Welcome to my personal fan-page for everything Laura Ingalls Wilder!
I grew up reading the original Little House book series (and not watching the TV show!), and as an adult, I have devoured all of Laura’s other writings. As a mom, I have integrated this into our homeschool (as well as homeschool co-op classes), and now I look forward to doing the same for my grandchildren.
If you are a huge fan of Laura Ingalls or you feel like you want to be, you’ve come to the right place.
This blog post is a companion to the podcast I did, so you might want to listen to that first.
Laura’s Books
The absolute must-read of the Little House canon is her original book series, affectionately known as the Little House books. There are nine in the series, and they start when Laura was about 5 years old, ending with her marriage to Almanzo Wilder.
But before Laura published these books, she first wrote Pioneer Girl. Publishers weren’t crazy about it, so Laura and her daughter Rose rewrote Pioneer Girl into the multiple children’s books above. It is a wonderful history book, and a fantastic guide to the backstory of the Little House books. Full of footnotes, it contains so many pieces to the puzzle that readers have been missing for years!
But let’s back up: before Laura decided to tell her life’s story, she had already created a name for herself as a writer for the Missouri Ruralist, a newspaper local to her.
In 1911, she was invited to submit an article to The Missouri Ruralist, and for the next twenty years she wrote articles about farming, marriage, parenting, faith, America, homemaking, the war (WW1), and many other things. You can read these writings in a couple of different books: Little House in the Ozarks: A Laura Ingalls Wilder Sampler  as well as Laura Ingalls Wilder, Farm Journalist: Writings from the Ozarks, both edited by Stephen Hines.
This book (above) will help you get to know Laura like no other. She wrote in a friendly, conversational style that makes you feel like a neighbor.
Speaking of Stephen Hines, he created another compilation called A Prairie Girl’s Faith.
Laura Ingalls Wilder Country is the photo scrapbook of the people and places of Laura’s children’s book series. I love this one so much. In fact, when my first copy went missing, I replaced it.
Related to that and equally as valuable is this collection of Laura’s own recipes, some handed down to her by Ma. The Laura Ingalls Wilder Country Cookbook is a must-have for true fans, and make a wonderful addition to your homeschool unit study. The photos in this cookbook were all taken at Laura’s home in Mansfield, MO.
For children (but who am I kidding, this is for adults, too!) the classic Little House CookBook is a treasure trove of recipes, history, stories, and info about the foods that were mainstays in the Little House books. You can read one of the books and follow up with several recipes straight from that story!
And while you’re immersed in the stories and food of Little House, you will want to do some crafts or sewing, too. I love both the Little House Sewing and Little House Crafts books. They may be hard to find, so you might have to hunt down used copies. I have taught homeschool co-op classes with both the cook book and the crafts and sewing books, and they were a hit!
Y’all, I have everything in this collection, including the Little House Paper Dolls. These are so sweet, and would be a great accompaniment to reading the books aloud in your homeschool. They’re a nod to Little House in the Big Woods when Ma made paper dolls for Mary and Laura to play with.
Okay, here are my favorites for your youngest children and grandchildren: The Little House Picture Books. They tell short sweet stories from the original Little House Books, with the same adorable illustrations! There are 14 in the collection. I have had these since my adult children were very young. I just love them.
One book I do not have, but now I think I’ll have to get, is the Little House Coloring Book. I always used coloring books like this when we did read-alouds for school.
Homeschooling with Little House
So now that I’ve shown you some really fun resources, how do you use them?
Little House on the Prairie is American history. No matter what age your kids are, these books are perfect as a year-long study or integrated into 19th century history. I’ve done both, and as I mentioned, I’ve also taught co-op classes.
Many many years ago there was a full year study created called The Prairie Primer. It is a unit that uses the Little House Books to cover every subject except Bible. It’s another old one that might be hard to find, so you’ll have to hunt down used copies. It’s classic old-school homeschool curriculum.
But there are lots of other studies to use with the Little House Books. ChristianBook.com has several:
I’ve used several Progeny Press guides over the years, so I can personally recommend this one.
There’s also one for Farmer Boy.
Memoria Press guides are great, too, including this one for Little House in the Big Woods.
I created a study guide for teens based on Little Town on the Prairie, which you can download here.
And if your kids are interested in making quilts like the Ingalls girls, I have a study guide for that, too!
What homeschool study would be complete without a field trip? You’re in luck, because every location where Laura lived has some kind of museum or memorial to her. Tour homes, one-room schools, museums, and other notable locations. This website is a great start. And if you can’t make it to one of the official locations, any pioneer museum in the United States will be fun!
And finally, I want to share some old blogs posts I wrote on lessons learned from the Little House books. It was a series called “Simple Wisdom from Laura Ingalls Wilder.” There’s also a workshop I gave at the Great Homeschool Convention in 2018 called “A Laura Ingalls Education.”
Check out my free download of Laura Ingalls copywork, and add that to your homeschool study.
Now you should be equipped to read, bake, craft, and maybe even wear costumes as you immerse your family in the world of 19th century life on the prairie with one of America’s most iconic ladies!
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