The Curriculum Choice

On the Quest for Quality Children’s Literature

Age, Charlotte Mason, Classical, Elementary, Language Arts, Literature, Living books, Middle School, Reading No Responses »

Apr 022012

Let’s be honest. In the ocean of children’s books, there’s a whole lot of flotsam and jetsam. Just because a book is popular doesn’t mean it’s worthwhile. On the flip side, just because a book is decades old doesn’t mean it’s a classic. Parents, particularly homeschooling parents, need someone whom they can trust to help them guide their children toward high-quality literature.

A superb resource that has directed me for years is Honey for a Child’s Heart: The Imaginative Use of Books in Family Life, by Gladys Hunt. Familiar to many homeschooling families, this excellent book makes a strong case for a life of literature. Hunt writes:

“Children and books go together in a special way. I can’t imagine any pleasure greater than bringing to the uncluttered, supple mind of a child the delight of knowing the many rich things God has given us to enjoy. Parents have this wonderful privilege, and books are their keenest tools.”

Honey for a Child’s Heart is divided into two parts. The first part, “Using Books to Help Children Grow,” offers many good discussions and much food for thought. Hunt underscores the extreme importance of reading and offers suggestions on how to foster a literary atmosphere in our homes. She challenges us to consider who or what we allow to influence our children. Moreover, Hunt discusses aspects of good literature and how to discern the quality of books our children read.

Part two, “Best-Loved Books for Children,” is an annotated book list for children up to age 14. Hunt divides the lists into groups such as classic picture books, books for beginning readers, classic children’s novels, historical novels, and animal lovers’ books, among others. She also offers a chapter on poetry.

Hunt’s writing style is rich and vivid, and her love for literature is reflected in every chapter. Moreover, I appreciate her Christian perspective, her awe of God as Creator of all things lovely, her expansive tastes, and her cautious stance on wholesale censorship. Every time I pick up this book to read, I find myself nodding in agreement with her. Yellow highlighter glows on so many pages of my copy!

Books are a powerful medium, engaging our imaginations, emotions, spirits, and understanding. As informed parents, we want to guide our children through the murky waters of children’s literature and help them select worthwhile books instead of twaddle. With Honey for a Child’s Heart in hand, you’ll be better equipped to help your children make the best literary decisions.

Ellen stays busy home educating two middle-grade daughters, chasing two corgis, managing the family’s busy household, reading as much as she can, and writing about life at Bluestocking Belle.

Pin It

English Literature for Boys and Girls by H.E. Marshall

Charlotte Mason, Classical, High School, History, Junior High Language Arts, Literature, Living books, Middle School 2 Responses »

Mar 282012

Ambleside Online has influenced our family in many ways, not the least by introducing us to great books. One that we’ve been using for many years is English Literature for Boys and Girls by H.E. Marshall, written in 1909. We are blessed to have a century-old copy for our children, complete with roughly cut pages and sturdy binding.

In 85 delightful chapters, H.E. Marshall traces English literature from the ancient Irish legend “The Cattle Raid of Cooley” to Tennyson. She includes excerpts of stories and poems, summaries of larger works, and many interesting biographical and historical tidbits. She expresses strong opinions about authors and works, and occasionally makes some disparaging remarks about various branches of the Christian faith.

English Literature for Boys and Girls is a solid book, full of information. Since history and literature are so closely entwined, it includes numerous references to kings and queens, to the changes in the English language, and to cultural innovations such as the rise of newspapers.

As a random sample, in chapters LVII and LVIII Marshall discusses Milton, “a cold and lonely man.” She begins with his childhood, quotes 14 lines of On his being arrived to the age of twenty-three, and continues, discussing his life and his poetry as well as venturing into the conflict between Puritans and Royalists. While Milton became more embroiled in politics, his personal life suffered. He lost his sight, his wife died, “his children ran wild,” his second wife died, and he began to write Paradise Lost. Several pages and excerpts later, Cromwell died, Milton married again, and the blind poet wrote Samson Agonistes, the tragic story of Samson in his blindness.

