A Young Teacher
Education was always an important topic for the Ingalls family, whether it was on-screen or written, or in real life. Laura’s mother, Caroline, was a school teacher when she met Charles. Caroline was also known to teach her own daughters at home. Usually, this occurred because the family moved around so much but not always. According to Laura’s autobiography, which was finally published in 2014, Caroline would pull the girls out of school if necessary. For example, Laura wrote about not being able to memorize her multiplication tables so Caroline pulled her out of school and she learned them at home.
When it came to Laura’s father, Charles, he supported education in and outside of the home. Both the television series and Laura’s memoirs show Charles telling Laura that she is lucky she knows how to read and write as not everyone gets that privilege. Outside of the home, Charles served on the school board in De Smet. The support from Laura’s parents was not a waste and Laura took the exam to become a school teacher at 15 years old. While all “Little House” sources show Laura becoming a young school teacher, the reason why differ.
In the Little House on the Prairie television series, Laura falls in love with a visiting Almanzo Wilder and wants to marry him. However, both Charles and Almanzo feel Laura is too young, so in an effort to prove that she is not too young, she takes the teacher’s exam. She passes the exam and becomes the next Walnut Grove school teacher. In real life, falling in love had nothing to do with Laura taking the teacher’s examination before high school graduation.
One of the main reasons Laura decided to become a school teacher was due to finances. Laura’s family had always been the poor, struggling pioneers and their time in De Smet was no exception. Because of Laura’s enthusiasm for education, she knew her family would benefit from her teacher’s salary. A teenage Laura received her first teaching job at the Bouchie School, which was about 12 miles from her home. Laura was able to come home on weekends, thanks to Almanzo Wilder.