Historical Fiction of the Ancient Time Period

Yesterday I mentioned that my children are currently studying the modern time period and listed books that we are reading, or plan to read. Next year, we are going back to the Ancient Times, another period that does not have many historical fiction books, (unlike the Medieval/ Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, and Romantic time periods). I figure I had better start building my library now. Here are some historical fiction books that will make good reads for the ancient time period. The Growing up in Ancient (insert country here) series includes all the important topics: customs, schooling, family life, food, clothing, … Continue reading →

Historical Fiction of the Modern Time Period

Whether you use the Charlotte Mason Method of Homeschooling, or a more relaxed approach of reading your way through history, historical fiction books are wonderful tools. By reading historical fiction, children more closely associate with children or people of the time period they are studying. This will help them to remember facts and dates long after the books are put down. My children are currently studying the modern time period in their history class, and it has been a struggle for me to find age appropriate historical fiction books for them to read. There is just a whole lot more … Continue reading →

Reading Incentive Programs

After discussing the accelerated reading program not available to homeschoolers yesterday, I decided to look for alternatives. Here are some websites I found that you can use the make sure your kids are getting the most out of their reading time. Funtrivia.com supplies thousands of cool ways for children to test themselves. The literature section (found under quiz categories) alone has 5,341 quizzes. There are 1206 “books for kids” quizzes. (There is however, a disproportionate number of Harry Potter quizzes.) Using the search function, I was able to find Little Women, Little House on the Prairie, Curious George, Dr. Seuss, … Continue reading →

Building a Homeschool Library: The Classics (Part II)

Previously, we discussed why classic books are important. I will continue this article with how to start and compile your collection of classic books. Where do I find classic books? Shop around. You can find classic books in many places, but since they are going to be in your home library for some time, I recommend you get leather bound books in good to fair condition. When building your in-home library of classic books, you should check the thrift stores for leather bound books. This is going to be your best deals price-wise, though for me the dust is prohibitive. … Continue reading →

Building a Homeschool Library: The Classics (Part I)

I noticed that Tristi Pinkerton and Valorie Delp have been discussing appropriate reading materials for children. It got me thinking about the items I have, and wish I had in my homeschool library. Why have in-home homeschool libraries? As homeschoolers, it pays to have a library of books children can get their hands on quickly and easily. Of course, there is always the public library, but the public library will not necessarily have all of the books you will want your child to read. When we (my children and I) want a particular classic book, we have to request it … Continue reading →

No Handwriting on the Walls?

Whatever happened to penmanship? Gone are the days of children learning penmanship in the classroom. Gone are the days of writing pages upon pages from the class history book to (a) learn history, and (b) improve penmanship. Frankly, it just takes too much time away from test prep. As long as the teacher can make out what the child has written it is OK. But how will the teacher be able to read it if penmanship is not practiced? With the dawn of computers in the classroom, and soon, one assigned to every student, the need for proper penmanship becomes … Continue reading →

The Homeschoolers’ Advent Calendar: The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg

I had just written a blog about studying the North Pole and as I was talking about it with my husband who should walk in buy my night owl son? His newest fascination with life and literature is Chris Van Allsburg’s The Polar Express. He can be heard walking down the hallways singing some version of the hot chocolate song from the popular movie. So it only came naturally that as I thought about today’s activity, I should write about The Polar Express. Preschool: Dramatic Play Get a large refrigerator box or several medium sized boxes and make yourselves a … Continue reading →

25 Books About Thanksgiving

Do you ever have this problem? Your kids know there’s a holiday coming up. All of the sudden things that used to take you 15 minutes are now taking 30 because of all the excitement. They’re fidgety in their seats and the mere mention of “break” seems to induce unprecedented excitement? This week in the home schooling blog, we will be talking about ways to incorporate this week’s holiday–Thanksgiving–with your homeschooling. Today we’ll start with turkey lit! (Did I just invent a new genre?) 1. A Plump and Perky Turkey by Teresa Bateman 2. Perky Turkey’s Perfect Plan by Judy … Continue reading →

Homeschooling Days: Reading

In October, we will be looking at different parts of our schedule that make up our home schooling days. Whether you use the “unschooling” method or whether you are strictly classical, you can add tidbits here and there to make things more fun and augment your child’s education. Feel free to take and leave suggestions here on the comment board. If you have a reader, your story is probably similar to many other moms that I know. One day, they just started reading. You might have done some phonics instruction but reading is as much a developmental milestone as is … Continue reading →