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16 Beautiful Picture Science Books for Kindergarteners

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Let’s fill up those bookshelves with quality beautiful picture science books for kindergarteners. Also, grab my other tips, ideas, and crafts for kindergarten on my page Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum.

You want to choose books that will last and be treasured for years to come as reference books, read aloud, and even inspiration for art.

These books should be a combination of nonfiction and fiction, biographies, nature study, and living books.

16 Beautiful Picture Science Books for Kindergarteners

And I also like to make sure some have real life images as well as beautiful illustrations.

But for the most part you want to selectively choose books that follow a few guidelines to make sure that you are getting 3 things.

They are the most bang for your buck-quality and content, books that will last for more than one quick lesson, and most important books that will engage and teach your kids in a fun way.

Gail Gibbons is always a go to, as are Julia Rothmans Anatomy series, The Big Book of series, as well as the Over and Under books. 

They create a lovely library of reference and read aloud books which will give your child more science knowledge than daily worksheets will.

I have 5 tips to help you choose your books and then an expansive list of 16 of my favorite picture science books for Kindergarteners.

5 Tips for Choosing Picture Science Books For Kindergarteners

  1. Choose beautifully illustrated oversized picture books that have small bits of information. Most children of this age only will be able to sit for small amounts of time and this is a great way to present the information by reading a bit while you look at the images. Eye catching illustrations will invite questions, investigation, and interest.
  2. Try to choose books that will have use far beyond the kindergarten years,books like the Nature Anatomy series and The Big Book of series have value that will last in my opinion at least through middle school for some reference and definitely as art inspiration when painting, putting together dioramas and more.
  3. Gather a variety to cover all the sciences in the early years. There are typically 3 types of science covered in kindergarten- physical, earth/space, and life science. Choose interesting books for each topic and theme. Concentrate more heavily on your child’s favorites like dinosaurs or bees.
  4. Select a mix of nonfiction, wordless picture books, read aloud, as well as books your child can read independently. Give them variety and make them accessible to your child, teaching them to care for their books.
  5. There are plenty of books out there now about the people of science-Ada Twist Scientist, Temple Grandin, and Eugenie Clark to name a few, don’t forget to choose some of these as well to inspire your child and highlight the contributions they made.
16 Beautiful Picture Science Books for Kindergarteners

Next, look at some kindergarten science activities to pair with the books.

Kindergarten Science Activities

16 Beautiful Picture Science Books for Kindergarteners

 I have done my best to give you a variety of topics, styles, and prices to help you create a wonderful science library made up of beautiful picture science books. Let’s dig in!

Homeschool High School Literature Guides

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

You’ll love these homeschool high school literature guides which make teaching easy. Also, look at my page How to Homeschool High School for more ideas.

Though I was over the top giddy at accomplishing the feat of teaching my first son how to read, deep down I was anxious because I was already thinking about the upper grades.

Homeschool High School Literature Guides

The thought of teaching literature at the high school level made me feel defeated before I even started.

Many years later and after teaching all of my sons how to read well, I learned that one secret tool (not a secret anymore because you now know) to teaching literature in the upper grades is a simple, but well-thought-out high school literature guide.

Have you seen the nifty high school literature guides by Dover Publications? They are the Dover Thrift Study Editions. More on that in a minute.

I was given free books from Dover Publications and I was compensated for my time. However, paid for my time does not mean paid off.  ALL opinions are my own and for sure I will always tell you what is on my mind. When I do accept a product it’s because I’m giddy to tell you about it. Read my full disclosure here. Now on to the fun stuff!

Why You Should Teach Classic Literature

First, to clear up any confusion, there is not an exact grade where reading turns to literature.

Somewhere during the middle and high school years, reading turns from learning to read to reading to learn. A big difference.

Like the early grades, classic literature plays a huge role in reading to learn.

When teaching a beginner reader, the focus is on phonics, comprehension and vocabulary.

Some of those elements don’t completely go away in the high school years, but reading to learn is about peering closer at literature.

high school literature guides 1

Look at a few of the common elements of reading to learn that a high school student will want to cover.

  • Understand an author’s background or biography;
  • Understand an author’s message;
  • Understand literary analysis; and
  • Explore examples of literary terms like plot, theme, point of view and even complicated ones like similes and metaphors.

Why It’s Important to Go from Broad to Focused

Also, one more significant difference in teaching literature at the high school level is that a reader moves from being exposed to a variety of genres in the younger grades to a more focused look at one genre or time period of literature.

For example, a student will do a yearlong study of American, British or even World literature.

We recently started using high school literature guides by Dover Publications because not only did I want something that Tiny could do independently, but I wanted to contain the overflowing amount of high school curriculum.