Don’t let the “Boys and Girls” part of the title fool you; this is not a childish book at all and shows just how far educational standards have slipped in the last 100 years. In fact, Ambleside Online, a rigorous Charlotte Mason curriculum with classical leanings, recommends English Literature for grades 7 to 10. The subject matter is not too easy for today’s teens, but occasionally Marshall’s intended audience causes her to write in a somewhat patronizing way. As I’ve come to expect from old authors, the English would be considered advanced today even though it was written for boys and girls, but no well-read modern teen would have difficulty with it.

All of our teens have read significant portions of this book over the course of several years. Each week they studied a chapter or two and I would ask for either an oral or a written narration. They have become familiar with early English literature and I am amazed at the history they know.

English Literature for Boys and Girls is a brilliant work, ideal for introducing modern teens to both literature and history. It is fascinating, lively, thorough, and eminently suitable for young people since no ‘adult’ topics are included as is often done nowadays. Of course, modern literature is not covered (and Jane Austen was left out, a serious flaw in my opinion). Even so it is an excellent book for homeschooling families, especially those interested in classical education or Charlotte Mason’s methods.

It is available online at Project Gutenberg and The Baldwin Project. You can also buy a book here.

-Written by Annie Kate, a Christian homeschooling mom of five, who reviews and blogs at Tea Time with Annie Kate. You can read her other Curriculum Choice reviews here.

Disclosure: As usual, I am not paid for my reviews and my opinions are my own.

Pin It

Winter Promise All American 1

Art, Bible, Elementary, Hands On, High School, History & Geography, Living books, Middle School, Unit study resources 2 Responses »

Mar 122012

A Bit of Background: For the 2011 school year my family decided to make a change in our curriculum. If you’ve read my blog before you’ll know we’re Five In A Row fans, and after 4 years of their curriculum with my eldest it was time to move forward to give him something a bit meatier for his grade level.

After some prayerful research and web surfing I discovered there’s a lot of curriculum out there that a homeschooling mama can choose from. In fact there’s so much that at times I felt truly overloaded with choices. In the end I wrote down my needs on one side of a sheet of paper and my wants on the other side. From there I was able to quickly weed out curriculum that would be of no use to me and finally settle on ones that would work. From that very short list I settled on Winter Promise All American 1.

I chose to use All American 1 because it covers your needs from grades 1-7. This does not mean that you can use this particular core for seven years, rather it means that if you have students ranging from first through seventh grades it’s a good fit for you. If you have students older than that and wish to keep them all together, you can also purchase a high school add on pack.

How We Use It:

This was our very first year using an “out of the box” curriculum. {Out of the box simply means everything you need to use is included and you’re off and running.} We basically used it exactly as it’s laid out. I ordered the core {All American 1; AA-1}, as well as the accompanying Character Supplement, Art Study, and I even picked out a science pack to round everything out.

All but the science is scheduled right in your main core. All I have to do is open to the week and day I’m on and we’re off and running. I will confess, that at times we didn’t use it exactly as it was laid out. Some weeks were incredibly light and we wanted more so we did two weeks in one. This isn’t too hard if you have a couple of back to back light weeks. Winter Promise cores are only mapped out for a four day school week.

Our core also came with Student Planning Pages that I chose not to use. I had high hopes of using them for my 4/5 grader to learn to be a more independent learner. However because his younger brother was also doing the core, it limited how much I could permit him to do on his own.

This core also came with plenty of web links to enhance the study. We did not check most of these out. We did visit a few and they were so-so. Eventually we found we were fully satisfied with the vast amount of crafts and notebooking that we were doing.

I also chose to use some of the read-alouds as audio books because our family adores having a book playing in the car. During one of our long journeys this year I purchased Fever {our current read aloud} as an audio and plugged it in the car and were able to enjoy the story while we traveled.

