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Did you know that one Indian saved the lives of the Ingall's family?

Wed, 11 Jan 2006 20:32:00 -0600

Today we read about the Osage Indian who persuaded another group of Indians from masaquering all the white people who had settled on this particular part of the prairie that was really Indian territory. The reading today kept us on the edge of our seats, as we imagined what Laura described in the book.

Have a joyful day of learning!

PPM

Sorry it's been a week since I blogged!

Mon, 9 Jan 2006 20:24:00 -0600

Our first week back after Christmas vacation flew by!!! It was great to be back on schedule again! I think my whole family functions better on a schedule.

We are starting the last week of 4 weeks in "The Little House on the Prairie" book. We have talked about fires, and Indians, and in being good stewards, and about respect to others. All great to discussions to have with your children no matter what you are studying!

I think the best field trip we could go on would be to visit some of the historic sites mentioned in the books. My children love looking at "The Little House Guidebook" that I purchased. It gives pictures and descriptions of the different places Laura lived.

Have a joyful week of learning!

PPM

First Day Back from Christmas break!

Mon, 2 Jan 2006 10:46:00 -0600

We read about a fire in the Ingalls' chimney today. We discussed fire safety and talked about why their chimney caught on fire. It felt so nice to be "back in saddle" after a long break.

I hope each of you had a wonderful Christmas!

PPM

Hand-dug wells

Tue, 20 Dec 2005 13:39:00 -0600

Over the week-end, we read how Pa Ingall's hand-dug his well. This led to a discussion about our well and how hard it would have been for our "Pa" in our family to dig our well. We live in an area with a lot of granite rock in the soil, so hand-digging a well would be very difficult.

Yesterday, we read about the cattle drive that Pa helped with and how he was paid for his help.

Have a wonderful day learning with your children!

PPM

Have you ever tried to build a door without nails?

Wed, 14 Dec 2005 18:06:00 -0600

We learned how Pa made doors for the house and barn today without nails. Just thinking about the time and talent it took for him to make the wooden pegs is amazing to me. I look at our solid, wooden door today, and it does not have nails holding it together. But it does have heavy screws holding the hinges on to the door and door frame.

In the next chapter that we read today, Pa built a fireplace and chimney. I watched my father-in-law build our fireplace and chimney many years ago, and I compared my memory to the story today. Pa Ingalls had a very hard job with very little material at hand. He just used what he could find in the creek bottoms for rocks, and he made mud to hold it together. He did not have scaffolding to make taller than the house, so he improvised.

Have a joyous learning day!

We are enjoying our second book in the series.

Tue, 13 Dec 2005 07:54:00 -0600

We've had a bit of a slow start, since we returned from vacation. But we are up to chapter 6 in "Little House on the Prairie." We are enjoying reading about the Ingall's journey in a covered wagon. It is very hard to imagine how they traveled compared to our trip last month. We have all sorts of amenities available to us along the way now with restaurants, gas stations, convenience stores, hotels, even campgrounds.

In comparison, the Ingalls family had to pack everything they needed to survive. I was struck by the portion I read about Mary grinding the coffee. How easy is it for us today to get a cup of coffee along the way on a journey. We take it for granted that we can have a cup of coffee whenever we want it. I don't know about you, but we do not even own a coffee grinder. And let's not even start the discussion about the types of coffee that are available! LOL

Enjoy your day of learning with your children!

Prairie Primer Mom

Hello! We are back from our Thanksgiving Vacation!

Fri, 2 Dec 2005 08:53:00 -0600

Actually we go tback last Saturday. It has been a week of getting back into routine and doing laundry for us. And two of us came back with colds. I think we are on the mend now.

We started the "Little House on the Prairie" book yesterday. I had an interesting discussion with my children about heaven and our pets. My 6-yr-old simply siad, "you know pets don't have souls, so they can't go to heaven." Such insight from such a little one.

Have a great day of learning in your homeschool!

Prairie Primer Mom

Don't you love the flexibility of being a homeschooler?

Wed, 16 Nov 2005 15:13:00 -0600

This has been one of those weeks where life has been hectic, so our schoolwork has been on the backburner a bit. We have been going full throttle with school since August, so we needed a bit of a break anyway.

We have some Holiday traveling coming up, so I probably won't start our next book for a few weeks. I'll be blogging about it when we get started back.

Prairie Primer Mom

We finished the first book today!

Fri, 11 Nov 2005 21:19:00 -0600

YEAH!!!!!!! The boys and I finished reading Little House in the Big Woods today. I am so amazed at their comprehension and discussion from this book. It has been a lot of fun, too.

One of my favorite discussions happened on Tuesday. We discussed how Laura's cousin was being deceitful and how it caused him personal pain. This was a very good lesson for them to hear about someone else making a poor decision and living with the consequences.

Day 3 brought about a discussion about horsepower and where we get that term when we refer to engines today.

Day 4 was enlightening as to Pa's character when he chose to not kill several animals for food, just because he was so struck with their natural God-given beauty. My 10-yr-old said he would not have been as gracious, and we would have had meat that night for dinner. Of course, Laura and Mary were not upset that they did not have any meat that night after a long summer of only eating vegatables. Proverbs 15:17 was a great way to end our discussion of this.

Next week, we will learn about the California Gold Rush

Have a wonderful week-end!!!!

Prairie Primer Mom

Week 3 and Cheese!

Mon, 7 Nov 2005 13:13:00 -0600

WOW! Today we learned how they made cheese during Laura Ingalls Wlider's time. Hmmmmmm, I think I like buying mine at the grocery story! The way they made it sounds like a lot of work!

I made hasty pudding over the week-end, and my son compared it to eating grits. If you are from the south, you know what grits are! If not, then they are a corn-based breakfast food that you prepare like you are making oatmeal.

We will be finishing our first Little House book this week, and then we are taking a few weeks off for a vacation.

Have a blessed day! Prairie Primer Mom