Focusing on British literature, I was tickled that I got in my bundle the following books.

 Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Hamlet by William Shakespeare

Homeschool High School Literature Guides

Look at some of the reasons why we are using the comprehensive study guides.

  • The unabridged book and comprehensive study guide are together in one book.
  • There is an analysis of the chapter.
  • There are study guides with answers, thank you. I loathe extra bulk in curriculum and sometimes it’s unavoidable with high school curriculum, but an all in one book where the questions and answers are together is very useful.
  • There are suggested essay topics. I love that I don’t even have to think about topics for him to write about.
  • One more detail worth noting about the essays is that not only are there suggested topics, but also suggestions for the type of essay. For example, in reading The Scarlet Letter, there is a suggestion for a compare and contrast essay. Can you just say practical help for the new high school mom?
  • There is a biography of the author at the beginning, which gives Tiny a fuller understanding of the story. For example, in reading Frankenstein, Mary Shelley is a young author with a lot of unhappiness early on in her life. She goes on to write Frankenstein, which is Gothic fiction and it is the early beginnings of science fiction. Did she write to console herself or to escape? Are the two reasons really any different? The guide and book together allow for some great debate conversation with my teen.
  • Having used very comprehensive study guides before, I wanted something that gives me a framework instead of dissecting every literary element. Maintaining the love of reading at the high school level is paramount to the technicalities of elements. The Dover Thrift Study Editions have been just the right amount of balance for us.

Too, my roots have been classical though I love the freedom and mastery that learning through unit studies engenders.

Classic novels are a mainstay I expect my boys to cover in high school, but I love the fact too that studying a whole novel can be quickly turned into a unit study.

Homeschool High School Literature Guides @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

For example, when we read an abridged version of A Tale of Two Cities, in the early years, Tiny can draw from what he knows about studying the geography and culture of France and England.

It wasn’t necessary at that time to develop the underlying theme that no historical period will be free of serious problems.

However, now in the high school years by reading an unabridged version of A Tale of Two Cities he can connect what he knows previously and turn the book into a high school level unit study.

Focus is on the ugly side of war or the French Revolution.

Of course, for us, you know any time period we read about history has us always thinking about a unit study.

The point I’m making is that it’s so much easier making the jump to language arts, science and history when the books are classic.

Homeschool literature guides do not have to be cold, austere and overwhelming, but helpful, compact and motivating.

Not only can they teach critical thinking skills to your high school student, which helps him to dig deep to find the hidden message in a story, but study guides help you to move to the reading to learn stage of literature.

Finally, look at this short list I created. Grab one or two!

Dover Thrift Study Editions For Easy High School Literature Guides

The guides are literature and analysis in one book. the guide includes:

• Scene-by-scene summaries

• Explanations and discussions of the plot

• Question-and-answer sections

• an author’s biography

• List of characters and more

Dover Thrift Study Editions feature everything that students need to undertake a confident reading of a classic text, as well as to prepare themselves for class discussions, essays, and exams.

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6 Boy Approved Books Which Spark the Love of Reading

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I have six boy approved books today. Also, look at my page The Dynamics of How to Homeschool Easily and Smarter for more tips.

Not wanting my boys to be among the boys-who-hate-to-read statistics, it was a challenge in the beginning to keep my boys’ enjoying reading.

I had a LOT to learn about how boys learn.

Sharing these 6 boy approved books which spark the love of learning, I’m hoping that one or more of them will flame that ember to read in your boys.

3 Boy Mom Reading Tips

Now that I have lifelong adult son readers, I know you’ll benefit from these three simple, easy, and tried and true reading tips.

1. Quit thinking like female teachers.

I know, it sounds crazy because homeschool stats reveal that a majority of the teaching is done by moms.

It’s hard to not think like a woman when you are one.

Where am I going with this?

The point is we add to our son’s dislike for reading when we try to use the books we loved as a girl to spark a boy’s interest.

My boys didn’t connect with a lot of the books I loved as a girl.

When I started homeschooling, I felt like I had a diversified reading diet growing up, but it didn’t include a lot of topics boys liked.

6 Boy Approved Books Which SPARK the Love of Reading!! Sharing these 6 boy approved books which spark the love of learning, I'm hoping that one or more of them will flame that ember to read in your boys. CLICK here to look at this short but TRIED and TRUE List!!

Sure, some of the books were the same ones I loved like Where the Red Fern Grows and The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe.

But I had to expand what I thought were appropriate topics to read about.

2. The Hero or Heroine Matters.

Although boys love to get lost in a world of fiction too, relating to the hero matters.

It’s hard for boys who are struggling to read to relate to a sentimental girl.

