What My Tween Girl Likes To Read

My twelve year old daughter loves to read. She has some favorites that she will read more than once just because she loves them so much. I love that she loves to read since I also love to read. She has read some books that I read when I was her age.

Mandie Books ~ These books are set in the state (north Carolina) we live in. I read these books when I was her age and had a couple of the books that I gave to her to read through. She got hooked, so I decided to buy the collections (there are five books in each collection) for her and to save them for future readers (my 7 year old  and hopefully granddaughters one day).

There are also a few movies that go with these books and my daughter has enjoyed watching them.

My daughter also loves books by Marguerite Henry. She has read several including Misty  of Chincoteague, Stormy, Misty’s Foal, and Brighty of the Grand Canyon.

She has also watched the Misty movie and enjoyed it. She wanted to know if there were more movies for any of these books and I found out there are some, but they are hard to find (especially on DVD). She loves anything that has to do with horses.

Some other books she ahs read and enjoyed are classics. Anne of Green Gables and Little Women are at the top.  She has also read The Secret Garden and several Little House on the Prairie books. We go to our local library sale whenever they have it (usually two times per year) and she picks out several books that she thinks she would like to read. The majority of the books she picks out are animal related. She loves animals and will read anything that has animals in it.

I just wanted to make a list of a few of her favorites in case you are looking for something for your tween daughter to read.

God Schooling ~ Book Review

I enjoy reading books and having been homeschooling for thirteen years now, I have realized that I still do not have all the answers. The book, God Schooling: How God Intended Children to Learn by Julie Polanco, is a great book to encourage you through your homeschool journey.

Julie Polanco is a homeschool mother who is active in the women’s ministry and worship team at her church.

God Schooling: How God Intended Children to Learn is a short, 158 page book that can be easily read in a few sittings. The chapters include the following:

1. Biblical Support for Natural Learning
2. Motivation & Excellence
3. Thoughts on Teaching Children Under Age Eight
4. Thoughts on Teaching Children Aged Eight to Twelve
5. Giving Teens the Wings to Fly
6. Spreading the Banquet
7. Getting Started
8. Some Q & A
9. Record-Keeping and Structure

I enjoyed reading through this book even though I have been homeschooling many years, I was still able to find some things that were interesting. All of my children are different and have achieved different things at different ages. It was comforting to read that some children have difficulty reading until a later age. My seven year old has been having a difficult time, but seeing that the author’s children all learned to read at different ages was comforting. Another area of the book that I liked was having some study questions at the end of each chapter. It helped to get me thinking on what I could change. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is just starting to homeschool or even someone who has been homeschooling for many years. Everyone can learn something!

If you are interested in reading God Schooling, you can get the ebook for haf price until August 22.

Upcoming Reviews

We are working through a new workbook for Reading Eggs.

We will also begin to read these new books by Matt Koceich.

Scripture and a Snapshot

Reviews ~ What's Still Working?

Over the past several years, we have reviewed many items. Some of them have only been used during the review period and some we are still using. I was introduced to Apologia science during my first year on the crew and we have stuck with the company. My oldest son is actually going through the Advanced Chemistry book this year. He loves that he learns so much from these science books and I know they are helping him prepare for college as he wants to be a biologist.

Another one we have reviewed in the past and recently reviewed is Home School in the Woods products. My children love the hands-on approach of this product and I am beginning to use it with my youngest.

And one more that we are still enjoying is the Traditional Spelling that we reviewed this past spring. My youngest loved this spelling and we are getting back to it after having taken a break from school. I plan to continue with Traditional Spelling II after we complete the first one.

I just wanted to share a few products that we were introdueced to during my time on the Homeschool Crew and let you know what is still working for us.

Home School in the Woods ~ Review

While we have reviewed different items from Home School in the Woods in the past, I wanted to try something designed for my youngest daughter. I have not done much history with her and this was the perfect way to introduce her to some history while learning about a man from history who is interesting. This lap-pak is also geared for children in grades K-2nd grade where as the other products we have reviewed have been for the older kids. We spent the last several weeks learning about Benjamin Franklin from the Hands-on History Lap-Paks collection.

Home School in the Woods is a hands-on history company that offers several different products. The lap-pak collection offers a way to spend time on one topic through the process of making a lap book along with a text booklet. The student is able to focus on one topic and learn more about the person, place, or thing.

The Benjamin Franklin lap-pak has everything you and your child need to make a wonderful lap book and read a story with the text booklet that is included.  Your child learns more about Benjamin Franklin’s life, family, and what he learned while growing up. There are twelve hands-on projects to complete that include the following:

• The Franklin Family
• Leather Apron Trades
• Ben Franklin, the Printer
• Printer’s Type
• Ben, the Good Citizen
• Poor Richard’s Almanack
• Franklin’s Inventions
• Benjamin Flies a Kite
• Documents
• Vocabulary
• Pocket of Virtues
• A Timeline of Ben Franklin’s Life

As with all downloadable products, the lap-pak does take some time to print out and read through the instructions. After I had printed all of the pages, I organized them  in the way I was going to use them with my daughter. I know this product is to be made into a lapbook, but we like to do the pages and place them onto construction paper and put them into a three pronged folder to make a book project. The page shown below is how my daughter wanted to show the printing press page. She said “the label should be on the same page and just flip up so we can see the picture.”

We have done each section like the one above and have used more than one page if things didn’t fit just right. My daughter liked going through and coloring the pages and cutting them out and putting them together on different colors of construction paper. She liked making a book and making it her own way.

The only con I have with using these products is the time it takes to print out and figure out how everything is to go together. I love the hands-on approach and I think my children do learn more when they are doing the projects.  My daughter soaked up the information and learned a lot of great things from Benjamin Franklin’s life. I also learned some things about Benjamin Franklin that I did not know about. I also helped my daughter with some of the coloring and it was fun to have a one on one time with her while we were both learning.

Overall, I highly recommend Home School in the Woods for your hands-on history needs.

Be sure to check out their newest product on Ancient Rome.