literature

The Tale of Peter Rabbit Printables for a Fun Spring Unit Study

April 9, 2022 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Along with The Tale of Peter Rabbit printables, I’m also sharing fun hands-on activities during my spring unit study with Mr. MunchKing. Also look at my page Best Homeschool Unit Studies.

He is such a sweet kid to mentor, and he had so much with this spring unit study. It is one of his favorites already.

Before I started blogging or had a website, I used parts of Five in a Row unit study curriculum with my three homeschooled grads. FIAR uses The Tale of Peter Rabbit as one of their literature studies.

The Tale of Peter Rabbit Printables for a Fun Spring Unit Study

Doing the same unit study years later allowed me to dig deeper, to make it fit another generation, and to use my own unique ideas.

I planned this unit study with my ideas and ideas from other educators. Why invent the wheel when so many good unit study printables and subtopics abound on the internet? A pinch of my own way of teaching and add in other wonderful ideas and it’s a fantastic fun study.

Tale of Peter Rabbit Unit Study

One more thing about Five in a Row is that many unit study providers have come along since I started 25 years ago, but Five in a Row remains one of my very favorite for elementary and middle school.

The way they use hands-on for all subjects is head and shoulders above many other so called unit study providers.

Keep in mind that this delightful book can be used all the way up to high school as well. Topics can be slanted to teach children like figurative language, drawing inferences, and an introduction to analysis.

Don’t think it’s just a young child’s tale; a picture book is one of the best tools for teaching beginning analysis in the middle grades.

Now, let’s dive into this fun spring unit study about The Tale of Peter Rabbit.

First, look below at my unit study planning page from my Ultimate DIY Unit Study Planner of how I adapted the tale to fit what I want Mr. MunchKing to learn at the PreK/K level.

My unit study planning page is just a guide, but is not everything you cover. Again, as a guide it gives you a framework of important points while following your child’s lead.

Unit Study Concept/Ideas for Peter Rabbit Tale

In addition, I start with unit study idea concepts which are usually like one or two words for me to glance at to use as a springboard for another teaching idea.

Look at some of the unit study idea concepts or word glances for The Tale of Peter Rabbit which fits the age of Mr. MunchKing.

England, country garden, farm animals
rabbits, berries, sparrows
types of robins, fir tree, obedience, and
various cultures.

Next, look at various activities and ideas for each homeschool subjects. Beginning with language arts, the best part is reading the book over and over again.

Watch and listen to this beautiful read aloud of Peter Rabbit on YouTube using an English accent.

I have included a few more videos to help the book come alive:

Peter Rabbit Unit Study Language Arts

Learning how to tell back a story builds fluency in reading and comprehension. It begins with excellent literature.

Further, I created this fun printable story telling cube which can be used in different ways. Reading should be hands-on to allow your child to listen while using his other senses.

This storytelling cube is a subscriber freebie.

I used this printable in several different ways:

ask questions about events in the story and have your learner find it on the cube
read a part in the book, ask who was talking in the story and have your child find it on the cube
tell your child to choose a character or event on the cube and retell what is the picture illustrating
have your child “roll” it and play guess what the picture is illustrating
let your child listen and follow along showing the correct illustration

Free The Tale of Peter Rabbit Book

And you’ll love having access to The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter for free here at Gutenberg.

More Tale of Peter Rabbit Resources

8 Peter Rabbit Garden Ideas | How To Make A Preschool Garden Box

Fun Mr Mcgregor’s Vegetable Garden Simple Frugal Math Activity

Free Literary Terms Notebooking Pages

Because I know how hard it is to find things for older learners, I’ve created 3 free literary terms notebooking pages based on the book.

Please hear my heart when I say that I don’t encourage any literary evaluation until a child is in middle school. Young child will struggle with understanding literary terms. Wait until they are older.

The first notebooking page is Fiction versus Nonfiction. Have your child write under the correct column which key words match the correct column.

For the second notebooking page, Elements of Fiction, have your child research the definition of each of the elements of fiction.

Literary terms is the third page. I have included a brief definition of a few terms on that page.

Help your older leaner to understand the definitions and then find examples of each one in the story. For example, to explain foreshadowing point out this part below to your child.

NOW, my dears,” said old Mrs. Rabbit one morning, “you may go into the fields or down the lane, but don’t go into Mr. McGregor’s garden: your Father had an accident there; he was put in a pie by Mrs. McGregor.”

On the last part of the third notebooking page there is a part to add specific genres like mysteries, science fiction, historical fiction, realistic fiction and epic poems to name a few. I hope these brief explanations about each page will help you guide your child.

These notebooking pages are subscriber freebies.

HOW TO GET THE FREE STORYTELLING CUBE AND 3 PETER RABBIT NOTEBOOKING PAGES

Now, how to grab the free notebooking pages and the storytelling cube. They are subscriber freebies.

11) CLICK HERE ON THIS LINK TO SIGN UP ON MY EMAIL LIST & TO GET THIS FREEBIE.
2) Grab the freebie now.
3) Last, look for all my emails in your inbox. Glad to have you following me!

