Prairie Primer

by Sue T.
(Alabama)

I used Prairie Primer with 3rd graders in 2006 and 2009.

I absolutely loved using Prairie Primer. It's been 2 years since I used it with any of my children and yet we find ourselves talking about it weekly. Apart from what they actually learned, my children found a deep and intense love for 'character' and 'learning' the year they walked in Laura Ingall's shoes.

Prairie Primer is a year-long unit study using all of the Little House on the Prairie books. The Primer covers every subject to some degree. In my opinion, it doesn't cover enough math or English to be considered a full year's work, but you could easily add to what the Primer starts and center an entire year's school work around the Primer.

We used the Prairie Primer to cover the subjects of Character Education, Home Studies (home-ec and such), Science and History. In our home, we taught a separate English and Math curriculum to our students and found that our children really excelled.

I, personally, LOVED Prairie Primer, but you should know that I also LOVE the Little House books. I found that the lessons and projects spoke to, not only the intellect of my children, but more importantly, THEIR HEARTS. I believe that when we're old, we'll still be talking about that 'button lamp' we made when my kids were kids, how to milk feed a pumpkin, and where sibling rivalry really comes from. It was a precious time in my family.

If there are any drawbacks to the Prairie Primer, it would have to be PLANNING. If you want to do it well, you MUST plan ahead to make sure you have what your children will need to do their projects. Also, if you want to include very young children, be prepared to read the Little House books aloud.

Prairie Primer

by Dee
(Des Moines, Iowa)

I did the Prairie Primer with my son when he was in 6th grade. I loved it. We notebooked it. He drew pictures of many of the scenes that Laura described in the books. He even did a state history of our state. I only supplemented with math and English. It is a nice way to have discussions with your children on the way things were back then and how much we've learned today that make our work so much easier.

There were several families doing it at the same time and one of the ladies set up the activities that went along with the books. They were not only fun but educational and we formed bonds with the ladies in the group that we still have today. We even meet at least a couple of times a year and do an activity with our children. I am going to do this study again this year with my 7 and 10 year old granddaughters.

Prairie Primer

by Penny
(Louisiana)

I used this book a few years ago and loved it. My girls and I had fun making crafts and reading about the Little House family. It was a very good study. I highly recommend it.