For about three years, we visited an “adopted” grandmother in a nursing home. We didn’t know her before we started visiting; we just asked the activities director if there was someone that we could meet with once a week, someone without many family members or friends already coming to call. In the course of our visits, we started asking our new friend about her childhood. Her answers astounded my children.

She grew up in rural South Carolina in the 1900’s. Her family warmed their house with a wood stove, and she rode to a one-room schoolhouse in a wagon. After school, she didn’t have much time to play; she and her siblings had to work in the garden every afternoon. They grew all of their own food, even their own sugar cane, and her mother sewed all of their clothes. Her only toys were a doll and a wagon her brother had made.

What a great lesson for my children! As they were learning compassion and kindness in visiting our friend, they were also learning her story, and in the process, American history as well.

When someone speaks about the events of their past in such as way, it’s called an oral history. Oral histories are invaluable, as often the speaker doesn’t write the stories down, and then sadly, with their passing, the story is lost. An oral history project saves those stories by putting them in print, and it’s an easy project for students to do.

First, have the students ask any older adults they know if they would like to be interviewed. They might ask a grandparent, neighbor, etc. Then, together, compile a list of questions for your child to ask. You’ll find that as the person answers the questions, you’ll think of even more follow-up questions. Your child can take notes as the speaker talks, or you can take along a small tape recorder or video camera.

Finally, have your student write out the story. Share it with the older adult as well. With permission, you can use a recent photo of the person. You might even ask if they have an older photo from their own childhood that you could include.

You can also find websites to help you with this project:

• The History Channel: www.history.com/images/media/interactives/oralhistguidelines.pdf

• Scholastic: http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/writing/index.asp

• YouthSource: http://www.youthsource.ab.ca/teacher_resources/oral_overview.html

Check them out, find an “interviewee,” and get started saving those stories!

Homeschooling Reading Curriculum by SmartTutor.com

Story Time – Stories for Kids

Guest Blogger: Samantha Bell

Picture By: papertygre

This week, I’ve been helping with an art camp for kids in our community, sponsored by the local artists’ association. Because my class was working on writing activities, the art teacher had the kids make their own books. They made two different styles:

1. The accordion-style: The theme of this art camp was “Art Around the World”, so when we talked about Asia, the children wrote their own haiku poem. After writing their rough drafts, they copied their poems on a rectangular piece of paper (about 8″ x 4″). We used vellum, but any paper would do. Then, they decorated two pieces of mat board (about 1.5″ x 6″) for the cover. They then folded the paper like a fan or accordion, glued the one end of each paper to a piece of mat board, and finished the book. To hold it together when it wasn’t being read, they tied it with gold string.

2. Traditional-style: This book also had a cover made of mat board, but you could use thin cardboard or even cardstock. After cutting the cover pieces and the pages to the desired size, the art instructor drilled two holes along the left edge of the books (you could use a hole punch with a thinner cover). We then laced a string through the holes and tied it off to hold the book together. This is an ideal style to use as a journal, nature journal, or storybook.

Though we only had time to make the two types of books, a quick search on the Internet will give you even more bookmaking ideas. A couple of sites to check out include:

BookmakingWithKids.com – This blog is full of resources for making books with children, from book structure, to writing ideas, to ways of incorporating bookmaking into your lessons.

MakingBooksWithChildren.com – Another great resource if you’re looking for bookmaking ideas, this site features instructions for making nine different types of books, as well as instructional ideas and writing prompts.

Summer is an ideal time to try new activities with your children, and bookmaking can be one of them. Give it a try; it may just inspire your family to keep writing the whole year through.

Homeschooling Reading Curriculum by SmartTutor.com

Story Time – Stories for Kids

Guest Blogger: Samantha Bell

Picture By: ejhogbin

This week, I’ve been teaching writing classes at a local art camp. The theme of the camp is “Art Around the World,” so in my lessons I’ve incorporated folktales from around the world. Throughout the week, the students will hear folktales from various countries, then they’ll work to write their own.

Although you can find folktales in print today, these stories were originally meant to be told orally, passed down from generation to generation. In a folktale, something magical usually happens, and often animals in the story act and behave like people. The stories will usually have a lesson or moral to them, or sometimes they try to explain how something came to be.

Folktales are easy to incorporate into your homeschool curriculum, especially if your family enjoys unit studies. As you study the culture of a particular country, you can find stories at your library from that country to read and discuss. Or, if your children are studying U.S. History, you could include Native American folk tales or folktales from the Appalachia region. You might also choose to use folktales as the basis or a writing lesson, like we’re doing at the camp.