To further enhance language arts skills for Mr. MunchKing, we added dot printables and other fine motor skills craft fun.

Fine Motor Activities for The Tale of Peter Rabbit

The list below of fun printables is from Making Learning Fun which we loved to enhance language arts:

3 sisters Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail printable
Peter Rabbit emergent reader
ABC Dot to Dot
Emergent Reader
Pre Writing Tracer Cards
Baggie Rabbit Rhyme and Craft

Count by 2’s Dot to Dot
Feed the Rabbit Game
Rabbit Hopping Measurement Cards
Coat Button Activity
Measurement Worksheet
Peter’s Coat Pattern

Also, look at some of these fine motor skill activities we added.

How to Sew a Felt Carrot

First, Mr. MunchKing sewed an adorable little felt carrot. You don’t need much to do this and your little learner can make many of the vegetables in Mr. McGregor’s garden.

Begin by gathering felt, a plastic sewing needle, yarn, scissors, and some stuffing.

You can use cotton or whatever you have on hand for the stuffing. As some of our school supplies, we add to our craft supply and added a pack of felt. You’ll need two colors, orange and green.

There are a few easy steps:

First, our square had to be cut into a wide triangle.
Fold over the triangle to form the shape of a carrot.

Thread the needle with a long piece of orange yarn and have your child sew on the long side.
Don’t cut off your yarn yet. Leave enough room to stuff.
Next stuff the carrot and use a pencil to push it down to the bottom of the point.
Then, lay the carrot aside without sewing across the top yet either.

Take the green felt and stuff it inside the carrot with the stuffing.
Sew the sides and tie. Thread the needle again and sew across the top of the carrot
Lastly cut the green felt to make leaves.

How to Use The Vegetables in Mr. McGregor’s Garden for Playing to Learn

Too, we cut free hand from the rest of the felt the other vegetables in Mr. McGregor’s garden.

After cutting out the vegetables, Mr. MunchKing glued the small vegetables together.

Next glue them on popsicle sticks and now your can use the vegetable sticks in many ways.

your little learner picks up the correct vegetable when he hears that part in the story
try to count how many vegetables are in the garden
name the vegetables after they’re mentioned in the story
poke holes on a shoebox lid and put the sticks through and color the lid like dirt to make a pretend garden

Geography for The Tale of Peter Rabbit

Of course, some of the best subjects to include in this unit study are science, nature study, art and even geography.

Because the author Beatrix Potter was born and raised in England, many of the illustrations in her books are of the English countryside. If you want to know more about Beatrix Potter, the Victoria and Albert Museum has a huge collection of her drawings, letters, and work.

Comparing the English countryside to where your child lives gives your child a foundation of beginning geography. For beginning geography, some of the fun hands-on activities we included was making an edible peanut butter dough map of England and focusing on mapping Mr. McGregor’s garden.

How to make Make an Edible Peanut Butter Dough England Map

Start by making an edible map with peanut butter dough and form the country of England. You could also use cookie dough from the store, bake it and then add icing.

I’ve waffled between these two recipes during the years doing variations of each. So, mix and match until you have the taste your child loves.

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons honey

1 cup of dried instant milk
1/2 cup of smooth peanut butter
1/3 cup of honey

Mix until you have a smooth consistency. We have peanut butter lovers here, so a little bit of licking and a little bit of learning is the way to learn about maps at this age.

Next, grab a printed outline of the country of England after you locate it on a globe or map and talk about the pictures in the book.

Tape a clear piece of parchment paper on top of the printable map, so your little learner can follow the lines with his fingers. As your child grows, he can pencil in the border of the countries and landmarks.

Locate the cottage garden in the book, explain about the English countryside and explain what is a country setting versus a city setting. Then let your little learner form the map with the peanut butter dough.

In addition, another easy hands-on geography idea is to map Mr. McGregor’s garden. I loved this idea over at Children’s Book and Reading.

Mapping Mr. McGregor’s Garden for Fun Geography

Drawing pictures of what your child is learning cements the story line and you know that your child is understanding. It has been my experience that many older readers who struggle with reading didn’t have enough time to visualize parts of the story.

When a young learner can draw, he visualizes key details. In addition, maps are great visual aids.

Having your child map his backyard is another fun way to begin mapping. Geography comes alive because your child is connecting the story to his life and surroundings. It’s fun to see what your child focuses on too.

Then we downloaded the sweet printable over at Children’s Book and Reading which contains empty vegetable patches. As you begin to read the story, have your child follow along on his map.

You can do geography of the garden other ways too. Using a white board, have your child use his fingerprints and thumbprints to draw pictures of where the vegetables are as he hears the story. We grabbed the washable paint colors orange, red, green, and brown.

This activity was a two-pher as I call it. Teach your child about geography while painting and using his fine motor skills. What fun we had.

On the printable, your child can map the vegetables, draw pictures of animals where they belong.

And use the printable to explain Peter Rabbit’s route.

Finally, there are many nature and science activities to plan from book.

