Little House on the Prairie

I've discovered over the past few years that teaching a healthy work
ethic in suburbia is a challenge. Survival is so easy in our
convenient lives, with entertainment so often our focus. Developing
family cohesiveness in work, with no absolute necessity of hard work,
is difficult. Why make it if you can buy it? Why mend it if you can
get another? Why be creative if entertainment just falls into your lap?

When we found out that the Ingall's Homestead (of "Little House on the
Prairie") was on our travel path, we made a point to read the books and
captivate the interest of the girls, so that they would be fascinated by
this place of the pioneers. For the past several evenings, we have read
"Little House on the Prairie" as our bedtime story, and the girls have
made clay figures of the characters and played many pretend games.

Wow! What an experience was the actual homestead! The crowds were low,
the feel authentic, and the staff were genuinely engaged in the story.
We rode a wagon out to a 124 year old school house where the kids put on
era-costumes and were even called to the front of the class by the
teacher to skip-count and have a spelling bee. The girls washed sheets
on a real washer board, ground wheat, made rope, fashioned corn-cob
dolls, rode horses, and basked in this lovely time period. I pray the
the children will learn character-building lessons from these brave
pioneers, and cherish their memories of this place.