What I Loved:

I loved, loved, loved, the fact that this particular core decided to use Homeschool In The Woods Time (HSITW ) Traveler Packs {worthy of a review all their own!}. My family happens to be HUGE HSITW fans and these packs are nothing short of fantastic. The fact that Winter Promise chose to use them in this particular core was one of the deciding factors in our purchase!

I loved the fast array of historical fiction we read this year. Many of the books I was none the wise for and wouldn’t have chosen had I not used this curriculum. We learned so much from the good quality literature that we read and my children still refer to these characters {some fictional some real} as life-long friends.

I can not stress how amazing it was to have our school year laid out for us, all 36 weeks, 180 days worth. I suffer from chronic migraines and there are times in my life where planning out our school is nothing short of a miracle. We also had to abruptly move in September and helped a family member move.. twice! It was such a relief to know that despite all of that we were not going to be held up because I hadn’t had time to finish planning the final bits of our school week. Instead, we grabbed some of our books and hit the road!

Customer Service! Living overseas I have an overseas mailing address and a US address. When the company accidentally mailed something to the wrong address, they quickly refunded my shipping so that I could then pay to have it forwarded to the right place. Anytime I contacted them they were quick to answer my questions in full. I was grateful for that.

The Timeline. Oh. My. I’ve never met a timeline I’m so in love with, and we’ve tried a lot! Over the years I’m pretty sure we’ve used no less than four timelines, but this one is the best! It’s a notebook timeline separated by years. You then glue timeline figures to the separating pages and place all notebooking, lapbooking, maps, etc. behind these pages. My children equally love these huge notebooks. They are a beautiful portfolio of the work they’ve done all year! Even if you use nothing else from this company, I assure you their timeline is worth purchasing all on it’s own!

What I Don’t Love:

I didn’t love the price of shipping for overseas users. Check out my tips at the end of this post for help in reducing the cost of shipping!

I was disappointed to see a few typos in the Core. Only a couple, but they did throw me for a loop for a minute.

I found the Character study to be a bit weak for my family. The prints of the artwork were small and dark compared to the large copies we found online.

To be totally honest and fair with my review I must admit my children loved the art portion and requested it frequently! I would also like to have seen the prints turned into coloring sheets for the children. I never asked my children to try their hands at drawing the pictures we studied. I knew my eight-year-old would have been quickly overwhelmed and frustrated with his attempts. Had the art prints been coloring pictures it would have allowed him to try it and critique his art in a positive way.

Their resale policy. I was unaware when I purchased from them that they had a strict request that you don’t resell their exclusive material.

I was also disappointed to see that if I had not included the Bible Character Supplement there would have been no “Christian” reference to their curriculum. I admit to being disappointed because it’s considered a Christian curriculum and I would have loved to see that better integrated.

Geography. In the AA-1 core there was geography worked into it. We ended up only doing a few weeks before leaving it alone and only doing the geography that applied to our stories {mapping the Lewis & Clark trail, Mapping the Erie canal, finding the places specific battles took place, etc.}

Tips I’d Like To Share:

I want to offer up a few tips for anyone trying to decide about Winter Promise.

Try ringing them directly to place your order. While I ordered online, I did ring them later that week to confirm that my order had taken place and to find out exactly when it would be shipped out. If you have your order shipped to an overseas address you must ring them anyway.

Only order Winter Promise Exclusives from them. That means the Core Manual, Bible, Art, Timeline, etc. Order all the books you’ll need from other sources. This is exactly what I did. I chose to order all my books {read alouds, readers, and go alongs} from Book Depository. They offer free shipping to most of the world and I knew exactly when they’d show up at my front door! No waiting on a middle man to get them to me. This is huge for overseas purchasers! The biggest complaint for people who purchased an entire core from this company that lived overseas was that books trickled in over months.

Use the samples on their websites, & really investigate their website! All American 1 is not listed as a core on their Themed Humanities page, but it is available if you look at the American Story {1 or 2} as a better option if you are working with a wider range of children.