Nature and Science from The Tale of Peter Rabbit

We had a hard time narrowing down what nature and science activities we wanted to do. The first science activity which was to compare soils best for growing plants came from Inspiration Laboratories.

Compare Types of Soil To Grow Plants In

Comparing the types of soil needed for plants to grow in is a fun segue to learn about gardening.

It’s also an easy activity because you need just a few materials most of which you have on hand at home.

Too, your child can begin with this hands-on science and observe the growing process each day to record in a journal if they are writers. If they are budding writers, a picture of the day-to-day growth works too. It encourages pre-writing skills.

Grow Seedlings Like Mr. McGregor’s Vegetables

Another fun idea for a spring garden is to grow seedlings. With a young learner, you don’t need to plant a whole garden unless you want to. Mr. MunchKing really loved this activity as he watched his babies grow each day.

If you do this with a young learner, try to get seeds which sprout fast, so you child has fun instantly. I don’t have a green thumb by any stretch, but I’ve always managed to introduce gardening to each child.

And in my experience fast growing seeds work best. We just used what we had on hand which was an empty egg carton, seed packets, and potting soil. Seeds like beans, radishes and peas can grow quickly.

This was a huge unit study for us; we did it for several weeks, stepped back, and then came back to it.

If you’re planning this unit study, do the garden projects first so children can observe while you do the language arts portion and other fun ideas.

Add these fun videos about vegetables to your day.

Tale of Peter Rabbit Printables

While we were working day to day on the fun activities, we found this beautiful lapbook at Homeschool Share.

The beauty of lapbooks is that your child can create them anyway they like to. We used some of the free printables from Homeschool Share and added Mr. MunchKing’s work he loved about Mr. McGregor’s garden.

Although lapbooks can take more planning and be more work, in the many my kids have created, they are also memory keepers.

Besides memory keepers, lapbooks are hands-on tools which aids recall.

While true that I don’t hail to be a crafty mom, I do know the value of mess and play learning.

Lapbooks fit into this category for me. Have you ever seen a child filled with excitement as he explains a worksheet? But turn that worksheet into a mini fun book folded into a creative way, and now you have an engaged learner.

Look at my video How to Lapbook EZ on my YouTube Channel.

So The Tale of Peter Rabbit lapbook is a fun way for a child to remember the information in a fun and natural way.

Peter Rabbit End of Unit Tea Celebration

Finally, always try to end your unit study with a memorable activity. I found this adorable tea set which has is a 15-Piece Woodland-Themed Tin Tea Set, Includes Teapot, 4 Plates, 4 Cups, 4 Saucers, Serving Tray and Carrying Case for our spring tea. And what better way to remember this unit study than to have a tea party. Plus we can use it for many more themed parties!

We served raspberry muffins and rabbit shaped cookies. Also, you could serve scones, but the muffins and cookies were great hits.

Mr. MunchKing dressed up in his Sunday finest and we pretended Peter Rabbit invited us over for tea. What a fun time he had!

Finally, here are a few more fun things I found to help make your The Tale of Peter Rabbit Unit Study memorable.

More The Tale of Peter Rabbit Free Printables and Activities

Download these precious and free I Spy printables to use while your child watches the movie and listens to you as you read aloud.
Fun pop up garden paper plater craft.
Lettuce wraps for kids.
Grab these printable ABC carrot patch.
And there are even more ideas here at The World of Peter Rabbit site. You won’t be short for ideas.

**Free Literature Printables for The Tale of Peter Rabbit for Older Learners**

As you can see we had an awesome time with this fun unit study using beautiful literature. Do you think you’ll try it?

You’ll also love these other hands-on posts about gardening, spring, and beautiful literature.

Best Homeschool High School Literature Suggestions For Teens

December 15, 2020 |
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Creating these homeschool high school literature suggestions for teens is more satisfying now that my teens graduated. Looking back, I know their love of reading came from being exposed to a variety of genre. Also, look at my page How to Homeschool High School.

Having a variety of genre to choose from is just one element of keeping teens reading into adulthood.

Beyond reading to fill a high school credit, use your time with your homeschooled teens to shape and develop their thinking.

Best Homeschool High School Literature Suggestions For Teens

Contrary to what some educators think, teens are still questioning beliefs. Their thinking is not fully matured. Issues raised in literature gives you the opportunity to analyze beliefs.

Too, high school and college courses require your teens to interpret literary terms and techniques.

I found this was best done by classic literature.

The point is whether your teen is reading American, British, or World literature he is gaining a greater understanding of the world.

That is something which will stick with him well into adulthood.

This high school literature list will give you a starting point in choosing the best literature for your family.

Moreover, don’t fret if your teen is still not loving to read.

Some of these books will ignite a fire and did I mention some are short?

Whether you have a teen who is a voracious reader or who is an unenthusiastic reader, I have some high school literature suggestions for all.

Homeschool High School Literature

Also, it’s important to remember that there is so much more going on when a teen engages with a book

Books for your High School Teen

For example, when a teen reads

and the genre is historical fiction it can make the time period come alive;
and the prose is challenging, it can raise his reading comprehension;
his vocabulary is expanded; and
critical thinking skills are introduced.

