Tag: writing

Little House On The Prairie Adventure: Language Art Lessons

Published on by Susie @ Pollywog's Place Blog13 Comments

**This post may contain affiliate links to some of the products and resources that we have used. These are provided at no extra charge to you and help to support our blog and family if a purchase is made through these links. -Thank you!

These are divided into weekly work as we like to use Loop Scheduling in our home. We simply work on a little bit and then move on to the next subject area. We have four days of ‘school’ and then the fifth day is used to finish up projects that we have been working, for independent study, or fun activities and field trips. Have fun on your Little House on the Prairie Academic Adventures!

Here are our Lesson Plans For Language Arts

These lessons were made to go along with ‘The Little House On The Prairie‘ written by Laura Ingalls Wilder. We are planning to go through the whole series and I am keeping track of the different topics we are learning about here on my blog. We hope you enjoy these as much as we have!

You may find it easier to buy a Workbook for your children to work through as you go along with the rest of the study.

Mornings:

We Start every morning off with our prayers and the Pledge of Allegiance. Below is a picture of the prayers that we say and a video of the Pledge of Allegiance.

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Not the prettiest example but that’s what we’ve been using for the past few years.

Don’t have a flag? Grab one HEREand print it out to put up somewhere… you could even let the kids make a flag to proudly display. Amazon also has some little ones like this one HERE and HERE.

After this we have our calendar time also where we go over such things as the Days of the Week, the months, and some basic math.

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This one came from Lakeshore Learning.

Tip: If you want to go to a certain week/chapter or topic simply push the ‘ctrl’ and the ‘F’ button down together and a small bar will pop up. Type in the week number or chapter number you want and it will take you to it.

Week 1: Chapters 1, 2 & 3

We plan to use this FREE Lapbook to go along with our study.

Reading:

Read Chapters 1, 2 & 3

Discussion Questions:

Chapter One:

  • What was happening at the beginning of the chapter?
  • Why did Pa say they needed to leave? Where were they going?
  • What season was it? How do you know?
  • What states did they travel through?
  • What did Pa trade the horses for? What did they name them?

Chapter Two:

  • How did Mary feel about crossing the water?
  • Did Laura feel the same way?
  • Why do you think Ma covered the girls with a blanket?
  • What sad thing happened while crossing?

Chapter Three:

  • What was the spider? Why was it called that? Click HERE for pictures.
  • What did the girls have to share?
  • What sound did Laura not like to hear?
  • What surprise did they get?
  • What did Laura wish Pa would give her?

Additional Reading:

Each child would complete a reading lesson from our McGuffey Primer Books or other reading materials that we chose for the day.

Younger kids will also be doing one lesson a day from Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.

Vocabulary/Spelling:

Older Kids:

Parents click HERE for the answer key.**see instructions at the top of the page.

Younger Kids:

Handwriting:

Using  Spencerian Penmanship go over the instructions on p. 1-4

Writing:**

We will be making a journal to record some of our pioneer adventures in. The link to the journal will be HERE.

Choose one prompt below:

  • Make up a campfire song.
  • Write about your favorite camping adventure and be sure to describe what you see, hear, smell, and feel. Draw a picture to go with your story.
  • Review some skills with this worksheet HERE.

**Remember to use the thesaurus to come up with different words.

Other Activities:**

Group:

Older kids:

Younger kids:

Week 2: Chapters 4, 5 & 6

Reading:

Read Chapters 4, 5 & 6

Discussion Questions:

Chapter Four:

  • What did they eat for breakfast? Would you like this? Why or why not?
  • What chores did they have?
  • Name three animals that the girls saw while exploring. Name three different animals that Pa saw.
  • What did Laura want to see?
  • What did they have for dinner?

Chapter Five:

  • How did they set up house?
  • What did Pa go to get from the creek bottom?
  • What did Pa do with the logs?
  • How did Ma get hurt?
  • Where was Mr. Edwards from? How did he help them?

