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Children's Literature for March

February 23, 2017

Is the year flying by for anyone else? It feels like it was just New Years and now we are already approaching March. Where has winter gone?

In Georgia, it really feels like we haven't had a winter at all except for a couple of really cold weekends. Mostly the thermometer has been up and down, up and down again. My in-laws, however, live in South Dakota where there has been much more snow than we can even imagine. My kids enjoy looking at the weather app to see the difference in weather between where we are and different places our family lives across the U.S.

So in addition to topics related to our Classical Conversations memory work and other March events, I've included a few books on wacky weather in my list of children's literature for March.

There are some interesting topics in this list of children's literature for March.

Did you know there is a National Anthem Day?!

We occasionally sing the national anthem at our homeschool co-op to expose the children to it and allow them to grow in familiarity with our national anthem. March 3rd, National Anthem Day, is as good a day as any to play the national anthem for your children and read some good books about the history of this song and it's author. The Star Spangled Banner would work well for a quick read aloud, The Story of the Star Spangled Banner is a board book for your younger children, and Rush Revere and the Star Spangled Banner would be great for independent reading for older children.

Read Across America Day, in honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday, is March 2nd.

Our family loves Dr. Seuss books. There are so many to choose from! I selected a few for this month's list, but this is just a start at what all is available. I included What Pet Should I Get? because you may not be familiar with this one. It was discovered after Dr. Seuss' death and published in 2015. My son enjoyed reading the Who Was Dr. Seuss? biography. And The Boy on Fairfield Street is nice picture book biography about Dr. Seuss that we read during morning time.

Several of the books I've included for St. Patrick's Day are about the history behind this holiday.

My six year old frequently asks me, "when is the next holiday?" She questions why some holidays are for presents, there's no school on some holidays but there is on others, and some go by with little fanfare at our house. And honestly, I don't know the history of some holiday traditions like I wish I did. We learned about St. Valentine last month, and this month we will use books like Patrick: Patron Saint of Ireland and St. Patrick's Day: Parades, Shamrocks, and Leprechans to learn more about the history of St. Patrick's Day.

And we have 3.14, Pi Day.

There were some Pi book recommendations included in the Children's Literature for February that you may want to refer back to as they related to our CC memory work. There are a couple more books about Pi listed below for older students.

The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go. - Dr. Seuss

This list of Children's Literature for March includes picture books and chapter books on the following topics:

That align with our Classical Conversations memory work:
- Vietnam and the Vietnam War
- The Cold War and Ronald Reagan
- English grammar conjunctions
- Light
- Pi, Circumference, & math inspiration
- Great composers & scientists
Star Spangled Banner & Francis Scott Key, National Anthem Day, March 3rd
Dr. Seuss & Read Across America Day, March 2nd
St. Patrick's Day, March 17th
Pi Day, March 14th

There's a variety of books here for all ages. While this list is geared towards Classical Conversations Foundations and Essentials aged children, there are a number of books for older children as well as many that would work for read alouds for your whole family.

Notice that The Butter Battle Book is a Dr. Seuss book about the Cold War. And Dr. Seuss Goes to War is a book of WWII political cartoons by Theodore Geisel (Dr. Seuss) that you could read and discuss with your older children. How interesting that we have Classical Conversations and Dr. Seuss Day coinciding this month!

Math-terpieces: The Art of Problem Solving is a unique book that uses famous artwork to help children work on their mathematical problem solving skills. We have this one on our bookshelves and pull it out from time to time when we are studying famous artists.

(When you click on the pictures, you'll be taken to the Amazon listing and can see the targeted age range of each book.)

