I HATED geography as a child. It was tedious, repetitive, and included lots of looking up things like the population of a given country that I have never cared to look up since. It wasn't until I learned to teach geography with living books and learned right alongside my children that I realized what a joy it really is. What is Geography? Simply put, geography is the relation of every place to someplace else and understanding each place's physical features and activities. It gives us a sense of belonging, a sense of our own place in the world in relation to other humans, just as history gives us a sense of our place in the world's timeline. What better way, then, to introduce a child to ... Read More
How to Build a Hands-On Homeschool. It’s Easy!
These days, it seems like hands-on homeschool is a buzzword of sorts. What's all the fuss about? Let's define hands-on first. It's best to define hands-on first because I think it's overall meaning might surprise you. You see, hands-on learning can actually mean several things. Most obvious, hands-on means "touching" things during lessons. For instance, rather than reading about simple machines, you actually use simple machines to learn about their characteristics. Or, when learning about the rock cycle, you make your own rocks by taking them through a rock cycle simulation. Similar to the definition above, hands-on can also mean learning by doing. When you learn about Colonial history ... Read More
6 MORE of Our Family’s Favorite Picture Book Authors
Our family's favorite picture book authors earn "forever spots" on our bookshelves. Those spots don't just go to any old books. Nope. To earn a coveted spot on our shelves, a book has to be pretty special. While bunches and bunches of authors have found a space or two on our shelves, there are only a handful who have large spaces dedicated to several of their books. Those are the authors I think you should know about, too, so your family can enjoy their stories as much as we have. This is the second of two posts sharing our favorite picture book authors with you. If you haven't already, be sure to make note of the authors from the first post, too. My children and I hope you love all ... Read More
Six of Our Very Favorite Picture Book Authors
This momma has a huge affinity for picture books. Over the years, we've read more than I would want to count. I promise you that I don't regret a moment spent inside these books with my children! While we certainly have a long list of favorites from many, many different authors, there are just some authors whose books we have consistently loved. Today, I'd like to share six of our family's favorite picture book authors with you. These are the authors I would always make a beeline for at the library and could be sure that we'd enjoy just about anything we piled into our overflowing basket. These are also the authors whose books became so dear to us that many of them found ... Read More
Our Favorite Thanksgiving Living Books
Even holiday reading must pass the living literature test around here! These Thanksgiving living books have been favorites around our house for years. Some help explain the history of our Thanksgiving celebration, while others are just sweet stories with a Thanksgiving theme. We even have a couple of poetry favorites! At your local library, you'll likely find at least a shelf or two full of Thanksgiving themed books. Sadly, many of them aren't worth your time because they're twaddle. What's twaddle? The dictionary defines twaddle as "trivial or foolish speech or writing; nonsense." I like to describe it as fluff that rarely has a full plot, rich language, or vivid ... Read More
A Cemetery Scavenger Hunt Makes a Great History Lesson
Eeeewww! A cemetery scavenger hunt? Are you serious? Yes! Believe it or not, this is a REALLY cool activity because cemeteries are chock-full of history! We've visited several cemeteries over the years as we've studied our state's history. And, you might remember the times we've utilized our beautiful cemeteries for science purposes like winter nature walks, conifer studies, and tweezer treks. But this trip really helps us dig in to the history of our own community as we discover more about the actual lives of the people who have made our town their home over the years. Cemetery Scavenger Hunt This activity works well for children of all ages. It also works whether you have ... Read More
How to Use Informational Books as History Curriculum
Do history textbooks ever fit into a living literature-based homeschool? Of course they do! But, if we're being honest, they often don't fit in very well because dry text isn't the name of the game in the Charlotte Mason style. Think about this, though. If we only used living literature when teaching history, for instance, we'd certainly leave out some very important key facts, events and people from the "real story." Historical fiction books are magnificent for drawing my children into a time period (or event.) They make history come alive and place us in the very midst of the action. They spark discussions and give us unique perspectives. I am all for living literature! But, ... Read More
Realistic Cave Paintings: An Ancient History Art Project
Eli and I have just begun our ancient history studies for the year - and I'm very glad to report that I might have another history lover on my hands! This post contains affiliate links. Oh, how I have missed Story of the World. It's just such a well-rounded program. The living text, narration questions, maps, timeline cards and great book suggestions make this eclectic Charlotte Mason homeschooler happy. I mentioned in this post that we would be going through the curriculum at our own pace and may or may not linger over the hands-on activities. My little guy isn't about time fillers, so any hands-on activity we do has to have real purpose. I found a hands-on activity last week ... Read More
The Four Year History Cycle: Slightly Revised
You may have heard me say before that we follow a four-year cycle of chronological history in our homeschool. Well, we used to. My littlest man will be in 3rd grade this coming school year and we're just now getting into ancient history - year 1 in a four-year cycle. I still plan to follow a four (or five) year cycle, but he'll only go through it twice before he graduates - several years from now - which is one less time through the cycle than most classical models. (This post contains affiliate links.) Why only twice through the cycle? My big kids didn't really need the 3rd cycle by the time they got into high school. We had studied world history thoroughly twice before and ... Read More
More Than Just a Dinosaur Unit Study
My little man and I just finished a Creation-based dinosaur unit study that led to some amazing rabbit trail learning! What started out as a great "boy topic" to end 2nd grade with a bang, turned into so much more. And, without my pre-planning, it's given him a great foundational understanding of events leading up to ancient history - which is our focus next school year. (This post contains affiliate links.) Dinosaur Lapbook My original plans were to simply go through the free Creation Based Dinosaur Lapbook and Printables from Homeschool Share. The prepared study was perfect for a 2nd grader and I already owned the "spine" book, What Really Happened to the Dinosaurs? by John ... Read More