If you don’t want to do all the crafts included, don’t! There were many I skipped mainly because we all ready had done lots and I knew my involvement would be heavily needed. For crafts that my children could do on their own I supplied them with what they needed and let them lose. For crafts that needed my involvement we only picked a few to do each week.

Purchase your Time Traveler Packs from The Old Schoohouse Magazine.* This will greatly reduce your costs because you won’t pay shipping for them! They are shipped directly from the Pak family and arrive in amazingly quick time. You can’t go wrong there! We also purchased the Homeschool In The Woods Mapping CD to use with the geography written in the core {the same geography we chose to drop because it seemed very watery instead of rich and purposeful.} *If you live overseas you will not be able to get the free shipping mentioned above. Instead email HSITW! When I did that they offered to put them in a priority mail envelope and post them to me, up to six, for the current price of that envelope {at the time of this review I believe the envelopes cost $14 USD}

Bottom Line:

We absolutely loved our year with Winter Promise’s All-American 1! My children learned and created so much this year. They have a timeline notebook bursting with the proof of their labors and will continue to fill that over the rest of their homeschooling “careers”. I am grateful for the freedom it gave me as I dealt with life this year. Despite my initial concerns when making the switch I’m incredibly glad that I did!

Notes: The cores do not come bound as you see in the above pictures. I chose to bind my own copy! Each core comes pre-hole punched and ready to slip into a three ring binder.

*You might also be interested in Jimmie’s review of Winter Promise American Story 1 here.

Pin It

Native American Legends by Terri Cohlene and Charles Reasoner

Elementary, History, Living books 1 Response »

Nov 232011

While perusing the library’s database in search of books about Native Americans, I discovered a wonderful little series of Native American legends written by Terri Cohlene and illustrated by Charles Reasoner. There are six titles in the series. Each presents a legend and a different tribe of Native Americans.

Clamshell Boy is a Makah legend telling how a boy, born of a mother’s tear, saves a group of disobedient children from the evil Basket Woman.

Dancing Drum is a Cherokee legend that tells the story of a boy as he tries to save his people from the wrath of the sun.

Ka ha si and the Loon is an Eskimo legend that shares the tale of a sleepy boy who wakes to become his people’s hero.

Little Firefly is an Algonquian legend that relates the Cinderalla-like experiences of a young girl as she seeks to follow her mother’s advice, sent to her in a dream, to find The Invisible One and the happiness that accompanies him.

Turquoise Boy is a Navajo legend about the son of Sun Bearer and Changing Woman and his desire to make life easier for the people of his land. He takes a quest to the corners of the world, returning with gifts that become horses.

Quillworker is a Cheyenne legend that explains how a young girl and her seven adopted brothers escape the Buffalo Nation and become stars.

I am drawn to these books by both the illustrations and storytelling. The illustrations are detailed and beautiful, representing the people and their natural surroundings faithfully. The legends have been rendered in powerful, direct language, creating stories that are detailed and well-told but not too long for young listeners or readers. As a bonus, each book contains information and images sharing the lifestyles and customs of the tribe highlighted by the legend.

There are several additional titles in the series that are still illustrated by Charles Reasoner, but the author is Gloria Dominc: Brave Bear and the Ghosts (Sioux), Coyote and the Grasshoppers (Pomo), First Woman and the Strawberry (Cherokee), Red Hawk and the Sky Sisters (Shawnee), Song of the Hermit Thrush (Iroquois), and Sunflower’s Promise (Zuni). My library does not currently have any of these, so I am at the mercy of inter-library loan. My guess is that they are well worth the wait, though!

I must warn you that these books are a little difficult to find. My library carries four of the six by Terri Cohlene, and I have requested the other two on inter-library loan. Amazon seems to have a few, too, so they must be out there somewhere. Keep your eyes open!

Susan S. is a mama of three who loves the thrill of finding a good book. Her third-grader, first-grader, and preschooler learn in a sort-of classical, Charlotte Mason-y, a bit of traditional kind of way. The family appreciates the blessing of home education in all of the ways that it happens.