Children's Literature for March

Wild Weather (Extreme Nature)Magic School Bus Presents: Wild Weather: A Nonfiction Companion to the Original Magic School Bus Series Wacky Weather: A Flip-The-Flap Book. Dr. Seuss (Dr Seuss - A Lift-the-Flap Book)Oh Say Can You Say What's the Weather Today?: All About Weather (Cat in the Hat's Learning Library)Secrets of Winter Secrets (A Shine-A-Light Book )The Lotus Seed Two Lands, One Heart: An American Boy's Journey to His Mother's Vietnam Grandfather's Dream The Wall (Reading Rainbow Books)DK Eyewitness Books: Vietnam War The Vietnam War: An Interactive Modern History Adventure (You Choose: Modern History)Simple History: The Vietnam War Simple History: The Cold War Who Was Ronald Reagan?The Story of Ronald Reagan The Remarkable Ronald Reagan: Cowboy and Commander in Chief The Butter Battle Book: (New York Times Notable Book of the Year) (Classic Seuss)But and For, Yet and Nor: What Is a Conjunction? (Words Are Categorical)Just Me & 6,000 Rats: A Tale of Conjunctions (Language Adventures Book)The Magic School Bus: Gets A Bright Idea, The: A Book About Light The Usborne Internet - Linked Library of Science Light, Sound & Electricity Science With Light and Mirrors (Science Activities)On a Beam of Light: A Story of Albert Einstein Lives of the Scientists: Experiments, Explosions (and What the Neighbors Thought)The Most Magnificent Thing The Joy of Pi Piece of Pi: Wit-Sharpening, Brain-bruising, Number-Crunching Activities with Pi (Grades 6-8)Amanda Bean's Amazing Dream (Marilyn Burns Brainy Day Books)Math Curse Sir Cumference and the First Round Table (A Math Adventure)Math-terpieces: The Art of Problem-Solving Beethoven Lives Upstairs Why Beethoven Threw the Stew (And Lots More Stories about the Lives of Great Composers)Beethoven (Famous Children)Ludwig Van Beethoven (Revised Edition) (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Composers)Brahms (Famous Children (Paperback))Lives of the Musicians: Good Times, Bad Times (and What the Neighbors Thought)Story of the Orchestra : Listen While You Learn About the Instruments, the Music and the Composers Who Wrote the Music!The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (Book & CD)The Star-Spangled Banner (Reading Rainbow Books)Rush Revere and the Star-Spangled Banner The Story of Francis Scott Key's Star-Spangled Banner (Step into Reading)The Sneetches and Other Stories Horton Hears a Who!Oh, Say Can You Say?Oh, the Thinks You Can Think!What Pet Should I Get? (Classic Seuss)Dr Seuss's Sleep Book Dr. Seuss Goes to War: The World War II Editorial Cartoons of Theodor Seuss Geisel Who Was Dr. Seuss?The Boy on Fairfield Street: How Ted Geisel Grew Up to Become Dr. Seuss One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish (I Can Read It All by Myself)Green Eggs and Ham Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories Patrick: Patron Saint of Ireland The Story of St. Patrick: More Than Shamrocks and Leprechauns St. Patrick's Day in the Morning St. Patrick's Day: Parades, Shamrocks, and Leprechauns (Finding Out about Holidays)Jamie O'Rourke and the Big Potato St. Patrick's Day Alphabet

Resources for Introducing the Orchestra

I've listed a few books above to help you introduce your children to the orchestra. But don't forget about the many wonderful resources and ideas Mary has already put together for incorporating the orchestra into your studies.

And her newest resource in the SQUILT family, Meet the Instruments: Explore the Orchestra is a beautiful way to introduce your children to the orchestra. Just what you need for your Foundations students!

Download the Printable Book List for March

Children's Printable Book List for March

I hope you find this list of Children's Literature for March helpful for your homeschool. Go ahead and choose some to check out from the library or add them to your personal home library. Enjoy!

What other topics would you include for March?

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Our Journey Through Classical Conversations

All About Reading: Tips, Tricks & More

5 Ways to Supplement Foundations

February 13, 2017

Seeing my children through all levels of Classical Conversations has given me a thorough understanding of not only Classical Education, but also Classical Conversations.

I firmly believe this program - through its emphasis on grammar in the younger ages, logic in the middle grades, and rhetoric in the upper grades - prepares our children to be THINKERS, LEARNERS, and ultimately world CHANGERS for the glory of God.

When children first begin Foundations I believe the CC memory work (along with reading aloud, a reading program and a math program) is ENOUGH. (Ok, maybe if you wanted to do something beautiful and memorable like Five in a Row that would be ok, too - but only because I just adore Five in a Row so much!)

As our children get to be older, however (I'm thinking 3rd-6th grades), they sometimes need a bit MORE. Over the years we've come up with simple additions to Foundations that have kept my child engaged, inspired, and learning. Each of these directly relate to the memory work - or to the eventual things he will be learning in Challenge (you see, I have the benefit of also having an older child that has been in Challenge).

Foundations is definitely what you make it, and I have found the memory work has laid a rich "foundation" on which can expand our horizons. As we wrap up our final year in Foundations I am excited for the future and know my son is WELL prepared for Challenge A!

1. Self-Paced History

It's been a GOOD thing to have an area of our day that my son can complete ALONE.

