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Iowa Travel: 7 Fun Things to Do with Kids

Iowa Travel: 7 Fun Things to Do with Kids

by Melissa Droegemueller | Oct 6, 2019 | Family Adventures

Iowa Travel Recommendations Iowa is a great place to visit, filled with beautiful views and fun things to do with kids. Most of our favorite places are just a few hours from Des Moines, perfect for day trips. If you want incredible memories with your family, grab a...
Rocky Ridge Farm: a Laura Ingalls Wilder site in Mansfield, Missouri

Rocky Ridge Farm: a Laura Ingalls Wilder site in Mansfield, Missouri

by Melissa Droegemueller | Jul 18, 2019 | Family Adventures

At the beginning of the year, we asked our girls to tell us one thing they wanted to do together as a family. Our oldest daughter picked rock-climbing for her activity. Our younger daughter told us she wanted to visit another Laura Ingalls Wilder site. Two years ago,...
Family Adventures: Real-World Learning

Family Adventures: Real-World Learning

by Melissa Droegemueller | May 5, 2019 | Family Adventures

Are you thinking about a family road trip this summer? Our family believes in real-world learning, and travel is a great way to experience new things and build background knowledge with your kids. Family adventures don’t need to be expensive or complicated,...

Why Your Family Needs an Adventure Backpack

by Melissa Droegemueller | Aug 3, 2018 | Family Adventures

Many, many years ago, there was a movie called One Fine Day featuring Michelle Pfeiffer and George Clooney as two single parents working together to juggle their kids and their jobs. One of the recurring jokes in the movie is that ultra-controlling mom Pfeiffer always...

8 Simple Fall Family Traditions + Gratitude Journal

by Melissa Droegemueller | Nov 4, 2017 | Fall Activities, Family Adventures

Growing up in Texas, cooler weather and changing leaves usually arrived at the same time as Christmas. Now that we have moved to the Midwest, our girls get to experience a TRUE fall: harvest, apple-picking, pumpkin patches, and jumping in HUGE piles of leaves in the...

Apple-Picking | Fall Family Field Trip

by Melissa Droegemueller | Sep 8, 2017 | Fall Activities, Family Adventures

When the calendar switches to September, I immediately begin planning our fall family outings: apple-picking, visiting the pumpkin patch, hiking local nature trails, driving to see the changing leaves, and more! One of my intentions here at Rolling Prairie Readers is...
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Melissa Droegemueller | Rolling Prairie Readers

About Melissa

I am an elementary school teacher–turned–homeschooling mom with over 13 years experience working with babies through 4th graders. I believe in making learning FUN for ALL kids.

At Rolling Prairie Readers, we are passionate about learning through play, chasing adventures, and good books!

Our mission is to create a community of lifelong learners where parents inspire and empower their children to follow their passions and use their unique gifts to make the world a better place.

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  • 10 Simple Learning Activities: Straw Pieces
    10 Simple Learning Activities: Straw Pieces
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    100 Hands-On Activities for Tactile Learners
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    Classical Conversations Review Game
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    Visiting De Smet, South Dakota - Ingalls Homestead and Tour
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    10 Ways to Keep Hands and Minds Busy During Read-Aloud
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    Simple Tips to Improve Attention Spans for Kids
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Helping your kids learn & grow through playful lessons at home. 💕 Specializing in early childhood education.
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Melissa D || preschool at home
We went on a three-mile hike yesterday near the la We went on a three-mile hike yesterday near the lake. I'm thankful for a family who loves to be in nature as much as I do. ♥️
My younger daughter has been a tactile learner fro My younger daughter has been a tactile learner from the very beginning. We started with a water table in the backyard, which led to a variety of sensory bins through her toddler years. As many of her peers outgrew the constant need for hands-on learning, Katie continued to seek new sensory experiences and stockpile small toys in her pockets. . Even as I write this post, she is spinning around and around and around in my desk chair while reading a book. (My head is spinning just watching her!) . At least one-fourth of children have either a tactile or kinesthetic learning style. Instead of isolating these children or constantly correcting them for being disruptive, we can empower them to take charge of their own learning with these materials! . (Tactile learners tend to focus on fine-motor work, always having some small object in their hands. Kinesthetic children are whole body learners, constantly moving, jumping, shaking, dancing, rolling, etc.) . Click on the blog button at the link in my profile (@theplayschoolclub) to see all 100 recommendations!
J is for JUNGLE this week! There are so many fun t J is for JUNGLE this week! There are so many fun topics to explore in this theme: discover the plants and animals found in jungle + rain forest habitats explore the letter J and the color green learn more about the life cycle of a frog make an origami jumping frog create your own DIY rain stick and much, much more!  . You can download our Jungle + Rain Forest Family Activity Guide to get lesson plans for 40 hands-on activities -- click on the link in my profile (@theplayschoolclub) for all the details! 🐸
Both of my girls L♥️VE biographies! What a gif Both of my girls L♥️VE biographies! What a gift to have so many extraordinary women to inspire us.
We are a family full of adventurers. While I am mo We are a family full of adventurers. While I am more content than most to stay home for long periods of time (introvert 🙋), my soul starts to cry out when I go too long without a dose of nature. . Every weekend without fail, my husband has a new little day trip picked out. We pack a picnic, stay relatively close to home, and find a deserted nature trail to hike. . We missed celebrating my in-laws' 50th anniversary last month with the whole extended family. We haven't seen any family members since the middle of June, when we all sat in a big circle outside and didn't touch. Next month, we were supposed to vacation west...but all of that is being postponed. . We know how fortunate we are to be home and safe. We know many others have it much worse than us. But still, it's okay to grieve what we are missing. I don't think I'll ever take traveling for granted again. ♥️
I posted a few "back to {home}school" tips over on I posted a few "back to {home}school" tips over on our FB page last week, and it sort of went viral. 😉 . One of the tips I'd like to emphasize is that you don't have to create a classroom for your home! . In our 8 years of homeschooling, we have tried quite a few configurations around the house, but we are extremely flexible. . We have desks upstairs, a table in the living room, a table in the dining room, a desk in my room, and personal-size whiteboards for when we feel like doing school on the couch. You can also do school outside! . Personally, I like having the freedom to move around the house. I like being able to sit all together at the table or sending one kiddo to her desk in the adjacent room when she needs to concentrate. . Can you buy a bunch of "back to school" posters and pledge allegiance to the flag every morning. Sure! . Do you have to? Nope! Your homeschool doesn't have to look like anyone else's!
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