Resources for Introducing the Orchestra

I've listed a few books about introducing your children to the orchestra above. But Mary has so many wonderful ideas for incorporating the orchestra into your studies already.

And her newest resource in the SQUILT family, Meet the Instruments: Explore the Orchestra is a beautiful way to introduce your children to the orchestra. Get these cards and you'll have just what you need.

Weekly memory work, math lessons, handwriting practice, spelling lessons… these are all parts of our homeschool. They each are important and bring their own kind of rhythm and beauty to our days.

But good children’s literature makes our homeschool days so enjoyable.

I use children’s literature to bring history, science, art, math, and English grammar to life. I use it to teach them about current events, why we celebrate certain holidays, etc.

We visit our local library weekly and, thanks to Amazon Prime, frequently order books from Amazon to bring good children’s books into our homeschool.

I’m sharing my children’s literature selections for January with you in hopes some of these children’s books will help you on your homeschool journey.

This list of children’s literature for January includes picture books and chapter books:

Books that coincide with Classical Conversations memory work
Books related to the Presidents, the Inauguration, the White House, and the Supreme Court
A book about clocks and calendars to discuss as we begin a new calendar year
Books about Martin Luther King, Jr.
Books about kindness to encourage good character
Chapter books for independent reading like the Bible stories that are retold in the The Passages series of Adventures in Odyssey chapter books. My ten year old is enjoying this series already.

While I would love to just sit down and read all of these books with my children, I don’t have that much time.

I do plan to read many of these books alongside my children, as read-alouds, primarily in our morning basket time. But others will be books they read independently. Others will be reference type books that we refer to as we are discussing our CC memory work, events and holidays, etc. Still others might inspire projects that we complete this month.

Children's Literature for January

You Wouldn't Want to Live Without Clocks and Calendars!The Industrial Revolution for Kids: The People and Technology That Changed the World, with 21 Activities (For Kids series)Kids During the Industrial Revolution (Kids Throughout History)My Brother Martin: A Sister Remembers Growing Up with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.Martin's Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.Who Was Martin Luther King, Jr.?As Good as Anybody Martin Luther King and Abraham Joshua Heschels Amazing March Toward Freedom by Michelson, Richard [Knopf,2008] (Hardcover)The Story of Eli Whitney Archie's War The Night Flyers War Horse Soldier Dog Stubby the Dog Soldier: World War I Hero (Animal Heroes)See Inside the First World War (Usborne See Inside)World War I for Kids: A History with 21 Activities (For Kids series)World War I: An Interactive History Adventure (You Choose: History)DK Eyewitness Books: World War I Who Was Isaac Newton?Isaac Newton and the Laws of Motion (Inventions and Discovery)Newton and Me What Is the World Made Of?: All About Solids, Liquids, and Gases (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 2)Change It!: Solids, Liquids, Gases and You (Primary Physical Science)Lazily, Crazily, Just a Bit Nasally: More About Adverbs (Words Are Categorical)If You Were a Verb (Word Fun)To Root, to Toot, to Parachute: What Is a Verb? (Words are Categorical)Slide and Slurp, Scratch and Burp: More About Verbs (Words Are Categorical)Measuring Penny Millions to Measure Rembrandt and the Boy Who Drew Dogs: A story about Rembrandt van Rijn Where is the Frog?: A Children's Book Inspired by Claude Monet The Magical Garden of Claude Monet (Anholt's Artists Books for Children)Ordinary Mary's Extraordinary Deed Have You Filled a Bucket Today?: A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids (Bucketfilling Books)How Full Is Your Bucket? For Kids So You Want to Be President?: The Revised and Updated Edition Smart About the Presidents (Smart About History)Smart About the First Ladies: Smart About History Marshall, the Courthouse Mouse: A Tail of the U. S. Supreme Court Democracy's Big Day: The Inauguration of Our President, 1789-2013 Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out The White House: A Pop-Up of Our Nation's Home By Paul McCusker Darien's Rise (Passages 1: From Adventures in Odyssey) [Paperback]Annison's Risk (Adventures in Odyssey Passages Manuscript 3)Glennall's Betrayal (Passages 4: From Adventures in Odyssey)

And... to make your life just that much easier, click here or on the image below to download the free printable version of this list!

Free Printable Children's Literature List for January from Homegrown Learners

As you look over this list of children’s literature for January, do you see some you could use to enrich your homeschool?

Go ahead and put them on your library list or purchase them for your own library.

Meet a New Contributor to Homegrown Learners:

I want to introduce you to my friend, Amy.... Amy will be contributing here from time to time. Specifically, Amy will be sharing book recommendations with you each month.

I am so excited she is bringing her grace and wisdom to the blog. I know you will enjoy her! ~ Mary

Hi! My name is Amy. I’m a homeschooling mom to two sweet kiddos, wife to the principal of our homeschool, director of a local homeschool co-op, book junkie of sorts, and Jesus-lover.

When my first child was born over 10 years ago and then my second almost four years later, I was working full time outside the home in corporate America. Those preschool years with my children were precious, but I desperately wanted to be at home with them instead of separated from them most of the day. Thankfully, God led us to the homeschool path.

Amy Matkovich - Homegrown Learners contributor

I have a business degree in Economics and have held various corporate positions including IT Project Manager and Solutions Architect. Transitioning from working with adults and IT systems all day to being a full-time homeschool mom certainly brought its challenges. But I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Homeschooling has been an answer to prayer for our family.

Our homeschool style is primarily Classical, influenced by Charlotte Mason and plenty of good books. My goal is to provide a literature-rich, engaging, environment that inspires my children to read, to learn, and to grow in knowledge and character.

While I treasure the at-home time with my children, snuggled up reading our latest book finds, I enjoy the time we are able to connect with other homeschooling families. As the director of our homeschool co-op, one of my favorite parts of the job is fellowship and sharing encouragement with other homeschool parents.

I’m thrilled to be blogging here at Homegrown Learners sharing our homeschool journey with you. Join me in learning about good books, sharing ideas for enriching homeschool experiences, and lots of encouragement along the way.

Children's Literature for February