Appleseeds articles from February 2004

Appleseeds archives from February 2004

Growing up at a ferry farm.
February 1, 2004... * Who was the first president of the United States? * Who is known as the "Father of Our Country'? * Whose face appears on a quarter and a one-dollar bill? * For whom was our nation's capitol named? You know--it's George...

George, what a sport!
February 1, 2004... Do you have a friend who wins every game he or she plays? Well, if you had grown up in Virginia in the 1740s, that person could have been George Washington. He was the Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan of his day. Instead of being good at just one...

Did he or didn't he?
February 1, 2004... Have you ever heard this story? George Washington's father gave his little boy a hatchet. Eager to try it out, George cut down a cherry tree on the farm. When his father asked George what had happened, the boy answered, "I cannot tell a lie. It...

George's spelling woes.
February 1, 2004... Have you ever wondered why laugh is not spelled "laff" or why much isn't spelled "mutch"? Well, if spelling confuses you, you're certainly in good company. People in George Washington's time had troubles with spelling, too. Historians say...

Measuring the land.
February 1, 2004... George Washington's first job took him deep into the unsettled land of Virginia. His job was to survey, or measure, land and locate the boundaries of different pieces of property. It was an important job. George was only 16 when Lord Thomas...

Be a surveyor.(By the Numbers)
February 1, 2004... Surveying is an important job. Surveyors figure out how much land someone owns. They also locate boundaries for landowners. A boundary is where one person's property ends and another person's property starts. Surveyors have to make careful...

Mind your manners.
February 1, 2004... Has anyone ever told you not to talk with your mouth full? Young George Washington knew not to do that. In his day, gentlemen followed this rule of good manners. George wanted to be a gentleman because he knew people respected courteous men....

Following the rules.(From the Source)
February 1, 2004... When George Washington was growing up, good manners were considered very important. When he was 14, Washington wrote down 110 "Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation." The rules he wrote came from a French book of...

Keeping a journal.
February 1, 2004... Luckily for us, George Washington was one of those people who kept journals, writing down much of what he did. Through his journals, we have learned a lot about our first president, from his boyhood travels until his final journal entry the day...

Learning to be a soldier.
February 1, 2004... Since childhood, George Washington wanted to be a military man like his older half-brother, Lawrence. Lawrence had been the highest-ranking officer in the Virginia militia. (A militia is an army of citizen soldiers.) Laurence even suggested...

What happened next?
February 1, 2004... The year was 1758. The Virginia colony was no longer in danger from the French and Indian War, so George Washington went home. He left the military, and returned to the place he loved best--his Mount Vernon plantation. Washington also went...

The case of missing wig.
February 1, 2004... Do you believe that honest George Washington once played a prank on his teacher? This is a story about young George and Master Hobby. The story says that schoolteacher Hobby made a comment about young George's hair, which looked as though it...

Digging in George Washington's backyard.
February 1, 2004... Seventeen pillowcases, two good beds, three not-so-good beds, seven teaspoons, a desk, a sword, and a mirror. These are just some of the things found at the site of George Washington's Ferry Farm home. The main house burned down in 1740. It was...

Branching out.
February 1, 2004... What was our first president like as a child? A Picture Book of George Washington, by David A. Adler (Holiday House), tells how he enjoyed surveying land when he was a boy and continued this work into adulthood. Young George Washington also...

Mystery photo?
February 1, 2004... Some people say that George Washington swiped one once. Would you wear one of these?