If you’d like to make folktales a part of your school day, here are a few for you to consider:

• The Old Woman and Her Pig adapted by Eric Kimmel (British)

• Beautiful Blackbird by Ashley Bryan (African)

• Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears by Verda Aardema (African)

• The Boy Who Lived With the Bears retold by Joseph Bruchac (Native American – Iriquois)

• The First Strawberries retold by Joseph Bruchac (Native American – Cherokee)

• The Mud Pony retold by Caron Lee Cohen (Native American – Skidi Pawnee)

• The Boy Who Lived With Seals by Rafe Martin (Native American – Chinook)

• The King Who Tried to Fry an Egg on His Head by Mirra Ginsburg (Russian)

• Why Snails Have Shells retold by Carolyn Han (Chinese)

• Two of Everything by Lily Toy Hong (Chinese)

• Turtle Knows Your Name retold by Ashley Bryan (West Indies)

Homeschooling Reading Curriculum by SmartTutor.com

Story Time – Stories for Kids

Guest Blogger: Samantha Bell

Picture By: Pratham Books

The libraries are full of children’s books — some good, some not so good. It can sometimes be overwhelming to try to find the right books for your family. Unless you have time to peruse them all before you check out, you may (like me) find yourself at home with several books that just weren’t a good choice. But there is a better way to search for good literature, and with the Internet, anyone can do it: visit children’s book review sites online.

Here are a few sites to get you started:

ChildrensBookReview (www.thechildrensbookreview.com) – This site is straightforward and easy to navigate, with the books organized by age and category. It’s a great site to visit if you don’t have a specific title in mind.

LookingGlassReview (www.lookingglassreview.com) – This is one of my favorite children’s book review sites. The books are classified by ages and genres, with a special “Features” section highlighting biographies, historical books, and seasonal and holiday selections. You’ll also find links to author websites as well as publishers and literary organizations.

Books4YourKids (http://www.books4yourkids.com/)- This is another favorite review site of mine. The author of this site is a mother and bookseller of 14 years. You can find her reviews listed by book title, author, or reading level. The reviews are detailed and thoughtful — a great help when choosing a book for a child.

SpaghettiBookClub.org (www.spaghettibookclub.org) – This site is a children’s book review site with the reviews written by kids! You can look up reviews by book title, the name of the child who reviewed it, or the author of the book.

TheReadingTub (http://www.thereadingtub.com) – This site, by a non-profit organization, is dedicated to promoting reading and literacy. Click on the link for book reviews at the top of the home page, and you’ll find reviews categorized by the age of the reader. There are also reviews of books about adoptions, books for reluctant readers, and books for remedial readers.

Want to find a good read? Check out the reviews, then check out a great book!

Homeschooling Reading Curriculum by SmartTutor.com

Story Time – Stories for Kids

Guest Blogger: Samantha Bell

Picture By: Phing

No matter what your students are studying in history, consider using historical fiction as part of your curriculum. More than just dates and events, this genre of literature immerses readers in the time period, taking them on an adventure during the era they’ve just studied. If you want to supplement your curriculum for your middle grade readers (grades 5-9), here are some books you might want to look for:

The Ancients:

• The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare
• The Golden Goblet by Eloise Jarvis McGraw

The Middle Ages

• A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park
• The Midwife’s Apprentice by Karen Cushman
• The Door in the Wall by Marguerite De Angeli
• The Crispin: Cross of Lead by Avi
• Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Gray Vining

The 1500’s

• The Shakespeare Stealer by Gary Blackwood

Colonial America

• Blood on the River: James Town, 1607 by Elisa Lynn Carbone
• The Serpent Never Sleeps by Scott O’Dell
• The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

The 1700’s and the Revolutionary War

• The Fighting Ground by Avi
• Give Me Liberty by Laura Elliot
• The Matchlock Gun by Walter Dumaux Edmonds
• Night Journeys by Avi
• Stowaway by Karen Hesse

The Civil War

• Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt
• Bull Run by Paul Fleischman
• Hear the Wind Blow by Mary Downing Hahn
• The Perilous Road by William O. Steele
• Shades of Gray by Carolyn Reeder
• Silent Thunder by Anrdrea Davis Pinkney
• Soldier’s Heart by Gary Paulsen

Westward Expansion

• The Ballad of Lucy Whipple by Karen Cushman
• The Borning Room by Paul Fleischman
• Boston Jane by Jennifer Holm
• Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink
• Charlotte’s Rose by A. E. Cannon
• The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare
• Trouble River by Betsy Byars