Anno’s Math Books

Charlotte Mason, Elementary, Living books, Mathematics, Middle School, Preschool 5 Responses »

Sep 262011

It is very difficult to find living math books that present complex topics in an accessible way. One math author whose books we have learned to love is Mitsumasa Anno. Anno believes “that mathematics is more than merely manipulating numbers, it is a way of thinking, and that it has bearing on all scholastic subjects, indeed on all forms of creative thought.” Children throughout the world have enjoyed his award-winning picture books.

We regularly borrow Anno’s books from the library and indulge ourselves. When very young, my children enjoyed the whimsical illustrations while the older children are intrigued by the puzzles and concepts. As a math-loving mom, I’m delighted at the way advanced concepts such functions or factorials are presented. Children comprehend much more than they are given credit for; having enjoyed a concept with Anno, they will be able to understand it so much better when it is introduced in math lessons.

Anno’s many math books include:

Anno’s Math Games

In four pictorial chapters of games and puzzles, Anno presents the ideas of

same and different
combining and assembling
numbers, ordering and coordinate systems
more and less.

In an afterword, Anno discusses the concepts presented in each chapter. Our children have always loved tall Kriss and tubby Kross as they work, ponder, and experiment.

Anno’s Math Games 2

Full of mathematical ideas, this is a fascinating book of games for children. Anno’s whimsical drawings illustrate ideas such as

cause and effect (functions)
differences and similarities
dots and pixels
counting and tabulation
volume and units.

Anno’s Math Games 3

This book was every bit as good as the others, but I cannot tell you the details since it is no longer available in our library.

Anno’s Magic Seeds

An old man gave Jack 2 large golden seeds. “These are magic,” he said. “Bake one seed in the oven until it is red and then eat it. You will not be hungry again for a whole year.” The other seed was to be planted and would produce two more seeds. How Jack fared with his seeds, the big decision he made, and what happened next is a fascinating story driven by math, but representing much of history as well. While children can understand it, adults can continue to ponder it for a long time.

Anno’s Counting Book

With a growing column of cubes on the left side of the page, and a large number on the right, Anno shows the development of a small village. On each successive page, spread throughout the year, the village increases by one child, one building, and one tree. Each picture is full of small stories such as building a railroad, photographing a wedding, or fishing, as well as many examples of the number. There are opportunities for adding, such as when three of the geese on the number 4 page lag far behind the other one, and for thinking about sets, and other concepts. Though it is a counting book, it is also much more.

Anno’s Mysterious Multiplying Jar

Inside the jar there was water, and there seemed to be just enough wind to set the water rippling…and suddenly we are inside the jar, on a sea, sailing toward 1 island. On it there are 2 countries. Fascinating pictures tell the story of factorials in the first half of the book, and Anno explains them explicitly in the second half.

Besides math books, Anno has also created many other amazing volumes, and we’ve enjoyed each one we’ve seen.

Disclosure: As always, I am not compensated for my reviews and I give my own honest opinions.

-Written by Annie Kate, a Christian homeschooling mom of five, who reviews and blogs at Tea Time with Annie Kate. You can read her other Curriculum Choice reviews here.

Life Of Fred Books

Mathematics 4 Responses »

Aug 242011

This year my fourth grader and I are having some fun living math lessons a few days a week using the Life Of Fred Fractions book. The Life Of Fred books are quite catchy and well written for children, and they cover so much more then math!

Fred happens to be a 5.5 year old little boy who’s all ready in university. Throughout the books you learn various math concepts by reading Fred’s stories.

In the fraction book it starts out slow and simple and you cover greater then and less then, most likely a familiar topic to someone in fourth grade. You quickly move on to billion, diameter & radius, and so on until you reach fractions.

Once you reach the information about fractions you learn how to do all sorts of fun things with them. Write checks, reducing fractions, adding fractions, subtracting fractions and more.

The fun thing about Fred is you aren’t given a dry boring lesson and then asked to complete countless worksheets. No, you’re given a humors story often full of other useful information. At the end of each short chapter there are 6-10 questions to answer to show if you remember what you learned.

