape for the study, education and enjoyment of future generations.
• To provide a variety of opportunities for the discovery and appreciation of the heritage of the Kingston-Quinte region through interpretive, education and recreational programs for the public.

The programs at Fairfield House effectively connect with the current Ontario curricula standards.

For Grade 3, programs focus on social studies, science, math, and language

For Grade 7, focus is on history, geography, science and technology.

There are opportunities for all grade levels to explore science and technology.

 

Fairfield House with its lakeside park provides special educational opportunities to:

• collect observations of parts of the house itself to learn about the materials and tools used by its builders.

• use primary sources to gather information about the beginning of settlement on eastern Lake Ontario after the American Revolution when the Fairfields and other Loyalist families arrived after years of refugee life.
  
  
• relate the ecosystem to the life of the settlers and later generations.
  
  
• compare the present with the past.

General Program Information

• Program Fee: $2.00 per student. One teacher/adult for every ten students are admitted free of charge.
  
• Programs are available Mondays through Fridays. Program length is approximately 2 hours.

Booking Your Visit

• Book early to avoid disappointment.
  
• Our programming is fair-weather.
  
• Contact Johanna MacKinnon (613) 352-7453 (millerseedfarm@sympatico.ca)

 

Teachers can also contact us using our Educator's Contact Form