Chapter Six:

  • Why did Pa say that they hadn’t seen any Indians in the beginning of the chapter?
  • What did Pa use for the roof?
  • What did Pa use for a door?
  • What did Pa say he wanted? Why?

Additional Reading:

Each child would complete a reading lesson from our McGuffey Primer Books or other reading materials that we chose for the day.

Vocabulary/Spelling:

Older Kids:

Parents click HERE for the answer key.**see instructions at the top of the page.

Younger Kids:

Handwriting:

Using  Spencerian Penmanship go over the instructions on p. 5

Writing:

Choose one prompt below:

  • Practice writing a friendly letter with this worksheet HERE.
  • Practice some writing with this worksheet HERE. (You may need to make a FREE account to print these out.)

**Remember to use the thesaurus to come up with different words.

Other Activities:

Group:

Older kids:

Younger kids:

Week 3: Chapters 7, 8 & 9

Reading:

Read Chapters 7, 8 & 9

Discussion Questions:

Chapter Seven:

  • How long did it take Pa and Mr. Edwards to build the stable?
  • What wonderful thing did they find in the morning?
  • Why did Pa come back home in a hurry?
  • How did Pa get away from the wolves?
  • What scary thing happened that night?

Chapter Eight:

  • What did they see outside the next morning?
  • What did Pa plan to make for the house? Why?
  • What did he need? Did he let it stop him or did he find a way to get the job finished?
  • What was Pa’s next project for the house?

Chapter Nine:

  • What did Pa need to get for the fireplace?
  • Describe the process that Pa used to build the fireplace.
  • What did Ma put on the mantel?
  • What did Pa warn Ma about?

Additional Reading:

Each child would complete a reading lesson from our McGuffey Primer Books or other reading materials that we chose for the day.

Younger kids will also be doing one lesson a day from Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.

Vocabulary/Spelling:

Older Kids:

Parents click HERE for the answer key.**see instructions at the top of the page.

Younger Kids:

Handwriting:

Using  Spencerian Penmanship go over the instructions on p. 6

Writing:**

  • Complete this worksheet HERE and use some of your vocabulary words for the bottom part.
  • Practice brainstorming for upcoming reports with this worksheet HERE.

*Remember to use the thesaurus to come up with different words.

Other Activities:

Group:

Older kids:

Younger kids:

Week 4: Chapters 10, 11 & 12

Reading:

Read Chapters 10, 11 & 12

Discussion Questions:

Chapter Ten:

  • What did Ma say about snakes?
  • What did Ma scold the girls for?
  • Why did Pa say Mr. Edwards was a good neighbor?
  • What difference did the roof make in the house?
  • After Pa finished the floor what did he wish he had for the house? How did he plan to get it?

Chapter Eleven:

  • Why was Jack sad? How did the girls try to cheer him up?
  • How did Laura describe the Indians?
  • What made the bad smell?
  • What did the girls share at the dinner table?
  • What did the Indians take?
  • Why did Pa warn the girls about being disobedient?

Chapter Twelve:

  • What did Pa make that Ma really liked?
  • Where did the girls sleep?
  • Why did Pa dig a hole?
  • What happened to make Ma say it was a terrible day?
  • Why did Pa and Mr. Scott use a candle in the well?

Additional Reading:

Each child would complete a reading lesson from our McGuffey Primer Books or other reading materials that we chose for the day.

Younger kids will also be doing one lesson a day from Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.

Vocabulary/Spelling:

Older Kids:

Parents click HERE for the answer key.**see instructions at the top of the page.

Younger Kids:

Handwriting:

Using  Spencerian Penmanship go over the instructions on p. 7

Writing:**

Choose one prompt below:

  • Sometimes we might come across words we don’t know but we can use context clues to help figure out what the words mean. Complete this worksheet HERE.
  • Start on this workbook HERE. Complete 1-2 pages a day.

