Little dog at her little house on the lake

     Home.  We are home!  We drove 3,839 miles.  Amanda reviewed what we did and saw. We saw woods, prairies, tables, swells, sloughs, lakes, rivers, banks, creeks and hills. We read about all the wild animals and plants in the woods and on the prairies, and then about all the domesticated animals and crops that the settlers bred and planted. We went in dugout houses, shanties, log cabins, board houses, hotels and tents.  We learned about covered wagons, horses and oxen, rafts, and travel by railroad.  We heard about natural disasters such as fire, hail, cyclones, blizzards, grasshoppers, blackbirds and drought.  We heard almost every song that Pa played on the fiddle, and learned Ma’s weekly chore schedule, and the chores that Laura and her sisters had to do.  We read about cooking on the prairie, crafts that young girls did, toys and games they had and played, and what they learned in school.  In her classroom Amanda can share the excitement and the tragedies of pioneer life, and she can have her students make comparisons of their lives with Laura’s life.
 

Little dog in a covered wagon 

                                                                              
    Tia Judy said we learned about food, clothing, shelter and transportation.  We learned about adaptation to the environment, courage in the face of adversity, freedom and opportunity, how the land changed, and about sustainable living, and then interdependent living.  We learned about an important part of US history – the Homestead Act and pioneer life.  One important thing was missing, though.  We did not learn about the land from a Native American perspective, and how pioneer life affected them and their way of life.  Amanda wants to be sure to include that when her class studies pioneer life, so that her students can learn how their dreams and actions affect others.
 

    Little dog on the prairie

     Now that we are home, little dogs like me can run and play outside, and be free to explore our homestead.  Tia Judy will read some books, and Amanda is going to be her own kind of pioneer, and will create new ways to make US history come alive for her students!
 

Little dog on her lake