Friday, March 11, 2011
Lessons from Little House on the Prairie
I've been reading a lot of blogs lately. See, one of my favorite blogs was nominated for an award and I was curious to check out the competition. They are all "Mormon Mommy" blogs so I figured they would have something interesting to say. And they do. For me, they just don't compare to my favorite but still good. While I was reading, one of the moms was talking about her homeschooling practices. She had some suggestions for books at different reading levels. One of those suggested was the "Little House on the Prairie" series. It actually got me thinking because a lady at church had asked me a while ago if I had ever read them to my kids because she thought Paige would love them. Yesterday when I made my weekly stop at the local library I grabbed the first book on a whim. Paige and Porter were soooo mad at me because "they only like picture books!!" I told them it had some pictures and I that I thought they would like it. We got all ready for bed and curled up on the couch for story time and started "Little House in the Big Woods" despite the groans and protests. As we read, the kids crowded in closer and closer and closer until they were sitting on top of each other to sit right next to me. They made lots of comments as we read too, like "we have to keep our stove going all the time in the winter too" and "our daddy hunts". When we finished the first chapter, I told them it was time to read scriptures and they whined "Oh Mom!! Pleeeeeasseee... just one more chapter!!" We read a few more pages and then had to quit so we could read scriptures and get to bed on time but they made me promise that we would read it again the next night. I was really surprised but very happy that they loved it so much. I had hesitated to read big books to them because they're so young but they certainly proved me wrong. It also occurred to me as we read how differently we live than probably 90% of people in this country. We heat our house with a wood stove and cut & gather our own firewood, we believe in planting a garden and storing for the winter, we spend lots of time outside, our daddy hunts and uses lots of outdoor skills, my kids understand that the meat we eat comes from animals and that they usually have known the cow that we are eating for dinner. It makes me glad to know that we are not so removed from our past, in fact, I think it's a really great blessing!
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2 comments:
That's awesome. We had just a small garden last year and Lukas LOVED picking the bell peppers and tomatoes, diving into both like apples. haha. I think it's so amazing and commendable at how you raise your kids. They'll be so blessed for it! Where are you in Montana? And what's that favorite blog? Do you homeschool or have thought about it? It's fun to catch up with you!
Jess -
You are too sweet. We live outside a small town about 40 miles from Great Falls. (I want to keep the blog public so I don't want to be too specific. If you really want to know, you can always message me on facebook.=o) The favorite blog I think I found from you actually. It's womeninthescriptures.blogspot.com. I think she is amazing and every time I read I feel inspired. I wish I knew that much but at least I'm learning! I don't homeschool but I have thought about it. I don't know that I really could/should. I think I could be an adequate teacher but I like the fact that my kids get to learn the skills that come from dealing with other people and their expectations. We are lucky that our town is so small because there is only one class per grade usually and if I decided I were unhappy there are a couple one room schools close that we could transfer to for more one on one. Thanks for reading and for your sweet comments!
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