The book even works in review or quizzes, but they call them bridges. I mean, who doesn’t love to cross a bridge? It sounds far less intimidating then “Quiz” doesn’t it?

What we like about the Fred Books:

We love the short simple chapters & fun engaging story.

We like that there are only a few questions at the end of each chapter, but those questions can cover a mixed bag of topics.

I love that my son loves the book and is learning at the very same time.

I also love that these are non-consumable hardback books. That means I can reuse them with both of my children without having to repurchase them.

What we didn’t like about the Fred Books:

Honestly, so far we’ve yet to meet any part we didn’t like, but I do think that there will be some drawbacks for some people.

The questions happen to be on the same page the answers at the end of each chapter. Bridge answers are on the back of the book. This isn’t a problem for us as I often read out the problems to my son and he copies them onto notebooking paper. You could easily cover up the answers with a sheet of paper or a large post-it note if you were unhappy with this.

Because the author is American and American’s use the imperial system you’ll find that most of the terms will swing in that direction. {ie pound not kilo, inches not centimeters, etc.} I never hold that against a book, but I always feel it’s fair to let people know.

Common Questions About Fred:

Can I use this on it’s own or is it just an extra?

Honestly, I’ve seen families use it both ways. For us we’re using it as an extra. I like to teach my kids a lot of math topics in a year, but I like to really focus in on one topic to give them a great foundation and build their confidence. I think the Fred books really help in that area.

I want to use this on it’s own but there’s only about 36 – 40 days worth of lessons, what should I do?

You could expand on the lessons by incorporating other fun living math things into the lessons. For instance in lesson two you learn about a billion. You see what it looks like in both numbers and words. You also learn the importance of writing numbers with letters and not just numbers. You could focus in on number words throughout the week and also offer your child worksheets on skills they all ready have in math in order to drag it out. Another option would be to use several Fred books in one year.

The Fred stories seem a little bit cheesy, are you sure we’ll learn from it?

Absolutely! If you have a sense of humor you’re going to love these books. If you enjoy something, chances are you’re going to learn from it. My 4th grader has been the intended student for these books, but I’ve caught my 2nd grader listening in several times and then attempting to quiz both of us later on in the day. So needless to say, I believe no matter how cheesy you find the stories you’ll learn from them. It doesn’t have to be hard to be educational.

Kendra lives in Tasmania Australia with her husband, the Man From Down Under, two curious boys, a dog, & a bird that constantly talks back. Creator, and avid user, of the Homeschool Book Of Days & The Nature Game she can be found retelling tales from The Land Down Under over at the Aussie Pumpkin Patch.

Poetry for Young People

Charlotte Mason, Classical, Elementary, Language Arts, Literature, Living books, Reading 2 Responses »

Aug 192011

“I dwell in Possibility/A fairer house than Prose,/More numerous of windows,/Superior of doors.” Emily Dickinson, “I dwell in Possibility”

Poetry is a flexible area of study. It can be studied on its own, and for its own merit. On the other hand, born of cultural, historical, and personal experience, poetry can enhance the study of any subject. For me, the trouble with poetry is how to narrow it down. There just seems to be so much of it to choose from.

The Poetry for Young People series provides an excellent introduction to a number of poets. Each volume contains the poetry of a specific poet or area of poetry. The poems are chosen for their suitability to a young audience, and as poetry representative of the poet’s body of work. Illustrations accompany the poems. A short biography, also sensitive to the needs of a young audience, opens each book.

I have found this series useful in two ways. It has been a simple task to browse these pages to find a poem to enhance a particular study. As the poems have been chosen because they are appropriate for children, I need only choose the poem that best suits my needs.

More often, however, I choose a poet to study for a month or six weeks. As a family, we read several poems each week until we have finished the book. The Poetry for Young People series makes this process very simple, as each volume contains a nice number of poems. Each book serves as a gentle introduction to the work of a poet.

This may be the year for poetry study at your house!

Raid your local library for the Poetry for Young People series.