Veritas Self Paced history courses supplement the history memory work in Cycles 1 and 2 quite nicely. (To my knowledge there isn't a self paced American History course for Cycle 3, but any of the self paced Bible courses are great just on their own.)

The courses are engaging, entertaining, and I cannot tell you how many times during the day my child spouts off something he has learned from the course.

There are quizzes to check their learning, and you can also purchase the Veritas history cards to go along with the program. The lessons also include maps and timelines.

The past couple of years we have also followed the recommended readings for the history courses and used them for read alones and read alouds throughout the year. The Veritas Pages of History books also go along with the history courses - but they are great to just read alone, too.

By using the Self Paced history courses I eliminate a lot of work for myself and also know history is getting covered WELL - plus I don't have to hunt around for books to read, either.

2. Notebooking

I've written a lot about notebooking through Foundations memory work.

Basically, at the beginning of the year I go through Notebooking Pages (my favorite resource for Notebooking Pages on the web) and print pages that pertain to the memory work. (You can see an example of our history notebook here or in the video below.)

Keep in mind, we notebooked through history the year before we started Veritas history -- I don't think you could do both of these at the same time. We do, however, notebook now through the science memory work, so you can take the same principle from the video and apply it to science, fine arts, and anything else you would like.

Notebooking gives my tactile son a chance to research and write about areas of the memory work that interest him. It also gives us something for presentations each week, too!

I also love notebooking because it provides a scrapbook of our learning and something tangible for my kids to be proud of.

Notebooking Pages is my favorite resource for this because it's ALL IN ONE PLACE. I don't have to go hunting through CC Connected or other places online to find the pages - it's all right there for me, and this is huge. I'm sure you could probably hunt around to find notebooking pages on CC Connected or on the web, but I try to make good use of my time, and the lifetime membership to Notebooking Pages has been a great investment.

3. Map Tracing

You would think I've bought stock in Sharpie if you came to my house! I'm not sure what we would do with Sharpies, tracing paper, and our maps that we trace.

(See Map Tracing Tips and Tricks to learn more!)

Again, I have a video that will show you our geography notebook - which includes our maps to be traced.

Over the years I have located maps on CC connected because they are labeled and really help us commit to memory the locations.

I do, however, also use the maps on Notebooking Pages because they are beautifully done and there are quite a variety of them as well. Once again, my Notebooking Pages membership pays off.

Here is a recent tracing my son did for Cycle 2, Week 15 - Middle East Countries. He traces the weekly map 2-3 times in that week and it seems to really cement the locations for him.

4. Art for Kids

The drawing component in Foundations really struck a chord with my then 3rd grader, so I began to look for ways to fuel his love of drawing.

Enter Art for Kids - a free site with drawing tutorials! (There is a $2.99 monthly membership option but right now we just use the free materials available.)

Many times there will be a tutorial that pertains to the memory work in some way, or other times my son just looks for a tutorial that interests him and uses that for presentation. It's honestly been a good filler in our homeschool - especially as I have been working with my Challenge student.

Art for Kids is set up on the iPad and can occupy Grant literally for HOURS, and he's learning so much.

Check out his latest drawing - which he wants to use as part of his Faces of History presentation (He is Leif Eriksson.)

5. Morning Time

I've saved the best for last.

Morning Time has been the single best thing we have done in our homeschool. It gives us truth, beauty, and goodness in each day. It gives our day the positive start it needs. It has made a lasting impression on all of us.

Ever since I learned about Morning Time from my friend Pam (who is the Morning Time guru, by the way), we have been using our Morning Basket each and every day.

Basically our Morning Basket consists of:

Memory Work Flipbook (downloaded from CC Connected)
Devotional
Latin -- we LOVE Getting Started with Latin!
Art Appreciation books
SQUILT Music Appreciation lessons

You can see an example of our morning basket for Cycle 2.

If you want to make things very simple, Pam has created simple Morning Time plans by season. They are lovely and give you a great smattering of art, music, poetry, Bible and more. They don't coincide directly with the CC memory work (yet!), but I've heard that might be coming soon.

I have learned that Morning Time doesn't have to be anything fancy, just a set aside time when you can expose your children to memory work, devotions, some art or music, and whatever else you would like emphasize with your family. It is a routine that grounds us and shapes our days, and I am so thankful for it.

I hope these 5 Ways to Supplement Foundations has been helpful to you.

Remember, none of them are NECESSARY for a successful Foundations experience, but I have found they helped me keep my bright and energetic Foundations students more engaged (and therefore out of trouble!).