Welcome to my blog. This blog pretty much reflects me, and I am one eclectic person. I have restaurant reviews, shop reviews, posts about human trafficking, poems (written by me or just appreciated by me), reflections from sermons, events, old mission trip newsletters – and much more. There’s a whole category of posts on the wedding planning and I am now homeschooling our two kiddos, so there’s a smattering of info about that as well.
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Yet another book about snowfall! Last one was deep in the countryside while this is all about how cities manage heavy snowfall. We have enjoyed all the stories in the Virginia Lee Burton Treasury and continue to look back at it over the years. It is one book I would definitely recommend for your home library.
Social Studies
We loved looking through these books and learning signs around town. And then we try spotting them as we drive around and remember what they mean.
City Fun is a sweet book of two girls going about their city, visiting the library and playing games, and it highlights the diverse community.
Art
This is not a kids book, but these “how to” books are great for showing simple techniques and if your little is artistic, they can be good to have around on your own shelves.
Science
More wonderful books about snow! The Children’s Blizzard is a chapter book with some scary content, so I would recommend this for older readers. John Rocco pulls on his own memories of living through a blizzard in his hometown and how everything was shut down.
Other books
I love minimalist artwork and Hyunmin does not disappoint with this book! Two kids go out on a snow day and find much more than they bargained for.
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The kids could recite parts of this by the end of the week. And the illustrations are evocative – seeing how much detail can be made with just black and white drawings. Robert Frost is a favorite of mine too – his was one of the first poetry collections I bought myself. I especially meditated quite a bit on his poem, “Mending Wall,” particularly when I was struggling with knowing how and when to set personal boundaries.
Language Arts
Teaching my kids to enjoy poetry is a passionate goal of mine. I want to do it in a way that sparks imagination and not frustration. Kwame’s book is great for that, as is the book “Kiyoshi’s Walk” (not pictured) for learning about haiku. My kids were not readers at this time, so “Joyful Noise” was a little lost on us. If your kids are readers, reading poetry for two voices is great for practicing rhythm, inflection, and timing while reading aloud.
Science
Snow is fascinating and can be just a joy all around for kiddos. These books – learning the mechanics behind it and how animals interact with snow – are great for littles learning how the world around them works. There are some excellent books on animal tracks in snow or mud.
Other books
Soon after we started this curriculum, P.J. Lynch came out with another illustrated version of Frost’s poem. We were excited to get them and compare and contrast the two versions! These poems by Bob Raczka are incredible too, as are the illustrations. We enjoyed reading the words as they twisted around the pages, demonstrating the action of the words. For example, one was about a mouse going through a maze and the words were typed out within the framework of a maze with a piece of cheese as the final prize. Another poem is of hitting a home run and the words crash into the wall of the page and bounce off turning the words backwards as it flies to the top corner. People are so creative and I LOVE it!
Disclaimer:This site uses some affiliate links. This costs you nothing, but helps supplement our homeschooling costs.
I love “First times!” in life, don’t you? My husband and I have a running gag whenever we drive down a new road – I usually shout out “First time!” and it’s exciting! This book was a fun read for us, as we do not live near the ocean, tundra, or a fishing community. But we know what it’s like to experience something for the first time, or to finally be “big enough” to do something by ourselves.
Jan Andrews, the author, is not indigenous so the story is from her observations and gleaning the traditions around her. There can be value if that is done respectfully, but I was able to find some stories by indigenous authors and illustrators.
Social Studies
I pre-read the book “A Promise is a Promise” before reading it with the kids. It is a cautionary Inuit tale of the Qallupilluit, mythical creatures who live under the ice near the Arctic coastline and threaten to capture any children who come too close to the water’s edge. This story reminds me of the book “Hunt, Gather, Parent” by Michaeleen Ducleff which highlights (among other things) how ancient cultures often told scary stories to keep children within certain boundaries of protection in the community. It is a really interesting read and I was surprised when our family went to the Great Lakes for vacation and my daughter told me she couldn’t get too close to the water because the creatures might take her. I guess it worked!
Art
Ian Wallace integrates a kind of pointillism with impressionism to express fine details in the landscape in this book. I remember when I first saw a pointillist drawing and was fascinated! Katie’s Sunday Afternoon builds on that technique and introduces some famous pointillists and impressionist painters.
Math
We learn our numbers and then learn what we call those numbers when they’re in a series, or our ordinal numbers (numbers in order). This book had a lot of great number facts and even some concepts that were a little advanced for my kiddos at the time.
Science
I am definitely a summer kind of person, so the tundra life is something I really only want to read about unless it’s warm-season visit. Water Can Be… is a simple language book, but opens the imagination and gave us lots to talk about. Plus, the illustrations are lovely.
Other books
Kids are always finding small things and examining them intensely – puddles, ants, one year we have leopard slugs on our front stoop and we spent the better part of an hour watching them zip around the stone and finally into the grass.Hello, Puddle! is an excellent book to remind us to look smaller to see how big our world is.
Crab Cake is about a community coming together with all their skills to restore their habitat. And, of course, poetry is always a good time!
Disclaimer:This site uses some affiliate links. This costs you nothing, but helps supplement our homeschooling costs.
Xapa to the World 