Little House on the Prairie

This week's Reading lesson centers around life now and then.  It has been very good for kindergartners as it made them  aware of what life was like long ago.  I took this time to read the "Little House on the Prairie" picture books like the ones in the photo.  The kids loved them!  Today's book was about the Ingalls arriving in Kansas and building a log cabin on the prairie.  After the story, I got out the Lincoln Logs and tried to explain how they may have built a cabin. 

So many topics and standards were covered during these stories.  The kindergartners learned how people crossed the nation long ago and how they lived without electricity and running water. They learned how children were helpful to their family and how they didn't need a lot of toys and things to be happy, so that was a good lesson on needs and wants. I also was able to show their journey on a U.S. map. I have four more short chapter books about Laura and her family, that are geared for younger children, that I will read next week.  

They were so shocked when I told them that it was a real story and that Laura moved to South Dakota later on.  When I told them that Mrs. Wilson, their music teacher, grew up in the same town as Laura, they were thrilled!  I thought some of you would like to know that we were talking about the Ingalls in case your child brought it up at home.