Most homeschooling parents know the importance of reading to their children every day, and of encouraging children to read alone. To create children who are in love with books and words, however, you need to use a variety of methods of presenting reading skills. The more ways you play with a book, the deeper the book-and literature-will lodge itself into the child's heart.
The Little House on the Prairie series is an excellent way to expand your American history class. They help make facts and figures about pioneers come alive, showing children that these pioneers were real people. The books were even based on the life of the author. To further bring about the point, try doing some Little House related activities.
What did Laura eat? She mentions flapjacks or johnnycakes often, so find out how pioneer flapjacks were made and then try them. If you’re camping, try them over an open fire and see what was involved during their traveling times. She liked lemonade too, and you can try making the recipe Nellie served at the party in Walnut Grove.
Laura played with corn husk dolls, so try making your own. What can you do with one of these dolls that you can’t do with modern dolls? What can’t you do with them? How would your child feel if these were her only dolls? Why was Laura so grateful to have one?
Need some writing activities or have you come across questions you can’t answer? Although both Laura and her daughter are dead, a retired school teacher is answering questions for the children who still write to her.
The Herbert Hoover Library has several good activities for taking Laura out of the book, including a timeline activity, a mapping project for her moves, patterns for making a pioneer town and a quilting activity.
What did pioneer children do for fun? Visit this article from the Christian Science Monitor and find out. Don’t forget to try the games and recipes.
Do you have pioneer ancestors? Study these genealogy charts for Laura and then head to the nearest genealogy library to start building one for your family. (Most stake centers for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have Family History Centers you can visit at no charge. You don’t have to be a church member and no one will try to convert you-unless you want them to!)
Another way to expand the books is to visit the places she lived. Try planning your vacations to offer a big finish to a school year curriculum. If you can’t go in reality, take a virtual tour. Check the web for the homepages of the places she lived. Try a little time travel: Have your children write a story about traveling back in time to visit Laura. Then bring her back with them to see how the location and the world has changed.
If you have teenagers, they might be interested in exploring the relationship between Laura and her daughter, Rose. There has been ongoing speculation that Rose, a very successful author before her mother’s first publication, may have been the ghostwriter for her mother’s books. There’s nothing like a little controversy to spark interest in a book, so have your teen research this subject and decide for herself.
The next time you read the Little House books together, they will seem so much more real!