At the time my first son was struggling with a love of reading, unless the girl was mischievous or a tomboy, it wasn’t easy for my boys to understand the sentiment.

Too, a lot of boys, including mine, develop slower.

Their maturity rate is different than girls.

They don’t necessarily see themselves in a place through the eyes of the character, so you have to be sure they do.

Instead of trying to read between the lines, my boys needed to understand the why of a point directly.

Finding a solution to the problem was more paramount than understanding exactly how a character felt.

A story line with male role models no matter the age was a good starting point in helping my sons identify with people who are like them.

3. Boys LOVE Pictures.

Boys are not ready to move away from pictures as fast as girls may be.

Realizing that significant fact, I was so grateful for the Great Illustrated Classics series.

True, some of the pictures are not like the comic books that boys love, but pictures are still pictures to boys.

The size of the print mattered to my first reader too.

The bigger the better in the beginning.

Until he felt comfortable and was hooked on reading, we just kept on reading most of the books from the Great Illustrated Classics series.

I never worried whether the books were abridged or unabridged until I hooked my reader.

Out of all the books I used for my boys to hook them on reading they narrowed down their favorites to these 6 choices to nurture a love for reading.

  1. Where the Red Fern Grows
  2. The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (Great Illustrated Classics)
  3. Invisible Man (Great Illustrated Classics)
  4. Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
  5. Shiloh
  6. Stone Fox

One or more of these books or series should give your boys a taste of boy approved books, but more important they’ll nurture a love of reading.

A book list doesn’t have to be long to work; the book list needs to be focused on what boys can relate to.

I’ll be sharing more book lists that have worked for us through the years.

Does your son have a favorite book or series that worked to fan that tiny ember to a raging love for reading?

6 Boy Approved Books Which SPARK the Love of Reading!! Sharing these 6 boy approved books which spark the love of learning, I'm hoping that one or more of them will flame that ember to read in your boys. CLICK here to look at this short but TRIED and TRUE List!!

You’ll love these other tips:

12 of the Best Books For Beginner Readers Being Homeschooled

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Finding the best books for beginner readers was at the top of my list when I sat my first homeschooled grad on my lap at 3 years old to teach him to read. Also, look at my page Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum for more tips.

Equally important was learning the other skills I needed as the homeschool educator to teach him to read.

Like many educators who have their first budding reader I too was overly worried about the process.

First, look at some of these tips for teaching beginning readers which have worked for me through my many years of homeschooling.

12 of the Best Books For Beginner Readers Being Homeschooled

Books for Beginner Readers

  • Trust that the process is natural. Unless your child has special needs or a disability to hamper learning how to read, he will learn to read. What I’m saying is that children learning to read are learning with every breath they take. Seizing their love of learning in their organic environment (your home and your lap) is where the seed is planted.
  • In addition, I didn’t realize the value of my habit of reading aloud to my first reader and reading silently. The point is from the beginning I was placing not just a high value on the skill of reading, but a love for it. Although you may not think so now, teaching a child a child to read can be quite easy compared to teaching him to be a lifelong reader. Lifelong readers model what they see.
  • Next, like a lot of new homeschool educators, I concentrated on intensity instead of consistency. That was a mistake and I almost gave up homeschooling. So the power of little and often cements a pattern for how your child learns to read. Short fun spurts throughout the day teaching your child to read is how to make true progress.

Timeless Tips for Beginner Readers

Picture Books Library Lists

Second, remember that while you’re teaching your child to read, he will need direct phonics instructions.

Not only are you training his eyes to read or decipher (decoding), but you’re training his ears to hear sounds (encoding).

On top of that, remember to look at the BIGGER picture as you embark on your journey to teaching your child to read.

Direct phonics will help your child to decode words, and training his ear to distinguish between sounds and writing the correct symbol for that sound is encoding.

The Power of Little and Often

What I’m saying is that you want to pair a phonics program along with teaching your child to read.

Look at some of these helps:

All About Reading

In addition, you also want plenty of time reading aloud to your child which doesn’t include direct instruction.

You constantly want to reaffirm that reading is enjoyable, meaningful, and should be pain free. Keeping that warm and fuzzy feeling for reading is essential.

Books that Help Kids Learn to Read

So read below about books which make it easier for teaching beginner readers being homeschooled.

12 Books For Beginner Readers

I know some of these books will work for you because they have worked for homeschool families for years.

Our needs at home vary because we want to teach phonics, love of reading, and sight words all in a natural way.

More Tips for Beginner Readers

12 of the Best Books For Beginner Readers Being Homeschooled

Other Tips or Books for Beginner Readers

Our tools and books we choose should help us to nurture lifelong readers so I know you’ll love these.

Do you have other favorite new reader series?

