Books are incredibly effective tools for teaching. Charlotte Mason homeschoolers certainly understand that fact as it pertains to subjects like history and science. But, did you know the math and literature connection can be just as powerful? Why Math and Literature? There are many reasons math and literature pair so well together: Books introduce math concepts in a non-threatening way and build interest. Good stories make math come alive and children find that math isn't boring or inaccessible. Mathematics within stories provides context that illuminates the meaning of otherwise abstract concepts. This is especially helpful for struggling learners. Oftentimes, ... Read More
How To Make Friends with Books
What is a friend? Webster's 1828 Dictionary of the English language defines a friend as, "One who is attached to another by affection; one who entertains for another sentiments of esteem, respect and affection, which lead him to desire his company." I can easily apply that definition as I make friends with books and I definitely seek to pass that friendship on to my own children. This post contains affiliate links. Living Book Characteristics Charlotte Mason advocated the use of living books. We can define a living book by some of these characteristics: A book that has the power to say what would be said in such a way that we're not likely to forget it. It becomes forged in ... Read More
How to Teach Geography with Living Books
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
Fairy Tales Boys Love
Boy oh boy.... take a look at this list of fairy tales boys love. And why wouldn't they? These stories are filled with adventure and mystery! I don't know if you've noticed, but quite a lot of fairy tales have wonderfully strong female characters. There's not a thing in the world wrong with that! However, when I set out to write my Character Building Chapter Books for Boys post, I had a hard time finding wonderful fairy tales with strong male characters to include in that list. So, I went on a quest to locate the best of the best fairy tales that will capture the interest of boys and include adventures that define good from evil. Where magic takes place and lessons are learned is a ... Read More
Living Literature Booklists
If you asked me to name a few things that have made THE most impact in our homeschool over the years, one of the answers I would give without hesitation is living literature. Many precious hours have been spent together around books. Those moments have built strong bonds between us, created warm memories, and sparked lively discussions. We've been gently prodded to build our character and define our values as we've learned from great victories and tragic mistakes of the characters in our books.We've been planted knee-deep in historical time periods and come to know and love each era because of it. We've turned around on the other side of science books and seen just how much new ... Read More
40 of the Best Ways to Homeschool in the Car
Do you find your family in the car more often than you care to admit? Whether you're on the way to co-op, ballet, music lessons, ball practice, chess club or doctor's appointments, all this car time can make a mom feel quite guilty about the seemingly wasted minutes or hours. Did you know this car time doesn't have to be "down" time? It most certainly can be down time if you like, but there are lots of wonderful schooling and enrichment activities that can keep your children educationally engaged, too. In this post, you'll find more than 40 ideas for to have productive homeschool in the car! Homeschool in the Car We live in a rural area where just a trip to the grocery is a ... 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
Using Picture Books to Teach Expository Writing
Why would anyone use picture books to teach expository writing? Because picture books are written by master authors who can teach us clearly through their examples. Not to mention, it doesn't take long to read through most picture books, so you can share examples and get right to the work of writing. What is expository writing? Expository writing is a fancy name that simply means writing that conveys information or ideas and offers explanations or evidence to back up said information or ideas. Informational children's books, textbooks, autobiographies, magazine articles, and newspaper articles are all examples of expository writing. This post contains affiliate links. That sounds ... Read More
Your Favorite Posts from 2016
As I sat down to plan what to write about this coming year here at Our Journey Westward, I took a peek to see what your favorite posts of 2016 were. As you'll see below, it's pretty clear you like living literature and creative teaching ideas. And, since I love those things, too, I'm happy to oblige you with more in the year ahead! Your Favorite Posts from 2016 #12 Human Body Unit Study "Considering God’s Creation has been the spine curriculum for our 6th grade human body study. As always, I added a few things here and there to amp things up a notch. So, besides the {wonderful} notebooking pages that come with Considering God’s Creation, we did the activities and worksheets ... Read More