-Most days find Susan on the couch reading to her children, in the floor “playing” math, and generally in the middle of a
good-sized mess. A love for the Lord, a love for her little ones, and a love of learning have led Susan and the wonderful man she married to an educational philosophy that is Well-Trained Mind-inspired classical and Charlotte Mason,
with a touch of the traditional.

Arithmetic Village: And The Winner Is…

Living books, Mathematics, Uncategorized 1 Response »

Jun 152011

Congratulations to commenter #12, Dawn!

Our winner was chosen using the online Random Number Generator.

Dawn, please email me at songofmyheartblog at yahoo dot com within three days for info. on how to claim your set of Arithmetic Village books. I know that and your children are going to enjoy them!

Thank you to all who participated in our giveaway!

written by Shannon from Song of My Heart

Arithmetic Village Review and Giveaway

Charlotte Mason, Elementary, Hands On, Literature, Living books, Mathematics, Preschool, Uncategorized, Unschooling 24 Responses »

Jun 022011

I am always on the lookout for living math books, and when I stumbled upon Arithmetic Village, I knew I had to read this new series of books with my children. The five books arrived, and after one reading we were hooked. Ever since then my children, ages 5, 7, and 9, have chosen to read these delightful stories again and again. (Yes, even the nine-year old boy enjoys them!)

The Arithmetic Village series, written by Kimberly Moore, is set in a lovely, magical village nestled in a fairytale countryside where glittering jewels fall from the sky. The reader is gently introduced to place value, addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, as the children in the village collect, lose, and share the jewels with others.

The series includes:

Arithmetic Village – This first book of the series introduces the five main characters: Polly Plus, Linus Minus, Tina Times, and King David Divide. The concept of place value is introduced through the use of jewels, velvet sacks (ten jewels go in a sack), and treasure chests (ten sacks go in a chest). You can read the story in its entirety here.

Polly Plus – This story demonstrates the concept of addition as Polly goes about the village collecting jewels and adding them in her neat and precise manner.

Linus Minus – Described as “an adorable mess”, Linus shows us how to subtract by losing and scattering jewels everywhere he goes.

Tina Times – Speedy Tina demonstrates multiplication by quickly and efficiently counting groups of jewels as she gathers them.

King David Divide – The wise and fair king of Arithmetic Village, David Divide shares jewels with everyone. He distributes them equally, but if some are left over they go to his pet dog, Rover. (I love the idea of Rover receiving the remainder.)

My favorite things about this series:

Rhyming text
Engaging and whimsical story line
The characters’ demonstrations of sharing, kindness, and other noble qualities
The use of fun props – jewels, sacks, and treasure chests – that bring the math concepts to life
The Arithmetic Village website. The author offers free hands-on activity ideas and downloads to accompany the books. She has posted several videos showing how to easily make (or buy) your own set of jewels, sacks, and treasure chest and how to use them with your children to reinforce through play the concepts taught in the stories. This website is a valuable resource and is not to be missed.

To purchase any or all of the books in the series, visit Arithmetic Village’s shop page where you can receive an online discount.

I am excited to announce that Kimberly is graciously giving away a set of Arithmetic Village books to one Curriculum Choice reader.

Two Ways to enter the giveaway – you can do both:

Browse the activities at the Arithmetic Village website. Leave a comment here at CC telling us your favorite activity!
Follow Arithmetic Village on Twitter, and leave a comment here at CC to let us know that you did.

Please make sure to leave a separate comment for each of your entries, as well as an email address or blog url where you can be contacted should you win. Entrants must live in the continental U.S.

**Deadline for entries is Monday, June 14th, 10:00 pm (EST).

Good luck, and enjoy your time in the Village!

(Disclosure: The Arithmetic Village series was provided to me for free for review purposes. The views and opinions expressed in this review are purely my own.)

Written by Shannon, who blogs about living books and other homeschool-ish things at Song of My Heart.