*Remember to use the thesaurus to come up with different words.

Other Activities:**

Group:

Older kids:

Younger kids:

Week 5: Chapters 13, 14 & 15

Reading:

Read Chapters 13, 14 & 15

Discussion Questions:

Chapter Thirteen:

  • Why did the cowboys need Pa’s help?
  • How would they pay him?
  • What did Laura want to be?
  • What did Pa bring home?
  • What did they let Baby Carrie have?

Chapter Fourteen:

  • What time of year did Ma say it was?
  • Where did Pa take the girls?
  • What did they find?
  • What did the girls make with their beads? Who did they give it too?

Chapter Fifteen:

  • What did the Laura help Ma pick? What did they do with them?
  • What did Mary do while Laura was helping Ma?
  • How did they keep the mosquitos away?
  • Who came to help when the family was sick? How did they help?
  • What was different about the Doctor?
  •  What did Mrs. Scott say caused the sickness? What really caused the sickness?

Additional Reading:

Each child would complete a reading lesson from our McGuffey Primer Books or other reading materials that we chose for the day.

Younger kids will also be doing one lesson a day from Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.

Vocabulary/Spelling:**

Older Kids:

Parents click HERE for the answer key.**see instructions at the top of the page.

Younger Kids:

Handwriting:

Using  Spencerian Penmanship go over the instructions on p. 8-9

Writing:

Choose one prompt below:

  • Write a story about when you were not feeling well. Tell about who helped you and what made you feel better.
  • Continue working in your workbook.

**Remember to use the thesaurus to come up with different words.

Other Activity:

Group:

Older kids:

Younger kids:

Week 6: Chapters 16, 17 & 18

Reading:

Read Chapters 16, 17 & 18

Discussion Questions:

Chapter Sixteen:

  • What preparations were they making for the winter?
  • What bad thing happened? What did Ma do?
  • Why did Ma say that Laura was brave?
  • What did Pa bring home? What did he say they could make from the feathers?
  • Why did they need to go to town?

Chapter Seventeen:

  • Where did Pa go?
  • Why did Mr. Edwards come to the house? What did Jack do?
  • Who came to visit Ma the next day? What did she say about their house?
  • What did Ma make for Pa to warm him up?
  • What special thing did Pa bring back from town that made Ma so happy?

Chapter Eighteen:

  • What did they see more and more of?
  • What ran in front of the house?
  • What did the Indian try to take from the house?
  • What did Pa say the government made the Indians do?

Additional Reading:

Each child would complete a reading lesson from our McGuffey Primer Books or other reading materials that we chose for the day.

Younger kids will also be doing one lesson a day from Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.

Vocabulary/Spelling:

Older Kids:

Parents click HERE for the answer key.**see instructions at the top of the page.

Younger Kids:

Handwriting:

Using  Spencerian Penmanship go over the instructions on p. 10

Writing:**

  • Start planning a holiday menu. Include beverages, sides, main dishes, breads, and desserts. Click HERE for worksheets.
  • Design a nice invitation for the meal and send them to people, with your parent’s permission. Click HERE for worksheets.
  • Continue working in your workbook.

Other Activity:

Group:

Older kids:

Younger kids:

Week 7: Chapters 19, 20 & 21

Reading:

Read Chapters 19, 20 & 21

Discussion Questions:

Chapter Nineteen:

  • What holiday was coming up?
  • What did Pa bring Christmas dinner?
  • Why did the girls think Santa couldn’t come?
  • Who did Mr. Edwards say he had saw? What had he sent for the girls?
  • What did the girls find in their stockings?

Chapter Twenty:

  • What games did the girls play with Baby Carrie?
  • What did they hear? Who did Pa think it was?
  • What was really screaming?
  • Who killed the panther?

Chapter Twenty-One:

  • How long was Pa gone?
  • What did Pa trade the furs for?
  • Why did Pa give Mary her package first? What had he brought for them?
  • How did the Indians feel about the settlers?