Knowing that so much more is involved then filling a credit at the high school level, be choosy about what your teen reads.

Also, what helped me at the high school level are the self-paced online classes, Literary Adventures for Kids.

We covered a poetry unit for one of my teens in a fun way.

Look at my post Online Homeschool High School Poetry (No Teaching Involved).

Teens Reading List

See, I had to learn the hard way that a teen should have a choice in what he reads.

I remember being in English class in middle school and reading about boring topics.

I was a good reader, but not an enthusiastic reader until I read The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe. He’s not an author I thought I would be drawn to as a teen.

However, his stories and poems invoked a love for reading detective stories along with his great storytelling. I loved everything about that poem, the figurative language, the dynamics, and the theme.

Homeschool High School Reading

The point is I would have never picked up his book on my own when evaluating my choices.

So your teen needs your help. It literally takes one book your teen can’t put down for your teen to look at reading differently.

Now as a parent, it is a learned balancing act when each teen got to the high school level.

I tried to find their interests and themes they loved to weave that with other genre they weren’t interested in or thought so at the time.

Also, another way to engage your high school kids is to learn through a theme.

We love history in our house and learning history through living literature has been one of our very favorite ways to learn history.

We love Beautiful Feet History, and have used their high school literature.

They suggest the following sequence which we mostly followed which has changed too.

Grade 9 | Early American

Grade 11 | Medieval History Senior High

Grade 10 | Ancient History Senior High

Grade 12 | Modern U.S. and World History for Senior High

Books for High School Readers

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Dover Thrift Editions)
The Last of the Mohicans (The Leatherstocking Tales)
The Three Musketeers

Great Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe (Vintage Classics)
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight; Pearl; [and] Sir Orfeo
Gone With the Wind

Although my teens had choices, I also had requirements because I wanted to invoke conversations to get my teens to think about the broader picture.

Learning to think critically means to know how to support your ideas from the book. It’s not always easy to do with just books they chose to read.

The Call of the Wild by Jack London: Complete With Original And Classics Illustrated
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Les Miserables: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow: The Original 1820 Edition
Pride and Prejudice

Why Some Homeschoolers Choose to Read Banned Literature

Next, I also had to decide how I wanted to talk to my teens about sensitive subjects.

A lot of homeschoolers, including myself, reject some modern reading lists.

However, the similarity stops there when choosing literature. Families and teens differ in how they want to handle sensitive topic.

When you research about banned books, the Washington Post stated, “The American Library Association launched Banned Books Week in 1982 to celebrate the freedom to read.”

However, every since then, the topic of banned books sparks controversy for any education.

You too have to decide if you’ll present these banned books to your teen.

It’s been my experience that the sensitive subjects in books allows me the chance to direct my children about mistakes of the past.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer AND The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Unabridged. Complete with all original illustrations)
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

I didn’t want to cover up mistakes in history, but to expose them so we learn from them. Most important that we don’t repeat them in the future.

Children relate to everyday things and some kids lives have had painful turns they couldn’t control. Although my kids didn’t experience the sadness of divorce and death at the time, they had friends who did.

Homeschool High School Books

It helped my sons to form a compassion for their friends. Every child has a different maturing rate and I was sensitive to each teen’s emotions.

The point is that you are the only one to know whether you want your children to read banned books or not. Me? I will do the choosing for my family and determine the values; you probably feel the same way.

The Lord of the Rings: 50th Anniversary, One Vol. Edition
The War for Independence: The Story of the American Revolution
Lord of the Flies

Ivanhoe (Penguin Classics)
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
The Scarlet Letter

Homeschool High School Reading List

I want the opportunity to help my sons’ learn from the past, but not be promoting ideologies which conflict with our worldview.

That is not always easy to do, but being familiar with literature your teen is absorbing is essential.

Wuthering Heights (Penguin Classics)
Fahrenheit 451
Invisible Man (Penguin Essentials) by Ralph Ellison

As you see from this quick list that the books reflect personal tastes of each teen. In the end, you want your child to enjoy reading.

I stressed way too much about balancing the genre when my focus should have been on the short time I had with each teen.

Besides being forced-fed never worked for any reader. So use this list to begin your list for your unique teen.

Lastly, this is by no stretch all that each kid read in high school.

As I pore over my huge amount of books, I’ll update this post for you.

The point today was to get this quick glance to you.

In the end what matters is creating a lifelong reader.

Remember what Francis Bacon said “Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few are to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.”

I know you’ll love these other posts:

How to Choose the BEST Homeschool Middle and High School Language Arts Curriculum & Options

September 13, 2020 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

How to choose the best homeschool middle and high school language arts curriculum can be intimidating unless you have a road map. Also, look at my page homeschool middle school and how to homeschool high school page for more fun tips

Knowing the elements of language arts is important; knowing that not every teen needs the same amount of instruction for each component is equally important.