Who in the World? Biographies

Classical, Elementary, Living books No Responses »

May 312011

Our journey through time with Susan Wise Bauer’s children’s history texts, The Story of the World, brought us to the Middle Ages this year.

It was quite the exciting romp: We watched as Rome fell, sat entranced as the barbarians invaded, learned about the rise of Islam, discovered exciting events happening in China, Japan, and Australia, sailed the seas with the Norsemen, established the English throne, were scattered with the Jews and new Christians, felt the terror of the Black Death, travelled to Africa to see the great kingdoms there, explored new worlds with Henry the Navigator, Columbus, and others, viewed the America kingdoms—the Maya, the Aztec, and the Inca—in all of their glory, entered into a time of rebirth and reform with da Vinci and Martin Luther, and finished the year with Queen Elizabeth I and the Bard.

Our primary text was The Story of the World: The Middle Ages, the second text in the series.

I supplemented Bauer’s storytelling with an extensive list of books from the library. Some of them were recommended by the activity guide that accompanies the main text, and others popped up in searches of our library’s holdings. The children and I were delighted to find a vast body of work discussing early England and the Celts, knights, castles, and Robin Hood, and the Norsemen and their gods. Even Joan of Arc was amply represented. Other areas were lacking.

It is simple to find additional books for children in some historical subjects, but others are woefully slim.

Peace Hill Press is working to fill that void with a series of children’s historical biographies published under the title Who in the World? There are currently four titles in the series. Each correlates with a chapter in The Story of the World: Middle Ages.

Who in the World Was the Acrobatic Princess? The Story of Theodora accompanies Chapter 4, which discusses the Byzantine Empire. Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora are not on the list of historical topics widely covered by the local library’s children’s department.

Who in the World Was the Unready King? The Story of Ethelred accompanies Chapter 15, the tale of the early kings of England. King Ethelred and the heavily bearded Viking king Sweyn Forkbeard who defeated him are not popular picture book topics, either.

Who in the World Was the Forgotten Explorer? The Story of Amerigo Vespucci accompanies Chapter 31, which is entitled “Exploring New Worlds.” While Vespucci finds his way into a few children’s books, it is only for a mere mention.

Who in the World Was the Secretive Printer? The Story of Johannes Gutenberg goes along with Chapter 35, the story of the Renaissance and the beginning of the printing press. There are a surprising number of children’s texts about Gutenberg. Unfortunately, little is known of his life, making him something of a mystery.

In our homeschool, we simply used the Who in the World? biographies as they came up. Each was a welcome addition to our study, adding valuable historical information in a manner appropriate for children. A simple search for additional information about several of these historical figures reveals information that is not child-friendly. The Who in the World? series handles these issues by discussing only the parts of the each person’s life that can be readily understood by an early elementary-aged child. This is not to say that the historical figures are made to seem perfect. As in The Story of the World, the historical narrative is balanced—the positive lives alongside the negative in these real people of history.

The integrity of the history is not compromised, and children are allowed to learn in a manner that safeguards them.

We are wrapping up the Middle Ages at our house. It has been fun and informative to spend a little bit of time alongside the saints, sailors, kings, queens, scientists, and artists that make up this period of history. Thanks to the Who in the World? series we have had the pleasure (or pain depending on the character) of making the acquaintance of Empress Theodora, King Ethelred, Amerigo Vespucci, and Johannes Gutenberg as well.

The Who in the World? biography series can be purchased from Peace Hill Press. Each is available in book, audio, PDF, and MP3 versions.

The four books in Peace Hill Press’s Who in the World? biography series were provided to Susan free for the purpose of review. She has reviewed them truthfully and honestly, and is delighted to be able to do so. It would be sad (and bad manners) to have to say that you didn’t like something someone gave you.

Most days find Susan on the couch reading to her children, in the floor “playing” math, and generally in the middle of a good-sized mess. A love for the Lord, a love for her little ones, and a love of learning have led Susan and the wonderful man she married to an educational philosophy that is Well-Trained Mind-inspired classical and Charlotte Mason, with a touch of the traditional.

Older Entries