Additional Reading:

Each child would complete a reading lesson from our McGuffey Primer Books or other reading materials that we chose for the day.

Younger kids will also be doing one lesson a day from Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.

Vocabulary/Spelling:

Older Kids:

Parents click HERE for the answer key.**see instructions at the top of the page.

Younger Kids:

Handwriting:

Using  Spencerian Penmanship go over the instructions on p. 11-13

Writing:**

  • Describe a favorite holiday meal that you had with your family.
  • Continue working in your workbook.

Other Activity:

Group:

Older kids:

Younger kids:

Week 8: Chapters 22, 23 & 24

Reading:

Read Chapters 22, 23 & 24

Discussion Questions:

Chapter Twenty-Two:

  • What did Pa like so much about the land?
  • Why did they keep their food hidden and locked up?
  • What scary thing happened? How did they handle it?
  • Where did Ma say they would’ve went if Pa had been in town?
  • What were some things that could have caused the fire?

Chapter Twenty-Three:

  • What made the family so uneasy?
  • What woke Laura up?
  • What did Pa do at the table? Why?
  • What did the Osage Indian tell Pa?

Chapter Twenty-Four:

  • What did Laura finally get to see?
  • Who was the first Indian in the procession?
  • What did Laura want Pa to get for her?
  • What did Pa have to do to Jack? Why?

Additional Reading:

Each child would complete a reading lesson from our McGuffey Primer Books or other reading materials that we chose for the day.

Younger kids will also be doing one lesson a day from Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.

Vocabulary/Spelling:

Older Kids:

Parents click HERE for the answer key.**see instructions at the top of the page.

Younger Kids:

Handwriting:

Using  Spencerian Penmanship go over the instructions on p. 14 – 15

Writing:**

  • Write about a time when you were scared and what happened.
  • Continue working in your workbook.

Other Activity:

Group:

Older kids:

Younger kids:

Week 9: Chapters 25 & 26

Reading:

Read Chapters 25 & 26 

  • You can read it or let the kids help to read it aloud.
  • You can also access an audio version:

Discussion Questions:

Chapter Twenty-Five:

  • What were they busy doing?
  • What did they plant in their garden?
  • Why did Pa say they had to leave?
  • Who did he give the cow to and why?
  • What did they eat for dinner?

Chapter Twenty-Six:

  • What item couldn’t they take with them?
  • Who did they find? What had happened?
  • How did Pa offer to help?
  • What were they taking with them that they didn’t bring with them?
  • Where do you think the family is going?
  • Who did Pa say would eat the garden?

Additional Reading:

Each child would complete a reading lesson from our McGuffey Primer Books or other reading materials that we chose for the day.

Younger kids will also be doing one lesson a day from Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.

Vocabulary/Spelling:

Older Kids:

Parents click HERE for the answer key.**see instructions at the top of the page.

Younger Kids:

Handwriting:

Using  Spencerian Penmanship go over the instructions on p. 16-17

Writing:**

  • Write about what you would plant in your garden and why?
  • Continue working in your workbook.

Other Activity:

Group:

Older kids:

Younger kids:

Week 10: Finishing Up

Reading:

Finish up any reading. 

Optional: Read Chapter 2 from Laura Ingalls Wilder Country ‘Kansas Prairie Country’.

Additional Reading:

Each child would complete a reading lesson from our McGuffey Primer Books or other reading materials that we chose for the day.

Younger kids will also be doing one lesson a day from Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.

Vocabulary/Spelling:**

Older Kids:

Parents click HERE for the answer key.**see instructions at the top of the page.

Younger Kids:

Handwriting:

Using  Spencerian Penmanship go over the instructions on p. 18-19

Writing:

  • Continue working in your workbook.