Using free language arts curriculum before you make a purchase can be especially helpful for many reasons:

Budget friendly curriculum allows you to assess problem areas in greater detail without busting the budget;
A free curriculum can be used as a reference alongside a purchased curriculum;
Your teen may need review in just a couple of areas and you can save your hard earned dollars to buy language arts where he requires in-depth focus or help;
Returning to free curriculum resources throughout the middle and high school years helps your teen review quickly; and
Let’s face it. Teen curriculum resources can be pricey, so having many options at your fingertips helps.

Homeschool Middle and High School Language Arts

Let’s start with a language arts road map.

Step one is knowing the language arts components.

Step 1. Identify the Language Arts Components.

The easiest, but most useful definition is that English language arts is any subject to do with written or oral communication, including listening.

Right away you can see that some things are not formally taught or don’t have to be taught in isolation.

For example, from the time your teen was a toddler, you started speaking to him in full sentences.

He learned your language through the art of conversation and discussion. That part still continues in the teen years.

Too, especially at the middle and high school years, teens need to make sense out of what they have been learning.

Combining language arts elements makes language arts practical and gives teens a reason to understand it.

For example, grammar can be revised or used while a teen writes an essay.

Next, let’s dive into the subject breakdown of what is language arts so you know that you’re covering it and that you choose the subjects your teen needs.

Language arts includes all facets of English: phonics, reading/literature, spelling/vocabulary, grammar, composition, and penmanship. In addition, it includes oral speech.

By this age your child has probably learned to read and write.

So penmanship turns to composition and reading becomes literature. Phonics is now spelling.

Step 2. Isolate the Language Arts Components Needed for Middle and High School Teens.

To help clarify this even further, here are the language art subjects for middle and high school grades.

Literature which is reading and could include literary analysis
Grammar
Spelling (if still needed)
Vocabulary
Composition

These subjects are the ones that most language arts all-in-one programs cover.

Next, now that you know the subjects that fall under the language arts umbrella, look at some of these homeschool language arts curriculum for middle and high school kids.

Step 3. Choose the EXACT Components Your Teen Needs OR Choose an All-in-One Curriculum.

Before you choose language arts, pay attention to the details to see if it’s an all-in-one program which covers most of the subjects for language arts OR if it’s just one component.

I have organized the elements for you so you can quickly see the choices for your child.

Grammar Homeschool Curriculum For Teens

Too, some of the resources can be used as a guidebook to assist your teen in his writing.

The first one I’m diving into is grammar. Grammar is the rules of a language.

Your teen has learned some of the rules naturally, so some of these resources can be used as a reference.

Other resources can be used as separate curriculum to shore up any weakness

Look at this list of homeschool grammar curriculum.

Rod and Staff English. Solid no fluff worktext for doing grammar stand alone or use for a reference. The books in the high school years made great reference books for us. It’s a faith-based curriculum, but I found it easily tweaked for faith-neutral approach.
Easy Grammar. This goes all the way to high school. It’s a secular view and a traditional approach.
Jensen’s Grammar.
Daily Grammar.
Fix It Grammar. Takes a Charlotte Mason approach and goes to high school. Your child reads a story and fixes it by applying the grammar rules.
Purple Workbook: A Complete Course for Young Writers, Aspiring Rhetoricians, and Anyone Else Who Needs to Understand How English Works (Grammar for the Well-Trained Mind) This program is a bit more rigorous.
KISS Grammar.
Udemy – The Elements of English Grammar.
The Winston Grammar Program: Advanced Level, Student Workbook. This program is more hands-on.
GrammarFlip and these
Daily Paragraph Editing workbooks from Evan-Moor are nifty must-haves.

Although I feel grammar is best covered in conjunction with writing so a teen sees the value, there are some teens who need grammar in isolation.

Before looking next at the composition options, keep a few key points in mind. If a teen is struggling with penmanship remember that he can type his essays.

More Homeschooling in Middle School Resources

Try to not make composition always about penmanship. Yes, it’s about doing neat work, but that is for the final draft.

Composition is about learning how to compose his thoughts. So if you have a teen struggling in both penmanship and composition, focus on one or the other until he gets more practice.

Go gentle in what you require of him if he is struggling.

Composition Homeschool Curriculum For Teens

Now, look at some of the composition choices.

Essentials in Writing. One of my favorite programs we used.
Paper is Power Common Core for Middle School.
Brave Writer.
Khan Academy.
Institute for Excellence in Writing. One of my favorite programs we used.
Cover Story. For kids who love to write.
Write Shop I and II. One of my favorite programs we used.
Beautiful Feet History. This is a great slant to combine literature and history; this is another one of my favorite programs which my teens liked.
Lightning Literature and Composition series.
GrammarFlip.

Literature Homeschool Curriculum For Teens

Learning Language Arts Through Literature: The Gold Books. A very gentle Charlotte Mason approach to literature using living books.
Bob Jones. You can just purchase the literature component separately or purchase the all in one.
Masterbooks. You can purchase the literature component separately.
Penguin. Has free study guides for books.
Lightning Literature and Composition series.
Progeny Press.
Essentials In Literature.
Total Language Plus
Memoria Press.
Beautiful Feet History. This is a great slant to combine literature and history; this is another one of my favorite programs which my teens liked.
Dover Thrift Editions. This was another big hit in our home unabridged book and comprehensive study guide are together in one book.There are many titles to choose from. Read Homeschool High School Literature Guides to see how we used them.
The Evan-Moor Daily Reading Comprehension are good for middle school.
Outschool.
Carson Dellosa The 100+ Series: Grade 7-8 Reading Comprehension Workbook, Vocabulary, Biography, Fiction & Nonfiction, 7th Grade & 8th Grade Reading
And we loved How To Teach Your Homeschooled Children Shakespeare.

