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Our latest adventures on the Oregon Trail...


Aubrey
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HAHA! You got me, my heart lurched when I read the first sentence. I will have to do that with my girls some time. That is one of the first games I can remember when computers came out and I was a computer cadet at school. Good times!!!

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HAHA! You got me, my heart lurched when I read the first sentence. I will have to do that with my girls some time. That is one of the first games I can remember when computers came out and I was a computer cadet at school. Good times!!!

 

Oh, we're not doing the computer game--I've actually never played that one--this is a book. We sit around the table, read, talk, & roll dice. And call Granny & Grandad for advice. :001_huh:

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Wow, Aubrey. What a beautiful, heart-breaking post. I have to believe that now is the time for them to make such choices, much as it nearly kills you as their mother, in order to see the consequences without true consequences. As you discuss their choices, discuss the "fierceness," discuss life in this way, you're providing a safe place for them to experience and learn to make better choices in "real" life later.

 

But I do hope you'll update how it goes when they meet the Shoshone people next week. I'll try not to cry too much.

 

Thank you so much for sharing.

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In those difficult, stretched-to-the-point-of-breaking times, that’s when we really choose Who to follow, and survival was not a message He preached.

That line really got me.

 

Thanks for sharing! We'll do American history next year and I would LOVE to do a simulation like this. I had a long-lived fascination with Native Americans and their culture that continues to this day and I would really like to make that period in history so real for my kids. You've done a great job of it!!!

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Wow, Aubrey. What a beautiful, heart-breaking post. I have to believe that now is the time for them to make such choices, much as it nearly kills you as their mother, in order to see the consequences without true consequences. As you discuss their choices, discuss the "fierceness," discuss life in this way, you're providing a safe place for them to experience and learn to make better choices in "real" life later.

 

But I do hope you'll update how it goes when they meet the Shoshone people next week. I'll try not to cry too much.

 

Thank you so much for sharing.

 

It was a difficult article to write...sad & personal & disappointing. I tried to write about something else, but really, this was so much at the forefront of my brain, &...it seems really important to me. If it hadn't been for the simulation, I might have completely overlooked this aspect of their ed.

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Your post had me tearing up. I can see how this book can really change our studies and make them more real. I am going to order.

 

Can you tell us how many days a week/how long per day you work on it?

I would love to know how best to schedule it in.

 

Thanks so much,

Katie

 

Drat! Too bad I don't get commission! :lol:

 

We've been pretty inconsistent. One day, we made a covered wagon. Another day, I printed pics of all their supplies & laminated them.

 

We usually play games in the evenings over dinner, & we've done this simulation 1-2x/wk since we started it. Not every night, but we do wait for dh & for times when the grandparents will be avail for consult.

 

I think dh & I would have been more willing to offer advice if we hadn't already played it on our own one night, but really--I think it's been good for them to have to work out their decisions themselves. And I love the connection it's helping to foster between them & their grparents--a different level than gardening or spending the night or usual grandparent activities.

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Aubrey, thank you for posting this, it looks awesome.

 

May I ask, can it be used with just one student?

 

If so, it's going in my Amazon cart.

 

Thanks.

 

I wouldn't use it w/ one *person,* but as long as you've got others who are willing to participate, I think it should be ok. One of the bigger lessons is cooperating on decision-making, & that would be too easy w/ one person, lol.

 

But also...it's a tough journey for 4 characters to make (not enough $ for supplies--dh & I ea chose 2 characters & played like that). Can you & your dh & maybe some g'parents or hs friends do it w/ you? That would be ideal.

 

Dh & I got really mad at ea other, trying to load & equip the wagon. Then I read that working out those details are part of the grade. :glare: :lol:

 

It was really funny when ds & dd had the same arguments dh & I had had! And we told them in very holy voices that the ability to cooperate & agree is part of the grade. :lol:

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Love the computer game! My dd(12) & dd(10) are both doing American History this year and would love to try that simulation book. We are also reading the Dear America: Oregon Trail book and the Gold Rush book as well as playing the computer game.

 

Dianna

 

dd 12 8th grade

dd 10 5th grade

ds 6 1st grade

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I wouldn't use it w/ one *person,* but as long as you've got others who are willing to participate, I think it should be ok. One of the bigger lessons is cooperating on decision-making, & that would be too easy w/ one person, lol.

 

But also...it's a tough journey for 4 characters to make (not enough $ for supplies--dh & I ea chose 2 characters & played like that). Can you & your dh & maybe some g'parents or hs friends do it w/ you? That would be ideal.

 

Dh & I got really mad at ea other, trying to load & equip the wagon. Then I read that working out those details are part of the grade. :glare: :lol:

 

It was really funny when ds & dd had the same arguments dh & I had had! And we told them in very holy voices that the ability to cooperate & agree is part of the grade. :lol:

 

Is this something that you could prep and play in one long session, say as a day event for a homeschool group? Or is it the type of thing that you're doing in segments over a long period of time?

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Is this something that you could prep and play in one long session, say as a day event for a homeschool group? Or is it the type of thing that you're doing in segments over a long period of time?

 

Dh & I did it in one day, but I think that would be hard. It took us about 4hrs, but we didn't have anything prepped & were having to figure it out. Still, we weren't wiggly & distracted. :lol:

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"In those difficult, stretched-to-the-point-of-breaking times, that’s when we really choose Who to follow, and survival was not a message He preached."

 

 

I really needed to see this just now, for a completely unrelated reason. Thank you, Aubrey, for writing this, and thank you, Lucy, for posting it.

Sincerely, Carol

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"In those difficult, stretched-to-the-point-of-breaking times, that’s when we really choose Who to follow, and survival was not a message He preached."

 

 

I really needed to see this just now, for a completely unrelated reason. Thank you, Aubrey, for writing this, and thank you, Lucy, for posting it.

Sincerely, Carol

 

:grouphug:

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Dh & I got really mad at ea other, trying to load & equip the wagon. Then I read that working out those details are part of the grade. :glare: :lol:

 

It was really funny when ds & dd had the same arguments dh & I had had! And we told them in very holy voices that the ability to cooperate & agree is part of the grade. :lol:

 

 

So funny!! :laugh:

 

Pam

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