Every day there was fish for breakfast and fish for dinner and fish for supper.
Taken from On the Banks of Plum Creek in the chapter entitled The Fish Trap
That is the last line in this particular chapter. I don't know about you, but I'd probably be complaining to High Heaven after about 1 and 1/2 days of that! But not the Ingalls family. Nope! You guessed it! They were grateful.
Let's back up:
The Ingalls family was living in a dugout near a creek (more on that in another post!) and, as always, living off of nature's bounty. Pa was always one step ahead of the needs of his family. So he set about building a fish trap.
"Now you see, Laura," said Pa. "The fish will come over the falls into the trap, and the little ones will go out through the cracks, but the big ones can't. They can't climb back up the falls. So they'll have to stay swimming in the box til I come and take them out."
At that very minute a big fish came slithering over the falls. Laura squealed and shouted, "Look Pa! Look!"
Pa's hands in the water grabbed the fish and lifted him out, flopping. Laura almost fell into the waterfall. They looked at the silvery fat fish and then Pa dropped him into the trap again.
He sat on his heels and Laura sat on hers and they waited. The creek poured and splashed, always the same and always changing. Glints of sunshine danced on it. Cool air came up from it and warm air lay on Laura's neck. The bushes held up thousands of little leaves against the sky. They smelled sweet in the sun.
Pa and Laura took the fish home to Ma, where Pa cleaned them and Ma fried them up for supper.
"You always think of something, Charles," said Ma. "Just when I'm wondering where our living is to come from, now it's spring." Pa could not hunt in the springtime, for then all the rabbits had little rabbits and the birds had little birds in their nests.
Every morning after that, before he went to work, Pa brought fish from the trap. He never took more than they needed to eat. The others he lifted out of the trap and let swim away.
He brought buffalo fish and pickerel, and catfish, and shiners, and bullheads with two black horns. He brought some whose names he did not know. Every day there was fish for breakfast and fish for dinner and fish for supper.
The End.
No complaint whatsoever of having the same ol' thing for every meal. This is a beautiful example of good old American ingenuity. It's truly pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps and making do with what you have. It's what made the Pioneers a great generation, and helped them to successfully settle the western frontier.
This same book covers many hardships, like a plague of grasshoppers, blizzards, wheels of fire, drought, and debt. But the Ingalls family didn't flinch, and they didn't despair. They still sang songs at bedtime while Pa played his fiddle, they worshipped with their local church and even contributed to the shiny new church bell. And when things just wouldn't turn around, they cut their losses and found a new place to start again. After all, this was America and anything was possible.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Monday, July 20, 2009
Learning to Read
We get a glimpse into the early school habits of both Laura and her future husband, Almanzo, in the books On the Banks of Plum Creek and Farmer Boy. Several years ago I was surprised to learn that Laura didn't learn to read until she was 8 years old! I recently discovered that Almanzo didn't begin attending school until he was almost 9.
Laura was in a whole class by herself because she was the only pupil who could not read. Whenever Teacher had time, she called Laura to her desk and helped her read letters. Just before dinner-time that first day, Laura was able to read C A T, cat. Suddenly she remembered and said, "P A T, Pat!"
Teacher was surprised.
"R A T, rat!" said Teacher. "M A T, mat!" And Laura was reading! She could read the whole first row in the speller.
Taken from On the Banks of Plum Creek in the chapter entitled School
Seven years later . . .
"What is it, Laura?" he (Pa) asked. "You look as if you expect that paper to bite you."
"Pa," Laura said, "I am a schoolteacher."
"What!" said Pa. "Caroline, what is this?"
"Read it." Laura gave him the certificate and sat down. "And he didn't ask me how old I am."
When Pa had read the certificate and Ma had told him about the school, he said, "I'll be jiggered." He sat down and slowly read the certificate again.
"That's fine," he said. "That's pretty fine for a fifteen-year-old."
Taken from Little Town on the Prairie in the chapter entitled Unexpected in December
Did you read the part where she went from reading to teaching in just 7 short years? And lest you think that Laura was a barely-educated backwoods pioneer teacher, google her writings. She wrote for newspapers, magazines, and only late in her life did she write the Little House on the Prairie books.