You’ll love these other tips which work solidly for me through the years for beginner readers.

Creative Solution for Homeschool High School When Life Happens

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I’m sharing a creative solution for homeschool high school when life happens. Also, look at my page How to Homeschool High School.

This made homeschooling my second high school son, Mr. Awesome, not only meaningful but one that I am really treasuring.

Although I had my reservations at first.

Let me back up first because you have to understand what happened when homeschooling high school with Mr. Senior 2013 to understand how I came up with the solution, which I am going to share in just a minute.

Creative Solution for Homeschool High School When Life Happens

When homeschooling Mr. Senior 2013, I had planned all four years.

And probably like most new homeschooling high school parents, I had a bit of over planning involved too.

Next, look at some of these resources to help you homeschool high school.

How to Homeschool High School Books & Resources

How to homeschool high school can be daunting at first. With a little help and these great resources, you’ll be a homeschool pro in no time.

You CAN still Homeschool High School!

However, though I didn’t feel like this in the beginning of my homeschool journey (that is another topic), I also didn’t want to turn the teaching reins over to somebody else.

I had not schooled this long to come to the point in my teen’s life to let somebody else make significant decisions.

Some of the best times I have had are homeschooling high school though I was terrified when we started.

I won’t be victim to the idea that somebody else can give my kids better. 

In other words, I won’t make any decision based on fear though many times I didn’t feel so brave.

Then right in the middle of high school with Mr. Senior 2013 as I mentioned in my post Should I Let My Homeschooled Teen Graduate Early, my hubby had a significant heart attack.

It was a set back for us in high school.

After we recuperated from that as a family, I realized that I had gotten behind on supervising some of the courses for Mr. Senior 2013.

However, we buried our noses in the books and he graduated on time and of course we had a huge celebration, Texas style.

The point I learned from what happened to my family was that I never wanted to be in that position again with Mr. Awesome of feeling helpless.

I also learned that instead of planning week by week with Mr. Senior 2013 (he preferred that over my 3 month suggestion of planning and I let him do it because I am teaching him to be responsible for his own methods of learning), that I could have planned out 3 months and still let Mr. Senior 2013 plan weekly.

High School Options for Teens

This would have alleviated the stress and helplessness I felt then.

However, that is water under the bridge and there is no way either my oldest son or I had any control over what happened in our lives.

Are you still with me?

I had to share all of that because it always helps me to make better decisions in our homeschool when reading advice if I understand why the choices were made.

So without giving up my control as the homeschooling high school teacher, I came up with a creative solution to high school.

I have taken at least two years homeschooling Mr. Awesome with subjects we chose together AND he is also completing an online accredited high school program with Penn Foster.

I rejected the popular notion that I had to either do it ALL myself OR give it ALL to somebody else.

The criteria for me choosing an online high school program was that it had to be basic, easy and able to be completed within about a year and half or so.

Creative Solution for Homeschool High School When Life Happens @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Penn Foster, unlike for example, Keystone High School program I knew was a much lighter high school program.

With all the upcoming doctor’s visit, recovering time and upcoming care my husband needed, I wanted to have a back up to my courses.

Too, I wanted Mr. Awesome to focus on the courses I had selected, just like I had with Mr. Senior 2013 and to be able to customize high school for him and spend that one-to-one time I had given Mr. Senior 2013.

Of course, Mr. Awesome had to be on board with this because I didn’t want him to think that I was making him repeat courses either.

Abiding Homeschool High School

In helping many homeschoolers, I was familiar with a wide variety of high school programs and knew that Penn Foster has been around for a while and prided itself on covering basics, which obviously would be a good choice if our life took another unexpected turn during Mr. Awesome’s high school years.

It has given Mr. Awesome a framework and still has allowed me to flesh in with programs like North Star Geography, some of my Bible lessons I want him to have and do our unit studies.

Thankfully, the Mr. has had as good as health as he will have living with the effects of the heart attack and Mr. Awesome has hammered through both the subjects we chose and those of Penn Foster.

It will have taken him about a year and half to finish Penn Foster but it also had some unexpected benefits of using Penn Foster that I will explain in an upcoming post.

Out of struggling, though it may be stressful to go through, I feel, always comes empowerment.

More Creative Solutions for High School Posts

I want each of my son’s homeschool high school experience to be unique and Mr. Awesome has certainly flourished with doing a combination of my subjects and ones we chose through Penn Foster.

Without giving up my goals of being able to give my second son a personal and unique high school experience, it called for creativity not compromise.

Homeschool High School

I am hoping by sharing this today, that if life throws you an unexpected curve, you will not give up but find a creative solution.

The end doesn’t always turn out as planned, sometimes it is better.

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