Any time I can link a great author into our study, I do!
Jules Verne is someone I was excited to introduce the boys too.
This biography just inspires the imagination, doesn’t it?
“The Man who invented tomorrow” such a great title.
I threw the full version of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea in with our school books.
I was not sure if they would get through it but I had read it and enjoyed it so I thought I would give it a try.
They fought over it!!!!
Definitely a homeschool mom win in my book.
They both finished it and liked to talk about the amazing things written.
I also borrowed the Classics Illustrated version of 20,000 Leagues from the library(ebook).
Any of those that I can get they gobble up.
They look like comic books and are a fun way for them to see the story even more.
The Battle of the Alamo was happening the same time Jules Verne was growing up.
I will sometimes pick an author based on when they wrote their novel or sometimes when they were born.
It just depends on the content of the novels.
It is easy to see how he could think anything was possible, having grown up during the tail end of the industrial revolution.
I was so happy to find a “You Choose” book on the Alamo!
My boys love those books!
We also listened to several stories from Rabbit Ears Treasury of Tall Tales.
The one about Davy Crockett is read by Nicholas Cage and is very animated!
HA
Here is my oldest drawing the Alamo from our Write and Draw through History book.
Rabbit Ears Treasury of Tall Tales also had a story about Johnny Appleseed that was interesting.
It said that he believed he was getting beautiful brides in heaven for the work he was doing?
What?
Ha
I had never heard that before.
We studied David Livingstone and Africa also during this time.
There was very little for kids about him but the History Channel’s “Great Explorers series” has a movie on him that was interesting and very informative.
It was also not only his good qualities but things they thought he did wrong.
I really like when we can get resources that tell both sides so we can discuss it.
I used OurJourneyWestward.com’s Living Geography book list for our Africa study.
I loved this idea and it gave me an opportunity to expose my kids to some great books!
“Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters” is one of my favorites.
It is a a Cinderella type story but with an emphasis on being a good person.
It was not her beauty that made her a princess.
I liked that.
We got the audio book version of “Nelson Mandela’s Favorite African Folktales.”
So many of them were so good!
Some were maybe a bit scary for young kids though so you might want to review it a bit first.
The story of how the animals came to have their trunks and spots was my favorite and the 1st one about the king that lost his ring!
So good.
So many beautiful stories!
We will definitely be covering geography this way again.
I made a Ten Days in Africa type game to go with our study.
Only the boys and I played this one because the girls can not read well enough to be able to do this type of game yet.
I have done a blog post before on how I make these, here.
But all you need is a map of the continent and some cards with the different countries on them.
These types of games seem to really help us learn the geography!
We all got to use the “How to draw African animals” book.
I actually walked them all through the steps this time and drew with them.
That seemed to help a lot of them be able to follow along.
My girls got frustrated that their’s did not look just like the book but I think they did a great job!
These last two are the boys drawings.
I also took advantage of the fact we were studying Africa to let my kids watch Wild Kratts!
They have a lot of videos on African Animals and all my kids like watching them.
Sometimes I embrace the things that are easiest!
Like taking pictures with my phone…
This season of life is definitely showing me what is a priority and what is not!
Do you use “living books” to teach geography?
Check out how I link my subjects, here.