Other Activity:

Group:

Older kids:

Younger kids:

Bonus Activity:

**BE SURE TO SAVE A FEW SAMPLES OF YOUR WORK FOR YOUR  PORTFOLIO!  TAKE PICTURES OF BIG PROJECTS!

Little House In The Big Woods Adventure Resource List

Published on by Susie @ Pollywog's Place Blog3 Comments

**Although I try to provide as many FREE resources as possible this post may contain affiliate links alt no extra cost to you. We may earn a small commission, if a purchase is made through these links, which helps to support our blog and our family. Thank you!

We read Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Biography before starting our study.

NOTE: My kiddos were 5, 6, 9, 11, and 15 at the time we created study unit. Some ideas may need to be changed/adjusted for older kids.

Tip: If you want to go to a certain week/chapter or topic simply push the ‘ctrl’ and the ‘F’ button down together and a small bar will pop up. Type in the week number or chapter number you want and it will take you to it.

Introduction:

We have been using the Little House on the Prairie Books for our homeschool this year and my kids are loving it. I have scoured the internet for resources to make our learning experience as fun and exciting as possible. This series of posts is a compilation of different resources we have found and used in our home. Please note that some of these may have been FREE at the time I found them and prices and/or availability may have changed. Feel free to leave your own links in the comments section below.

I also want to take a moment to thank all of these wonderful people who put together so many wonderful resources for all of us to use with our children. I know that many hours, blood, sweat, and tears went into these projects but your work is greatly appreciated!

Answer Key found HERE. **ANSWER KEY password: momsrock (highlight blank area)

Language Arts:

We will be completing this Lap Book project as we read through this book.

Reading:

We will be reading the noted selection for the week as well as discussing what we have read. I may come up with other questions as well. Kids are curious and I know we will have many questions which may lead to some research in other areas.

We will also be working on reading through a few books, see Kirby’s Kids Grade by Grade Homeschool Reading List , for each different grade level. The older kids will have some independent reading while the younger ones will have a mixture of read alouds, read alongs, and independent reading.

You should keep a record of the books read. You can do this in a notebook or using this printable HERE.

Handwriting:

I did not list handwriting in the weekly work tasks as my kids are using the Spencerian Penmanship for handwriting and will practice this every day.

Vocabulary:

We will be doing various activities for this area. We will be looking up definitions, matching words, putting the words in alphabetical order, and a variety of other activities.

Writing:

There will be a variety of creative writing ideas as well. I have tried to vary them and offer choices to help encourage writing. We will also be doing various writing assignments in some of other areas as well.

Check out PRINTABLE WRITING PAPER- TWENTY FREE TEMPLATES FOR KID’S WRITING for some FREE writing resources!

Other Activities:

These are just some of the other activities that I am incorporating into the lessons with my kiddos as we are all at different learning levels. I put these in here to keep me organized so I don’t ‘forget’ something.

I will add links to worksheets I find or make as we go through the unit. For a general guideline of skills your child should know by grade level click HERE.

I have pulled a lot of the material from the book for the worksheets listed down below.

Many of the ideas have been pulled from the following resources:

You can also find FREE Lessons with these links:

Other resources used:

The younger kids will also have access to various Read-Along books and puppet books. I will update links to those as we go along.

Math:

Many of the ideas have been pulled from the following resources:

Note about Ray’s Arithmetic Books: These can be a little confusing at first but the Parent/Teacher guide is so useful! I have found that the books are in order as follows:

  • 1st/2nd grades: Ray’s New Primary Arithmetic
  • 3rd/4th grades: Ray’s New Intellectual Math
  • 5th/6th grades: Ray’s Practical Arithmetic
  • 7th/8th grades: Ray’s Higher Arithmetic

I have used a lot of the examples from the book to create the worksheets you will find listed below. **ANSWER KEY password: momsrock (highlight blank area)

You can also find FREE Lessons with these links:

Social Studies:

Many of the ideas have been pulled from the following resources:

You can also find FREE Lessons with these links:

Science:

Many of the ideas have been pulled from the following resources:

You can also find FREE Lessons with these links:

  • We will also be studying different lessons from Mystery Science which is a site that the kids LOVE! We have found a lot of FREE lessons on this site. (You do need a membership to access all of the site.)
  • YouTube can be a great resource for educational videos.
  • Itsy Bitsy Bear Book via KidZone
  • We will also be studying different lessons from Mystery Science which is a site that the kids LOVE! We have found a lot of FREE lessons on this site.
  • FREE Zoology Lessons at Easy Peasy All-In-One Homeschool.
  • FREE Physics and Chemistry Lessons at Easy Peasy All-In-One Homeschool.

My kids also enjoyed reading:

 Bears on the Brain (Science Solves It!)

PE/Health & Safety Resources:

Many of the ideas have been pulled from the following resources:

You can also find FREE Lessons ideas with these links:

We often have some ‘Free Play’ outside whenever the weather allows as well.

Life Skills:

This area contains our lesson plans for a few different areas that I have included with our ‘Life Skills’. You will find lessons on cooking, cleaning, and organization as well as bible memory work and character training. All of these will go together to help raise our children into the responsible and caring citizens of tomorrow.

You can find a FREE printable log for keeping track of memory work here:

Many of the ideas have been pulled from the following resources:

You can also find FREE Lessons with these links:

We will be focusing on OBEDIENCE this unit. If you don’t have the book we used you can go HERE and download a lesson plan guide to use in your home.

Music, Arts & Crafts:

These lesson plans include Music, Arts, and Crafts. Choose one or two ideas/day as desired.

Many of the ideas have been pulled from the following resources:

You can also find FREE Lessons with these links:

We have also bought the following books/products for use with this series:

Remember: These are the lessons and activities that we used while doing this study but you can do anything your heart desires to make this a great adventure for you and your kids!

 

 

Little House In The Big Woods Adventure Weekly Lesson Plan Links & Guide

Published on by Susie @ Pollywog's Place Blog18 Comments

**Although I try to provide as many FREE resources as possible this post may contain affiliate links alt no extra cost to you. We may earn a small commission, if a purchase is made through these links, which helps to support our blog and our family. Thank you!

Click Here for Little House In The Big Woods Adventure Weekly Lesson Plan Links Only

How we use these lesson plans:

Our school week is usually completed in 4 days. We use a Loop Schedule where we work for a designated amount of time on each subject before moving on to the next. After their work is completed for the day the kids are allowed to have independent studies were they can study whatever their little hearts desired.

Our 5th day is an optional day that we use to complete unfinished work or for other activities as we choose.

Please click HERE for a list of resources that we have purchased from Amazon and other suppliers.

Click on the links below for the series you would like to view/use. I will update these links as we get them finished.

Tip: If you want to go to a certain week/chapter or topic simply push the ‘ctrl’ and the ‘F’ button down together and a small bar will pop up. Type in the week number or chapter number you want and it will take you to it.

1. Little House In The Big Woods Adventure Week 1 Lesson Plans

  • Language Arts:
    • Read Chapters 1 & 2
    • Discussion
    • McGuffey Primer Lesson
    • Vocabulary
    • Writing Activities
    • These week we learn about fiction vs. nonfiction
    • Make a Pioneer Journal
    •  Mother Goose Phonics: Pat A Cake
  • Math:
  • Geography and History:
    • State Study: Wisconsin
    • Research Pioneer Life
  • Science:
    • Learn about Bears
    • Learn about Panthers
    • Research Microbes and Bacteria
    • Learn about Density
    • Bonus: Why does fire burn different colors?
  • Life Skills:
    • Research Pioneer Chores
    • Making our bed
    • Interrupting
    • Memory Work
    • Fun activities: Make Butter
    • Bonus Skills: Memorizing the books of the Bible, Archery, and/or Baking
  • PE, Health & Safety:
    • Stranger Danger
    • Play Little Brown Bear
  • Music, Arts, and Crafts:
    • Crafts: Hog’s Bladder Balloons, Corn Cob/Husk Dolls, Snowflakes, and Paper Dolls
    • Art: Bulldogs, Jack Frost
    • Music: Yankee Doodle Dandy, Butter Churning Song

