TheObiBlog

Finished Farmer Boy last night with kid #1, starting On the Banks of Plum Creek tonight.

I can see why the Laura Ingals Wilder books are so widely popular with homeschoolers. Farmer Boy tells the tale of the country schoolhouse. Each year, the nasty boys come for a week, then beat the tar out of the teacher, then school is over. They've done this for years, and one schoolteacher died from his beating. This year's schoolteacher, a skinny pale man, marches toward the greatly anticipated day of the attack. He tries to appear calm, but the students can see him sweat, and hear the fearful halt in his voice. When the attack finally comes, he pulls out the leather whip he borrowed from the dad at the house he's staying at, and proceeds to defend himself by whipping big bloody gashes into the hide of the ringleader. The kid eventually bails out the window into the snow, where he's got a 5 mile walk home in tattered clothing and no coat. All the kids learn a good lesson about justice, discipline, and being brave.