Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
We have been “officially” doing unofficial kindergarten at home for a little over a month now. I’ve been teaching my son (now age 5) at home for much longer, of course, but I had to call it official at some point.(I am not legally required to track his schooling in my state until he is
My four-year-old son and I are reading about rainforests this week. Looking Closely in the Rain Forest by Frank Serafini (Kids Can Press, 2010) changes things up a little bit compared to the other picture books we’ve read. Using his photographs of the rainforest flora and fauna, Mr. Serafini has created an “I Spy” picture
The Rainforest Grew All Around by Susan K. Mitchell and illustrated by Connie McLennan (Arbordale, 2007) is a rhythmic story much like “the house that Jack built.” Each line builds on the previous one, and we quickly see how a rainforest throbs with life, from the tiny seed in the ground to the cat, snake,
This week my four-year-old son and I are reading about rainforests. Nature’s Green Umbrella: Tropical Rain Forests by Gail Gibbons is a few steps above my son’s read-aloud level with the level of detail, but I really liked it. In Gail Gibbons’s trademark way, it had detailed text and illustrations to cover even more details
Our study of the continent of Africa for our homeschool focused on learning the basic geography of the continent as well as general habitats (i.e., dry desert, Savannahs, and rain forests) and the animals in each habitat. My son (age 4) is well into early readers these days (more about his favorite fiction in the
My son (age 4) has expressed an interest in learning Spanish. Although this interest comes and goes, I’ve decided to embrace his interest as much as I can. I studied Spanish extensively in college and spent a few months in South America, but in the past decade, I’m sorry to say I’ve let my Spanish
My son has been quite interested in maps and geography, so (even with the arrival of my newborn five weeks ago) we began a project of studying the continents, starting with Antarctica. Learning about the continent with a four-year-old prompted me to learn more myself: a few months ago, I posted about a Sally Walker
I mentioned previously that my son is fascinated by the human body, probably because of my changing body during pregnancy. My baby is now five weeks old! We’ve found some fun books about the human body that my four-year-old has enjoyed. One book that made him laugh because of the title is You Can’t Smell
The Case of the Vanishing Golden Frogs: A Scientific Mystery by Sandra Markle (Millbrook Press, 2011) is about a very specific subject: the golden frogs are dying in the rainforests of Panama. In an engaging way, Ms. Markle manages to bring us into the mystery so that we care about these little frogs and hope for a
Can We Save the Tiger? by Martin Jenkins, illustrated by Vicky White (Candlewick, 2011), tells the story of a number of extinct, nearly extinct, or once nearly extinct animals in a conversational yet imperative tone. Mr. Jenkins’s tone makes the book both approachable and a cry for action, and Ms. White’s detailed illustrations are jaw-dropping realistic, thus
Thunder Birds: Nature’s Flying Predators by Jim Arnosky (Sterling, 2011) is simply a masterpiece of a picture book for the older child. With gorgeous fold-out illustrations done in acrylic paints, pencil, and chalk, Arnosky brings to life the majestic predatory birds of America, from Bald Eagles and vultures to pelicans and herons. His text also does justice
Bring On the Birds by Susan Stockdale (Peachtree, 2011) is a sparsely worded picture book for the youngest of readers, this time showing a variety of birds in their natural habitats. A distinctive characteristic is noted for each bird, from the “swooping” owls to the “birds with tails held high” (the Indian peafowl or peacock, which was
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