The 1800’s

• Bandit’s Moon by Sid Fleischman
• Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich
• A Family Apart by Joan Lowery Nixon
• Lyddie by Katherine Patterson
• Rodzina by Karen Cushman
• The Slave Dancer by Paula Fox
• The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi
• Victory by Susan Cooper

World War I

• All-of-a-kind-family Family by Sydney Taylor

1930’s & The Great Depression

• Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
• A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck
• Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse

World War II

• Journey to Topaz by Yoshiko Uchida
• Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
• On the Wings of Heroes by Richard Peck
• Year Of Impossible Goodbyes by Sook Nyul Choi
• Yellow Star by Jennifer Roy

As you search for books, don’t forget about historical fiction series such as the American Girl series, the Dear America series, and the My America series. And be sure to read the books along with your child — you’ll find there’s more to study, more to discuss, and more to learn!

Homeschooling Reading Curriculum by SmartTutor.com

Story Time – Stories for Kids

Guest Blogger: Samantha Bell

Picture By: Pratham Books

When I was small, my aunt gave me two books that I just loved — they were wordless picture books. I would look through them again and again, making up the story as I went along.

As one of the first steps towards reading, wordless picture books reveal an entire story through the illustrations. As children “read” the stories, they verbalize what they see happening, creating a beginning, middle, and ending to the book.

While I’m not sure what happened to my books over the years, and I haven’t found them in print anywhere, there are other wordless picture books that your children can enjoy:

1, 2, 3 to the Zoo by Eric Carle

A band of animals travels by train to the zoo.

Eric Carle’s Blog

The Boy, the Bear, the Baron, the Bard by Gregory Rogers

After a small boy enters an empty theater, he goes on a time-traveling adventure.

on Amazon.com

Carl’s Masquerade by Alexandra Day

Carl the dog takes the baby to a masquerade party.

on Amazon.com

Clown by Quentin Blake

After a small toy clown gets put in the garage, he tries to find a new home.

QuentinBlake.com

Flotsam by David Wiesner

A small boy finds a camera on the beach and discovers what happens when it becomes a piece of flotsam.

Tuesday by David Wiesner

When the sun goes down Tuesday night, the frogs begin to fly.

The Art Visual Storytelling

Jack and the Night Visitors by Pat Schories

A young boy and his dog meet some tiny visitors from space.

Patschories.com

A Boy, a Dog, and a Frog by Mercer Mayer

A boy and his dog try to work at catching a frog.

Llittlecritter.com

Have You Seen My Duckling by Nancy Tafuri

A mother duck searches for her one missing duckling around the pond.

Nancytafuri.net

Amanda and the Mysterious Carpet by Fernando Krahn

Amanda gets whisked away on a new carpet and takes a wild ride.

on Amazon.com

Guest Blogger: Samantha Bell

Photo by San Jose Library

Homeschooling Reading Curriculum by SmartTutor.com

Story Time – Stories for Kids

Language and Thinking for Young Children by Ruth Beechick and Jeannie Nelson is a wonderful oral language resource for homeschooling parents of children in preschool, kindergarten, or the early elementary grades. Designed as a full year’s course, this single book contains ideas and activities that can be adapted both for very young children as well as older children who are not yet reading.

The manual is divided into eight different units: Stories, Vocabulary and Thinking Skills, Language Games, Memorizing, Learning About Telephones, Enjoying Poetry, Manners, and Learning on Trips. Each unit begins with a list of teaching objectives. For example, the objectives for the Stories unit include building vocabulary, adding to the child’s knowledge of things and ideas, building an understanding of cause and effect and sequencing, and more. Objectives for the Language Skills section include learning to form good sentences, to listen attentively, and to organize thoughts. The other sections follow a similar structure.

The second section in each unit gives instructions on how to use the unit. A suggested length of time to spend on the unit is also included. The left-hand side of each page has added white space, allowing for you to make any planning notes. You might also use this space to record the dates the lessons are completed.

The last and largest section contains the activities you’ll be doing with your child. Lessons include reading stories; memorizing poems, the days of the week, and the months of the year; playing games such as Simon Says and Twenty Questions; learning how to measure and weigh objects; learning how to answer the telephone as well as how to respond to others using good manners.

If you’re looking for a resource to encourage learning for your little ones, give this book a try. You’ll find it a valuable addition to any early elementary curriculum.

Guest Blogger: Samantha Bell

Photo from Amazon.com

Homeschooling Curriculum and Story Time by SmartTutor.com