Hearthstone Historic House Museum offers a variety of resources to teachers and other educators. These resources are either stand-alone offerings, part of on-site tours, or part of joint tours conducted with other institutions.
Primary School Tours Focusing on Electricity, Local History, and Inventions
Hearthstone has revitalized its curricula to feature inquiry-based, experiential learning.
Our second and third grade tour, which has been a mainstay of AASD coursework for the past 30 years covers the Basics of Electricity and Insights into Appleton’s History.
Our tour for fourth through sixth graders covers Hydroelectricity and the Inventions of Hearthstone. This inquiry-based tour also features hands-on exhibits and demonstrations throughout the museum.
Our seventh and eight grade tours cover Hearthstone and Its Place in History. This tour focuses on the technology, history, and art of the residence.
Tours are available either in-person or virtually.
In-person tours are led by our docents and offer an immersive experience. Tickets for on-site tours can be purchased here.
Virtual tours are provided through Zoom, Google Meet, or existing classroom links. The virtual tours are live and interactive with students being able to ask questions throughout the tour. The virtual tours are provided free of charge.
All school tours are available Monday-Wednesday.
Reservations are limited. Classes are encouraged to sign up for tours at least two weeks in advance using this reservation form.
The tour outlines below provide an overview of each tour. Please feel free to review, save, and use these materials.
Seventh - Eighth Grade Tour outline.
“Fun to Learn” Activity Area
Hearthstone gives young people, and those who are young at heart, the opportunity for experiential learning in the “Fun to Learn” activity area in the lower level. Displays include generators, circuit games, riding a velocipede to generate electricity, a working water wheel, and much more. There are also games, stereoscopes, kitchen gadgets, kaleidoscopes to explore.
All displays utilize disposable tissues for handles and buttons and are sanitized regularly during the day to keep little hands as safe as possible.
The displays are part of every tour at Hearthstone.
Invention Convention
Hearthstone, through its Invent Wisconsin(tm) initiative, has partnered with The Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation (Dearborn, MI) to bring new curricula to Wisconsin.
PARENTS… The program is free, downloadable, and can be used by to keep kids engaged at home during school disruptions caused by COVID-19.
The 10-week set of lessons, which are available for grades K-12, teach the scientific method, the invention method, the engineering method, and the entrepreneurship method through interdisciplinary and dynamic activities and experiential learning. The comprehensive curricula, which align with Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards, are provided entirely free-of-charge to area schools, after school programs, libraries and other organizations, and parents of at-home students. The curricula include all lessons, associated lesson plans, supporting materials, and activity resources.
Please see our Invention Convention page on this website for additional information.
Soon-to-Be-Available Resources
Hearthstone will soon be offering programing for that will dovetail with the Wisconsin Historical Society’s fourth grade history text book chapter on immigration. The material will tell the stories of local German, Irish, and Dutch immigrants who were the domestic workers and artisans at Hearthstone.