Continue reading “Little House In The Big Woods Adventure Weekly Lesson Plan Links & Guide” →

Little House In The Big Woods Adventure Week 7 Lesson Plans

Published on by Susie @ Pollywog's Place Blog2 Comments

**Although I try to provide as many FREE resources as possible this post may contain affiliate links alt no extra cost to you. We may earn a small commission, if a purchase is made through these links, which helps to support our blog and our family. Thank you!

Mornings:

We Start every morning off with our prayers and the Pledge of Allegiance. Below is a picture of the prayers that we say and a video of the Pledge of Allegiance.

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Not the prettiest example but that’s what we’ve been using for the past few years.

Don’t have a flag? Grab one HEREand print it out to put up somewhere… you could even let the kids make a flag to proudly display. Amazon also has some little ones like this one HERE and HERE.

After this we have our calendar time also where we go over such things as the Days of the Week, the months, and some basic math.

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This one came from Lakeshore Learning.

Tip: If you want to go to a certain week/chapter or topic simply push the ‘ctrl’ and the ‘F’ button down together and a small bar will pop up. Type in the week number or chapter number you want and it will take you to it.

Week 7: Finishing Up

Here is our lesson plan for the week:

Language Arts

Math

You can work on a lesson in your Ray’s Arithmetic Books or other math workbook. (The lessons below reflect what we worked on.)

Group:

Rotate through these activities:

Click HERE to check for updates.

Older Kids:

Younger Kids:

Geography and History

1. State Study **

  • Review the states we learned about and choose a state to research more.
  • Write a report about the state and include at least 3 interesting facts about the state.

2. Continue to Research the Gold Rush. **

  • Finish your speech!
  • Give your speech!

Bonus: **

Research the main ways of pioneer transportation.

  • How do our methods of transportation differ?
  • What ways, if any, do we still use today?

Here is an interesting video about transportation methods you can watch.

Fun things to do:

The Scrambled States of America Puzzle and Book Set

Science

1. Pick out a previous topic to research more and write a report about it.

2. Check out some other forest animals. Which ones have you seen before?

3. Check out these other videos for more information for you Gold Rush Speech.

  • How is Gold Mined?
  • How is Gold processed?
  • How is Gold used?

Fun Projects:

  • My kids also enjoyed reading:

 Bears on the Brain (Science Solves It!)

Life Skills

Be sure to continue practicing your manners at home and away from home.

1. Research Maple Syrup as an alternative natural sweetener

  • Discuss what you learned.

2. Research the history of Johnny Cakes

  • Watch this video:
  • What are two other names these are known by?
  • Bonus points for making up a batch of these today! Here is a recipe.

Check out these Pioneer recipes that are still around today:

3. Learn about the Sabbath Day.

  • Discuss what you learned.
  • How can you observe the Sabbath Day in your home?

Bonus Lesson/Activities:

  • Make some Pioneer Taffy.
  • Check out this video about preparing for a Pioneer Trek. (Mormon Pioneer Trek Preparation Demo)
  • Learn how to clean a gun, with your parent’s permission!
  • Look up at least two Bible verses about Gold, choose one to memorize.
  • Research Pioneer Fashion

Here is one about Amish clothing which is similar to the pioneer clothing:

  • Discuss what you learned.
  • How do these differ from our clothing today?

PE, Health & Safety

    1. Practice making healthy food choices
    1. Research Cabin Fever and ways to prevent/cure it.
    1. Make a Giant Tic-Tac-Toe Game

  • Bonus: Research Tobacco.

