Occasionally I want to share whats working for us, curriculum wise in our little homeschool. Whilst the following isn't a curriculum, for us it has acted as a spark for further interests.
Months ago I bought a series of books second hand (thanks Aussie Homeschool Classifieds ;) called 'The Magic Treehouse' in the hopes to get Kookaburra reading happily independent. Well that didn't work, but the old Frog and Toad series by Lobel has done the trick. But what I wanted to share was this great series by Mary Pope Osborne, which wonderfully introduces history in a fun manner.
The gist is that two kids, Jack and Annie, 8 and 7, discover a magical treehouse in the woods behind their house filled to the brim with books and the mysterious owner is nowhere to be found. Jack and Annie discover that through these books, a wish and the Treehouse, that they are magically transported to places throughout history and then go off and have adventures.
As far, we have read the first two books in the series, 'Dinosaurs before Dark' and 'The Knights at Dawn' and have dived into 'Mummies in the Morning' today and my boys can't get enough!!! They are rapped by these books and beg to be read them :)
There are companion guides that you can buy but we do so much already on the schooling front, that these books will currently be pure fun. I am eyeing off those companions for the future though.
With a current 43 books in the series I think they will be a long time staple in our home.
Just a side note, if you are uncomfortable with magic obviously this may be a series to stay away from but, IMHO, the magic is extremely light and is merely a tool to get the characters to the point of their adventure.
Happy reading
3 comments:
Nice one Jane! Your blog look exactly how you do - pink, girly, a little bit glamourous and lots of fun!! Love it! Thanks for the book list - we love, love, love to read here. I like the sound of the book - "talk so they will listen and listen so they will talk" or something??!! Sounds like a keeper - I am already praying that Ellie and Harri will just keep on talking to me, through good and bad, and stuff that I don't want to hear (probably)!!!Have a great week - don't let yourself be overwhelmed with everything ( I read Saminda's comment). Do what makes you happy, and do it with passion I reckon!!! Maybe see you on Friday at the purple park??
These 'living history' books sound fun Jane! Maybe we could have a borrow sometime to see if my kids like them? Also, I have your maths manipulatives to return to you. Thanks so much for being a friend and fellow homeschooling-Mum. I love just knowing you are across the road from me!
And I loved hearing you play the piano today- it was so beautiful.
Oh, and I too love the new blog look. :)
absolutely, just edit as you go if you need or preread. They are very short and we get through about one every day or so.
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