You would think it would be easier to choose an all in one program which covered a bit of most of the components of language arts. It may or may not be.

The problem at this level is that most providers are assuming that your teen has had a fair amount of each component of language arts.

If you’ve switched homeschool approaches or resources, like most of us have, then you want to be sure you’re clear on what is the focus of the all-in-one language arts curriculum.

For example, it’s been my experience that curriculum may focus more on composition, while another one covers more literary analysis.

While yet another resource may focus heavily on grammar.

All-In-One Language Arts Homeschool Curriculum for Teens

So the important point I’m making is look over the scope and sequence so that you make a good fit for your teen.

Next, look at the options for all-in-one language arts programs.

Easy Peasy All-In-One
Powerhouse or Acellus Academy.. They are both by same company. However, Acellus academy is accredited and more expensive, but Powerhouse isn’t accredited. Both are online and offer everything.
The Good and The Beautiful.
Essentials in Literature.
BookShark.
Bob Jones
Christian Light Publications.
Sonlight.
Everything You Need To Ace Middle School English
Michael Clay Thompson Language Arts

Step 4. Combine Many Components of Language Arts for Lasting Benefits.

Finally, the most important benefit of teaching language arts to our teens is so that it sticks with them. Understanding the mechanics of the English languages connects our teens to great minds of the past.

In addition, teaching valuable thinking skills is an important part of communication whether verbal or written.

For language arts to have lasting benefit and to teach thinking skills, combining the components of language arts is a superior way to teach.

When a teen works with a piece of literature, he focuses on grammar, writing, vocabulary, and spelling to name a few.

We want our teens to have a solid foundation for language arts whether he chooses a career track or college track.

More Homeschool Middle and High School Language Arts

Modern U.S. and World History High School Literature

May 2, 2018 | 48 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Let’s face it! Whether you’ve homeschooled your kids from the beginning or started part way through, choosing high school literature can be intimidating. Until I started using Beautiful Feet Books a few years back, I made the high school years unnecessarily stressful. You want the peace of mind knowing you prepared your teen well by using great books whether he chooses a career or college track.

So using modern U.S. and world history literature by Beautiful Feet Books not only filled a general literature credit Tiny needs, but also allowed us to meet a modern world history credit.

I stalked the mailman waiting for these books. I was given this product for free and I was compensated for my time. However, paid for my time does not mean paid off or that a company will receive a glowing review. I don’t roll that way. 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!

How to Narrow Down Your High School Literature Scope

Understanding that you have to have goals or reasons other than needing literature in high school makes it easier to narrow down your choices for literature and curriculum providers.

That may be an obvious statement, but there are many factors that you want to consider when choosing a program for your junior or senior teen.

Let's face it! Whether you've homeschooled your kids from the beginning or started part way through, choosing high school literature can be intimidating. You want the peace of mind knowing you prepared your teen well by using great books whether he chooses a career or college track. You’ll love these high school literature books along with the literary analysis. CLICK HERE to read about this curriculum!

I have several reasons for using and believing in Beautiful Feet Books:

foremost is our love for literature-based history to avoid a boring and blah approach to history,
thought-provoking books which may conflict with our world view or tug at my teen’s emotions are part of my job in preparing him for adulthood,
the role of the teacher is valued, respected, and encouraged with this curriculum to shape the teen’s understanding,
as the supervising teacher, I need to be the one to decide when and how we will deal with sensitive adult themes,
all of my sons need to be exposed to literature which may be covered in higher education,
a passion for history of any time period is awakened and appreciated through the use of living books, and
although non-fiction is important for a framework of facts, advanced literary criticism happens when a teen selects from excellent fiction literature to analyze.

My reasons may or may not include classic books, but they always include good books or living literature.

Too, having the opportunity to cover modern world history was not something I even thought about covering with my first high school graduate.

Sticking to the commonly held belief that high school teens need to have an emphasis on American history or U.S. government, I over emphasized those time periods with my first graduate.

Of course, hindsight gives you perfect vision. So I knew with my second and now third high school teen that I could tailor and tweak to suit their needs because Beautiful Feet Books is flexible when it comes to covering history.

Most of the middle school and high school curriculum includes two history eras. I never appreciated this fact until I switched from a strictly classical approach to a more eclectic approach with an emphasis on unit studies.

At first notion, this dual history period approach may seem hodgepodge. However it’s quite the opposite for a true historian. And there are two main reasons.

1. Past history and today’s current events always have multiple world powers and key players in action at the same time.
While it’s true that an in-depth study of any civilization would make a fascinating study, my goal for high school is for my sons to have a framework of key events in a time period.