Now comes the part where I share my opinion. In case you're new to me, let me introduce myself. My name is Nicki and I ALWAYS have an opinion. : )
In short, schools waste a lot of time. Our kids must go to school for 9 months out of the year for 6-7 hours a day. But what they do in that time can be easily accomplished in half the time if it weren't for several things: managing large groups of children, standing in line, disciplinary issues, and wasting time teaching about social issues that are best left to the parents.
How did Laura gain an education sufficient for teaching school in just 7 years? How do homeschool families accomplish the same amount of schoolwork or more and finish their day by lunchtime? And more importantly, when did it become necessary to have children spend the majority of their childhood in a classroom?
There are many issues that could be discussed at length in that one paragraph, but the basic issue here is that learning does not have to take place only in a classroom with state certified teachers. Learning does not take place only with textbooks and chalkboards and tests. Learning can always happen, with a few good books and parents who care.
On the prairie, kids went to school in the winter when their help was not needed at home. Some only went for a few years. In Little Town on the Prairie, Laura shows her determination to learn and succeed as she spends all of her free time studying. Notice she is not doing homework. She is studying. She works complicated math problems in her head, she can recite history, she diagrams sentences, and still has a very full social life for a girl on the wild prairie.
Whether you have children in public school, private school, or you homeschool them, keep in mind the desired end result. Focus on that and don't let school take on a life of it's own.
Laura was in a whole class by herself because she was the only pupil who could not read. Whenever Teacher had time, she called Laura to her desk and helped her read letters. Just before dinner-time that first day, Laura was able to read C A T, cat. Suddenly she remembered and said, "P A T, Pat!"
Teacher was surprised.
"R A T, rat!" said Teacher. "M A T, mat!" And Laura was reading! She could read the whole first row in the speller.
Taken from On the Banks of Plum Creek in the chapter entitled School
Seven years later . . .
"What is it, Laura?" he (Pa) asked. "You look as if you expect that paper to bite you."
"Pa," Laura said, "I am a schoolteacher."
"What!" said Pa. "Caroline, what is this?"
"Read it." Laura gave him the certificate and sat down. "And he didn't ask me how old I am."
When Pa had read the certificate and Ma had told him about the school, he said, "I'll be jiggered." He sat down and slowly read the certificate again.
"That's fine," he said. "That's pretty fine for a fifteen-year-old."
Taken from Little Town on the Prairie in the chapter entitled Unexpected in December
Did you read the part where she went from reading to teaching in just 7 short years? And lest you think that Laura was a barely-educated backwoods pioneer teacher, google her writings. She wrote for newspapers, magazines, and only late in her life did she write the Little House on the Prairie books.
Now comes the part where I share my opinion. In case you're new to me, let me introduce myself. My name is Nicki and I ALWAYS have an opinion. : )
In short, schools waste a lot of time. Our kids must go to school for 9 months out of the year for 6-7 hours a day. But what they do in that time can be easily accomplished in half the time if it weren't for several things: managing large groups of children, standing in line, disciplinary issues, and wasting time teaching about social issues that are best left to the parents.
How did Laura gain an education sufficient for teaching school in just 7 years? How do homeschool families accomplish the same amount of schoolwork or more and finish their day by lunchtime? And more importantly, when did it become necessary to have children spend the majority of their childhood in a classroom?
There are many issues that could be discussed at length in that one paragraph, but the basic issue here is that learning does not have to take place only in a classroom with state certified teachers. Learning does not take place only with textbooks and chalkboards and tests. Learning can always happen, with a few good books and parents who care.
On the prairie, kids went to school in the winter when their help was not needed at home. Some only went for a few years. In Little Town on the Prairie, Laura shows her determination to learn and succeed as she spends all of her free time studying. Notice she is not doing homework. She is studying. She works complicated math problems in her head, she can recite history, she diagrams sentences, and still has a very full social life for a girl on the wild prairie.
Whether you have children in public school, private school, or you homeschool them, keep in mind the desired end result. Focus on that and don't let school take on a life of it's own.
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