  • (mentioned in Chapter 9)
  • https://youtu.be/DORfPGMv-kc
  • https://youtu.be/fF7SNcw7kxQ
    • Discuss what you learned.
    • List 3 different side effects of tobacco use.

  • Games/Outdoor Play

  • Play any of the games listed above or choose your favorite game to play.
  • Continue your Square Dance lessons.

Music, Arts & Crafts

Crafts:**

  1. Choose a previous craft that you haven’t done yet.
  2. Make a Spoon Doll p. 14 Pioneer Crafts for Kids
  3. Make a Pioneer Doll p. 32 Pioneer Crafts for Kids
  4. Make a Log Cabin Photo Frame p. 36 Pioneer Crafts for Kids
  5. Make a Pioneer Life Diorama p. 51 Pioneer Crafts for Kids
  6. Use My Book of Little House Paper Dolls: The Big Woods Collection to reenact and retell the story to someone.
  7. Build a Pretzel Log Cabin
  8. Make a log cabin with Lincoln Logs.

Art:

  1. Choose a previous project that you haven’t done yet.
  2. Draw a picture of your earliest memory and write a story about it.**

Music:

  1. Am I A Soldier of the Cross? p. 138 Laura Ingalls Wilder Songbook

2. The Star Spangled Banner p. 80 Laura Ingalls Wilder Songbook

**BE SURE TO SAVE A FEW SAMPLES OF YOUR WORK FOR YOUR  PORTFOLIO!  TAKE PICTURES OF BIG PROJECTS!

Momma, I can write!

Published on by Susie @ Pollywog's Place BlogLeave a comment

Anyone with kids, especially boys, can know how hard it is to help them get their handwriting to a legible state. It starts when they are young as a scribble and progresses as they get older. Well, my youngest who is 3, and my special needs son who is 14, both have a lot of trouble in this area. I don’t want to push them and I know that it will happen in time but I was running out of ideas to get them interested and to encourage them in this area.

My 4 year old just picked up a crayon one day and started writing his name.The 3 year old has shown absolutely no interest in wanting to draw, trace, or attempt to write his name. He would ‘trace’ them with a toy dinosaur or a race car but nothing more than that. He knows the majority of the alphabet by sight and can tell you what the sounds are but just doesn’t want to write.

We have used playdough to make letters. We have tracing pads, tracing games on the tablets, and a variety of other activities. Sometimes they like to pull out the Wikki Stix and use them as well to make letters. When it comes to actually writing they would often just plain out refuse or the 14 year old would conveniently ‘forget’ how to write.

That was before Christmas. For Christmas the kids received a couple of drawing pads. They love them! Then we also got a couple more of the same things, see So Much More Than A Basketball, at their older sister’s house. This was indeed a blessing!

Now the boys have been drawing and drawing and drawing. First thing they grab in the morning is a drawing pad. They wait for their Grandpa to stop in and they play ‘Guess What I Drew?’ with him. The kids don’t realize that they are strengthening their fine motor skills, they are learning the proper way to hold a writing utensil, and they are using their imaginations. The difference a couple of weeks can make has been incredible!

The 3 year old is not only learning to draw some amazing art work but he has been practicing his letters as well. He walks around the house with his drawing pad and finds letters and words to copy. Now he will ask me to write things on the drawing pad for him to copy too.

This enthusiasm has rubbed off on big brother as well and he has been practicing his name on the drawing pads and on the huge chalkboard in the playroom. It makes my heart smile to see them happily doing these things on their own. We didn’t have ‘school’ for the past two weeks either so that has given them a chance to explore and practice on their own. This is helping them to build their independent working skills as well.

Another benefit is that the kids are also learning to read! As they walk around copying things they always ask someone to read what they wrote. Then in turn they repeat it and before we even realised it the kiddos are reading everything!

 

This is a picture of the art work the 3 year old left on my desk: