Connecticut Landmarks’ believes in the power of historic house museums to provide deep understanding of life in the past through place-based learning. Our staff is delighted to work with teachers to plan the perfect on-site or in-classroom visit to meet student interests and align with teachers’ goals. While many schools choose to visit the Nathan Hale Homestead or Hempsted Houses, most of our sites are happy to accommodate educational group visits. If you are interested in visiting one of our museums, please reach out to the Museum Administrator listed for each.

Amasa Day House	Moodus	Lynette Fisher
Bellamy-Ferriday House & Garden	Bethlehem	Peg Shimer
Butler-McCook House & Garden	Hartford	Lynn Mervosh
Hempsted Houses	New London	See Details Below
Isham-Terry House	Hartford	Lynn Mervosh
Nathan Hale Homestead	Coventry	See Details Below
Palmer-Warner House	East Haddam	Lynette Fisher
Phelps-Hatheway House & Garden	Suffield	Lynn Mervosh

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Nathan Hale Homestead

Coventry’s Nathan Hale Homestead is the perfect place for students learning about the history of Connecticut in the colonial and Revolutionary period. The site is the birthplace of Connecticut’s State Hero, Nathan Hale, who was hanged as a spy during the Revolutionary War. The house, built in 1776, belonged to Nathan’s parents and family, and is located on the only place he ever called home. The Nathan Hale Homestead is situated on 17 acres of land adjoining the 1500-acre Nathan Hale State Forest, lending to the property’s substantial rural character.

Teachers can select from the following presentations. The quantity of programs per field trip vary based the number of students and amount of time each group can spend at the site. Groups may also schedule time for lunch and to visit our Museum Store, which is stocked with items to support our field trip experiences! Item prices begin at $1, and all proceeds benefit continued educational programming and preservation projects at the Nathan Hale Homestead.

Patriotism and Peril (House Tour)

Students tour the home built by the Hale family in 1776 and learn about the everyday life of a colonial family facing the American Revolution. Guides discuss how members of the Hale family supported the war effort and how both men and women expressed patriotism on the home front, on the battlefield, and within their communities.

18th-Century School

Students experience 18th-century school life in a one-room schoolhouse. They will learn how strict an 18th-century classroom could be by participating in basic 18th-century lesson plans including figuring arithmetic on slate boards and will be rewarded with colonial fun at recess where they will play with wooden hoops and learn the 18th-century game graces, as well as other colonial games.

Health and Hearth

Students will learn why the kitchen was the heart of the colonial home by exploring the kitchen garden, food storage, colonial foods and herbal medicines. A snack will be made on the hearth and shared with the students. Garden experience varies based on season.

The Life of a Soldier

Students will learn the trials and tribulations of soldier life by visiting a soldier encampment. They will learn to drill, communicate through drum rolls, pitch a tent, and explore fire making methods such as flint and steel.

Spy for a Day

Student spies will learn to write with quill and ink, decipher coded letters and use tools of the trade. They will also discuss when and how codes are used in their modern daily life.

Growing Up at the Homestead

Students explore the landscape of Nathan Hale Homestead. Participants learn about a variety of tasks associated with a farm as well as how the landscape has changed since 1776.

The Nathan Hale Homestead is a Wheels to Learning Program Venue

Wheels to Learning is a pilot program that seeks to understand if providing funding for transportation will increase access to out-of-classroom enriching learning experiences. K-12 public school teachers within Windham County can apply to the program for grants to support busing costs for field trips through the Wheels to Learning website.

Hempsted Houses

Your students will learn New London history where it happened. Each field trip is built around an Essential Question developed in partnership with area teachers. Contact us to create the perfect on-site learning experience today!

Grades 2-3: Colonial Living

Compare typical experiences in the late 17th and early 18th centuries to those of today through hands-on activities such as carting water with yolks, carding wool, and candle making.

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Grades 4-6: Who Were Adam Jackson & Joshua Hempsted?

Through the use of primary and secondary sources, students will compare the typical day of an enslaved worker and a slave owner in Colonial New England.

Grades 6-8: Slavery in 19th-Century New England

Students will use the house to learn what slavery looked like in New England. They will learn and investigate the pro and anti-slavery arguments prevalent in 19th Century New London and create an argument of their own.