2. Being able to pull back and look at events happening in the world at the same time helped my teens to make a meaningful connection to what they’re learning.

Juniors and seniors especially have the maturity now to see that one area of history is part of a much larger piece of the history puzzle. Being able to pull back and see the broad strokes of history like the events in the U.S. and world history simultaneously works well for both a history lover and history hater.

For my history lovers, it gives them additional topics for rabbit trails. For my one history hater, (yes I can’t believe I had a child that came from me that wasn’t wild about history) he got an overview of key events without overwhelming him about details which didn’t interest him.

That is exactly why I love the way Beautiful Feet Books designs their courses. All of the benefits of teaching it to adjust to each of my teens likes and dislikes along with my need for minimal teacher prep makes it a superior high school literature program.

The Nitty-Gritty of Modern U.S. and World History Literature

I know you want the nitty-gritty like I do. Look at what this level includes and the details:

it’s designed for Junior and Senior levels of high school,
it covers American and modern world history from the 1850s into the 2000s,
you can award one American history or modern world history credit and one general literature credit,
it’s a one year study, but we go a bit longer because we school into the summer and we like to spread it out,
it is Christian-based, but as with all of their literature and questions, it’s easier than some other providers to tweak to what I want my sons to know,
these beautiful books: Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Rifles for Watie, The Red Badge of Courage, Virginia’s General, Up From Slavery, Around the World in Eighty Days, A History of the Twentieth Century, The Jungle, All Quiet on the Western Front, The Yanks are Coming, Stalin: Russia’s Man of Steel, No Promises in the Wind, To Kill a Mockingbird, Hitler, Churchill, The Hiding Place, Night, Unbroken, Victory in the Pacific, Hiroshima, Lost Names, America and Vietnam: The Elephant and the Tiger, Red Scarf Girl and The Kite Runner,
and it has a general literary analysis study. My goal was to be sure that Tiny had a general grasp on literary concepts. We used another language arts resource to enhance this one. Although literary analysis is very important to me at this age, it can be fun. For us that means learning it from books we love.

My emphasis on literary analysis leads me into another valued part of this curriculum which deserves the spotlight and it’s the Study Guide or teacher’s guide.

Modern U.S. and World History Literature Study Guide

I hesitate to call it just the teacher’s guide because at this age your teen needs to be independently delving into the Study Guide. Of course, it’s a teacher guide too.

Because the Study Guide is jam-packed full of teaching tidbits, supplements, and background information, you’ll want to take your time understanding how it’s set up.

The Study Guide is divided into five history periods:

Part I. Antebellum and the Civil War
Part II. Reconstruction, the Industrial Revolution, and the Turn of the Century
Part III. The First World War, the Depression, and Segregation
Part IV. Building Towards War, the Second World War, and the Atomic Age
Part V. The Struggle for Freedom in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries

To help your student hone his ideology and principles there are themes in each section. Some of them are:

A Study in Freedom and Responsibility,
A Study in Conviction and Triumph,
A Study in Fortitude and Forgiveness,
A Study in Ambition and Courage,
and a Study in Conscience and Fairness.

In addition to the extensive notes in the Study Guide with background information, points in each lesson guided us on each discussion.

After reading the books like Stalin: Russia’s Man of Steel or Virginia’s General: Robert E. Lee and the Civil War it made for some great discussions about topics like freedom and prejudice. I loved having the themes to guide my teen to comprehend the theme in each book which is a part he has struggled with in the past.

Because my high school kid worked on his own on part of this, I have to rely heavily on the Study Guide for the answers, questions, and some of the background information. Although it’s not easy to flip back and forth between time periods and books, you can easily with the way this is laid out.

Also, some of the books my son read right away and wanted to delve deeper into those topics. World War II is one topic that my son knows well and never gets tired of talking about. Besides reading the books in the curriculum by Albert Marrin, one of our favorite history authors, the Study Guide has more recommended books and videos in the back to feed my son’s love for the Second World War.

Yet another reason I loved using this is that we needed more help in literary analysis. I’ve never been keen on assigning book reports although I know they have a practical purpose which is to train a child to write critically in the older grades.

Because I’ve never forced Tiny to do a formal book report, but have worked on reading a lot of good books I needed to be sure he has a good grasp on literary concepts.

There are six books highlighted to use for literary analysis:

Uncle Tom’s Cabin,
The Red Badge of Courage,
To Kill a Mockingbird,
Night,
Hiroshima,
and Lost Names: Scenes from a Korean Boyhood.

Learning literary analysis should be repeated like grammar and it’s best taught in context or while using examples from literature. As an example, earlier I mentioned ideologies listed in each section. The reason this was important is because even at this grade level students can still get confused between the plot of the story and its theme.

Exposing my sons to the basic elements of fiction like plot, setting, character, point of view, mood, and theme are the foundation of literary analysis, but I wanted to be sure we touched advanced concepts as well.

In addition, there are some literary concepts that can’t be recognized until your child is older. Some figures of speech and poetry devices confuses my teen. So the books used gave him a good overall grasp of basic and advanced concepts.

