Saturday, November 3, 2012

Welcome

Welcome to the Basic Reenactor Courses blog (updated 11/3/2015).

My name is Sherry Hendershot. I own the Little Turtle Merchantile store. I have a physical (have tent will travel) and an online store. My store specializes in items made of hemp, old fashioned wood toys, beeswax candles, tinware, felt hats, nostalgic candy, handmade baskets, miscellaneous other items, and training classes relating to re-enactors (of which I am the instructor).

Store website: www.littleturtlebasket.com
Email: littleturtlebasket@yahoo.com).

This blog is created to post comments concerning the courses I teach for re-enactors.

The re-enactor courses are taught online or at a selected site. Coming soon: a face-to-face part for the practical application of the course information offered. Extensive research has gone into the creation of these courses. It also helps that I participated as a military/civilian re-enactor for over 20 years.

The media used for the online class is:
  • Google+ Hangout for the discussion part of the course. This allows the instructor to use audio and video streaming so the class can discuss things in real time. Course materials can also be displayed to the students based on the instructor sharing their desktop and using the whiteboard. The students must create a Google+ username and password.
  • A wiki which contains the course materials plus links to online sites for further research and study. The students must create a username and password to access the specified wiki site based on the selected class.
  • This blog to offer comments and suggestions towards the betterment of the courses. The students can also ask questions relating to the pursuit of their persona, camp setup, course design, and anything else relating to the reenactment hobby.
Course Catalog: a free course catalog is available. Email me at: littleturtlebasket@yahoo.com to request a copy or go to my store website.



Right now the courses that are available are:
  • Introduction to Reenacting        2 hr       
  • Developing a persona                4 hr           
  • Basic camp skills                       4 hr           
  • Basic Food Stuffs                      4 hr            
Note: you must take the Introduction to Reenacting course to be able to take the other courses. They are all presented in a series or can be taken separately after the initial course. The main intent is to complete all of the courses to receive a
1. course completion certificate and
2. a certificate relating to having taken all of the courses to show you are a certified re-enactor.
I am also considering creating a certificate relating to just the core courses.

These four courses are the core knowledge courses. The costs for the courses are as follows: $10 for a 2 hour course and $20 for a 4 hour course.  Please email me at: littleturtlebasket@yahoo.com to sign up for a course. The maximum amount of students that can participate in any session is 9.

These core courses will enable a person to get started in the reenactment hobby based on time periods relating to the 18th and 19th centuries (French and Indian War, American Revolutionary War, War of 1812, and the Civil War - military, civilian (which includes Rendezvous), and native impressions). It can also benefit those that are already in the hobby by reinforcing what they already know. Each course includes a presentation relating to the course, documents relating to the course presentation, many links to period historical background sites, clothing naming conventions, how-to videos, merchant site links, and anything else relating to our hobby.

As I progress into the design of these courses I have asked reenactors to review the information I am presenting. These people are referred to as subject matter experts (SME). I am working towards gaining SMEs based on all the different time periods. I currently have asked Gerry Barker (civilian reenactor and published author), Dr. Greg Urwin (noted history author and professor at Temple University in Pennsylvania. He also has appeared on several History channel documentaries), Vicki Johnson (Reendezvous Ohio and board member of National Rendezvous and Living History foundation), and Mary Papp Brandenbourg (native american reenactor). If you are interested in becoming a SME or even a visiting instructor please give me a hollar at: shender64rg@yahoo.com

Other courses that will be available soon: period mannerisms, period sewing skills, period cooking classes, period dancing and many others. Some of these will have both an online (present the knowledge portion background information and naming conventions) and a face-to-face course (the practice part) or just one or the other. Any courses you would like to recommend would be a big help toward the promotion of our hobby. Contact me at shender64rg@yahoo.com Also, if you have any comments relating to the design or information contained in the courses please use this blog to comment. Or just email me.

My goal is to train reenactors to be the best they can be. We are here to educate the public as to the life and times of the time period/person we portray (not to mention having fun while we are doing it). What a better way to present this than by taking courses to allow us to learn this information.

Sherry Hendershot

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