Providing Educational Experiences

It's no secret that I love rural life and our little rural school is no exception. Yip and Yap are two of only 20 1st graders. Their teahcers and principal konws everyone. My boys routinely give hugs to the varsity football players when they see them right after school. And there is ample opportunity for students to have one on one attention from their teachers. 

Recently, however, I was talking to a mother of a high school senior in our district. She did have some complaints about the school; it doesn't prepare students for college and it doesn't provide enough experiences and opportunities for students. 

I have to disagree with her 1st point. The school DOES prepare students for college. Last year's seniors included a pre-med major and an student who is in the engineering program at Purdue this year. A state senator can also boast of being a recent graduate of our little high school. I believe my friend's son's problem isn't that he isn't prepared for college but that he doesn't know what he wants to do when he gets there. 

But the fact that this particular senior boy doesn't know what he wants to major in could be from lack of experiences. Of course our high school, of 100 students, has sports, band and an academic team. But there is no FFA program, which I hold in hig regard for its ability to instill leadership qualities in high school students. Like any school our students go on field trips but honestly, destinations are limited. For our students to have the opportunity to visit a museum of the same caliber as those in Chicago or Indianapolis would require an overnight trip. 

I'm an advocate of the importance of a well rounded education, not just in school but at home as well. If the school can't provide the experiences that my kids need then I see it's DR and my job to provide them. 

If you've read my blog routinely you know DR and I take road trips...a lot. Amarillo, Taos, Ft. Larned, Colorado. It's not just about our family seeing new places but experiencing new things and learning about people and places outside their community. DR and I have been discussing visiting a military base because Yap wants to be a soldier. I'm not pushing Yap to be a soldier if he changes his mind in the future but this is his interest now and I feel it's important to provide support and experiences for my kids' interests at any age. 

We also read....a LOT in our home. Books, magazines, newspapers....it's not uncommon for my kids to be on the floor surrounded by books before they go to school. DR and I both are constantly on the lookout for new and interesting reading material for our kids. 

Rural living is wonderful but it does have drawbacks. Isolation and lack of broad educational experiences is one of those obstacles we face out here in SW Kansas. For some the solution would be homeschooling. NOT ME! Overall, the school does a MUCH better job that I ever could on my own. Right now my job is to supplement my kids' educations with road trips, reading or whatever...but I know I could do better. 

So, my question to those of you living in very rural America, how do you provide educational experiences  for your children outside of those offered in your rural school? 

My Rural Life

When I first found Rural Women Rock, I was really excited to meet rural women with such different experiences, which got me thinking...what kind of rural woman am I?


Let's start with the name of my blog, Prairie Mother. You see, I first just picked that name a few years ago without much thought. But really I feel like that name is a perfect fit for what my life has been like the last 8 years. In the little over 8 years my husband DR and I have been married we have lived in 5 states and 8 different houses and have had 3 kids along the way. The shortest amount of time we've lived in one place was six months and the longest was almost three years. The first time I met DR we talked about how much we like to travel, but seriously, I never thought my life would have turned out like this. No, we aren't in the military but my husband works for a large agriculture company. The company is known for moving people a lot. Some of the moves the company chose and some we chose.

My hubby DR

The first few years I absolutely hated all these moves. I lived on the same country road my entire childhood until I went to college! Even during college I lived with my grandparents on their farm. And when I graduated college I lived and taught in a small rural town. This moving business was for the birds. I've always loved the country and have always yearned to be able to stay in one place and set down roots! 


But alas, it hasn't been so. But, call me crazy, I have learned to LOVE moving every few years. In fact the last move, from Illinois/Indiana to Southwest Kansas about a year ago, I was actually looking forward to moving again! Why?


Although DR and I have moved all over the place, we have always landed in rural areas thanks to the nature of his job. And rural America is the best place to live! We lived in Delaware for six months. You wouldn't think of Delaware as an agricultural state but it has some fabulous rural scenery. We lived in southern Indiana at a home where our house was completely surrounded by trees and we had an orchard! I had apples out the wazoo that year! I've lived on the prairie of Illinois where we were completely surrounded by corn, for a few months anyway, and battered by wind the rest of the year. And now we are in Kansas which is COMPLETELY different than anywhere I've ever lived! Dry, open and full of beef. In all the places we've lived we've had the opportunity to visit places I'd never had the chance to otherwise; The Statue of Liberty, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Nashville, Chicago, Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma. It's been an adventure!

Philadelphia and the Liberty Bell.
What were we thinking dragging 3 month old twins all over that town?

But in all the moves the rural communities have been by far the very best experiences for me. In each and every community, we have been welcomed with open arms and invited to experience and be part of the very best of what every community has to offer. And the very best of every community is the people. Rural folks just know hospitality. We spent my boys first Christmas with Santa on a Harley. I've had total strangers plow out my driveway because, through the grapevine, they knew I was pregnant and expecting a baby and DR wasn't ABOUT to deliver a baby at home. Oh, and the number of churches we've attended and the people we've gotten to know! I've never regretted leaving a place but I've always regretted leaving my church families. In fact, of all the people I still correspond with from our old homes, I met them all at church. 


Rural women are some of the most supportive people there are! I've realized in my moves that city women feel the need to "do it on their own" but rural women, ah, rural women are smarter. Rural women know that true strength comes from the community they are surrounded by. When my twin boys were only 2 months old I took them to get their shots and came home with two bawling babies! (No one told me to give them Tylenol first!) I had no family or friends to call on since we were in Delaware and I'd only been there for a few weeks. But my neighbor gladly came over just to hold a baby. By the way, have a baby in a rural community...you will come home from the hospital to some of the best home cooked food ever, not made by your husband!

My fabulous kids;
Yap, Yahoo and Yip

So, I'm not the typical rural woman who has lived on the family farm for 10, 15, 20 years. I'm Prairie Mother...wandering the country, watching over my family and feeling really blessed that, even for a short time, I've been able to be a part of rural communities all over this country. Because, YES! Rural Women Rock!