It’s not necessary to break down every novel, but it’s important to choose a few to do. I try to be balanced when teaching literature analysis because I don’t want to suck the joy out of reading, but it’s important for our teens to become critical thinkers too.

Simply requiring my son to write down the term, define it, and explain it to me is a simple method, but it’s the same one I’ve used since I first taught him to read. Too, we wrote a few on index cards for review because just writing it down once didn’t mean he remembered it. Making a notebook like we have as we’ve used Beautiful Feet Books work best for us.

In addition to the literary concepts we focused on, we also chose a few of the essay topics. Essay writing was not my exact focus for him because we’ve done a lot of writing. When we wanted to, however, the Study Guide made it easy for us to choose writing topics.

The Study Guide is much more than an question and answer guide. It is the backbone at this level and it’s all-inclusive.

Our Experience with Modern U.S. and World History Literature by Beautiful Feet Books

Even at the high school level, there is no one-size-fits-all curriculum. As the parents, we still have to be involved when choosing the right curriculum for our teen.

This is my third high school teen to use Beautiful Feet Books because I love their literature and easy approach to teaching. I’ve never been disappointed with the high quality literature, guides, and help for the teacher. This level is no exception.

As the teacher, I don’t think you ever stop worrying if you’ve prepared you teen enough for whatever track you ultimately decide. However, I do know that my first two sons are doing well in college after using Beautiful Feet Book. I know my third teen is equally well-prepared.

You’ll love reading these other posts for how I used

Read about Medieval History for Middle School
Read about How to Teach Science Through A Story – Middle & High School
Read about When We Used Beautiful Feet Books as our History Spine

How to Purchase It.

►Product Name: Modern U.S. and World History pack
►Website: Beautiful Feet Books – BFBooks

Hands-On History: Helen Keller Braille and ASL Activity

January 13, 2018 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I have a fun hands-on history Helen Keller braille activity.

My eleven year old read about Helen Keller as part of his history curriculum this past fall.

He was amazed that being blind and deaf was even possible, much less that she was able to learn to communicate, read and eventually, become a motivational speaker for our nation.

Last week, he brought it up again.

Hands-On History: Helen Keller Braille and ASL Activity. If you’re looking for a fun and easy way to incorporate a hands- on idea for language arts and history while studying about Helen Keller, your kids will love this Braille & ASL activity. Click here to make it!

Helen Keller’s diligence and perseverance is what impressed him. “She just never gave up,” he said, shaking his head a bit.

You see, my son is profoundly dyslexic and still struggles with basic reading. Although he has made a ton of progress, reading continues to be a constant struggle for my little guy.

It occurred to me that this connection he felt to the historic story of Helen Keller was influencing his perception of his own abilities.

He felt so inspired witnessing the endless possibilities associated with Helen Keller’s grit and desire to learn.

Wanting to jump on this history and life lesson, I decided to layer in some additional learning by created this challenging, but fun hands-on activity.

Helen Keller Braille and ASL Activity

What You Need For This Activity:

Printables (included for your reference) – The Braille alphabet and the American Sign Language alphabet
Card Stock or Index Cards
Thumb Tacks or Push Pins

Step 1: After printing up the alphabet references, I asked my son to take a look at the patterns in the braille letter formations.

He studied them for a bit, and then I created a secret message for him in “braille” using an index card and a push pin.

Step 2: At first, he tried to run his fingers over the letters, but was not able to identify the letters, even when he used the reference sheet.

We talked about how difficult it would be to have to learn it all by touch, with no access to a cheat sheet.

Step 3: Then, he took the sheet itself and visually matched the dots to the reference. He was able to decode his message, and then created one for me to decode as well.

Easy Hands-on History Kid’s Activity

Step 4: After finishing our “braille lesson,” I grabbed a few coins.

As he closed his eyes, I placed each one in his hand and asked him to identify what coin it was, and any other writing or engravings on it.

Step 5: Now it was time to move on to the sign language alphabet.

He and I both spelled different words, using the sign language letters, back and forth to one another. We remarked how much easier it was than interpreting the braille lettering.

Step 6: Finally, we stepped into the world of Helen Keller.

He closed his eyes while I placed his hands on mine and finger spelled basic words. He did the same for me.

Step 7: The most impactful part of this activity was our recap. We discussed how it felt to have one sense removed, how difficult not being understood must be, and the amazing the story of Helen Keller.

This was a wonderful way for my son to actually experience what had fascinated him in his reading and I was so encouraged to have this level of conversation with him.

We were able to deeply discuss empathy and the power of perseverance – something not always easy to do with a middle school boy.

Best of all, we had fun!

How to Get the Free Braille & ASL Printables

Now, how to grab the freebie. It’s a subscriber freebie.

That means when you sign up to follow me, you get my emails in your inbox and you get this freebie.

1) Sign up on my email list.

2) Grab the freebie

.3) Last, look for all my emails in your inbox. Glad to have you following me!

Make history fun for your kids with these activities!

Written by Shawna at Not the Former Things.