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How To Use Books To Teach History and Social Studies

So I’ve had this post planned for quite some time now but do you know what keeps me from blogging more? It is my lack of creativity. I can’t come up with catchy titles and I don’t have the skill of taking pretty photos so I let that deter me from writing. I have the knowledge and content in my head but lack the pretty way to present it. I need to let that go and get all the things in my head down! So if you’re looking for a pretty blog, this is probably not it but I hope to provide you good content!

What I want to share with you today is an incredibly cost effective and interesting way to teach your kids about history and social studies. BOOKS! If you have a library card you can go a long way to teaching your kids about history, especially your young kids. I know so many people worry that they have to know a lot or spend lots of money on big curriculum to be able to homeschool but that is simply not the case. Even when I was teaching, for the most part for Social Studies we would read from the textbook, discuss and answer questions. We do that with library books here at my house and the girls don’t even know we are learning. They ask for these books all the time, not just during school!

These books are totally applicable as read alouds for non homeschoolers as well!

Who HQ Book Series

These books are phenomenal! They are all approximately 10 short chapters and the perfect amount of information for young kids. Both my 6 and 8 year olds love them. The books give a general overview of the lives of many different well-known people, places or things from history (or even the present). They typically begin with the birth of the person, touch on their childhood and then focus on what they are known for. There are hundreds of these books available. They are less than $8 to purchase on Amazon and also available through your library. I purchase the ones I know we will want to keep and order the rest through the library. We have all had different favourites so far but we all LOVED Helen Keller! I can’t wait to read the one about the Paralympic games and Steve Irwin. Hailey has loved so many she can’t pick a favourite! Sophie liked Sacagewa the best so far and is really excited for me to read the one on Serena and Venus Williams. There are people from different eras in history and different walks of life. Reading Maya Angelou gave us a really good jumping off point to discuss racial issues as that booked talked about the segregated seating on busses back then.

Conversation is such a huge part of history and social studies. We need to talk with our children about the things we read and why it is important for us to know that as well as how it impacts us today. Why do we need to know about racial segregation in movie theatres and busses? Well, I think at this time in history we can see that it’s important to understand what different people groups have gone through and why they may have the feelings they have. Knowing and understanding history should help us to not make the same mistakes twice and to appreciate where we have come from and how things have improved.

I can’t recommend these books enough, even if you aren’t homeschooling. Don’t leave all of these important conversations to the teachers to have with your children. These are short reads and will be awesome conversation starting points for you to have with your kids!

HEroes For Young Readers Series

We recently discovered this series as well, all based on different noteworthy Christians. These are the younger child equivalent to the Christian Heroes: Then & Now series (which I am also excited to read). These younger version books are hard covered, illustrated on each page and written in rhyme. They are a one sitting read, no chapters or anything. My girls absolutely love these books! So far their favourite is definitely Bethany Hamilton although Hailey really enjoyed Amy Carmichael as well. I think they are all easy to listen to, quick to read, catchy and interesting. They all highlight the good each person did for people and for God throughout their lifetime.

To be honest, I have not checked my library yet for these as I wanted to own them. I have just been slowly acquiring more through Amazon. I keep them in our morning time basket and often read one when we finish our Bible time.

Christian Heroes: Then and Now

These are not pictured in the above photo, but I wanted to make sure I mentioned them as they are also an awesome addition to read alouds for history and social studies. I have the book about George Muller here just waiting to be read to the girls. If Sophie was my oldest I would not read this series yet. I know Hailey would enjoy it but I am torn if I should wait for Soph to be a little older and that’s why I haven’t read this one yet. But for anyone with older kids, these are phenomenal. I want to read them all myself to learn more about the lives of these amazing people.

Let the conversation flow when you are reading these books. Don’t be stuck to a timeline and getting through the book quickly. Let the kids ask questions, look up the answers you don’t know, follow any rabbit trail it may lead you on. For instance, my kids became intrigued by Braille after we read about Helen Keller. I ordered a bunch of books on Louis Braille, we watched videos on both him and Helen Keller, and I ordered books actually in Braille so they could check it out. Let those inquistive minds inquire!

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About Me

Hi I am Kristin Stewart. I consider myself so lucky to be a homeschool mommy! Before I was a mother, I was a teacher in both public and Christian boards and I loved teaching so much. However, once my first daughter was born I knew God was calling me to be at home with her. So when it was time for her to start school, homeschooling was a natural fit for us. Read More…

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Kristin Stewart
Talking about the books I got for my girls (8 and Talking about the books I got for my girls (8 and 6) for our upcoming 10 day road trip in my stories today if you need ideas.
We love using our big 100 floor chart for math. Us We love using our big 100 floor chart for math. Used it for adding 10 for grade 1 math and now skip counting review visual for grade 3 math.
Thank you so much for joining me here in the is li Thank you so much for joining me here in the is little space and joining me in the conversation about homeschool, faith and intentionally raising our kids.  I am so thankful for the friendships and the love you’ve shown me and my family this year.  See you in 2021! Happy new year!
Walking and seeing the hoarfrost never gets old. D Walking and seeing the hoarfrost never gets old.
Due to lots of upheaval over the next few months, I’m starting a slow launch with math tomorrow. We can’t get behind in math as I don’t want to school through the summer!! 

(I know..behind isn’t a thing in homeschool but I have certain goals for math I like to reach!)
Read this for the first time tonight and it might Read this for the first time tonight and it might be my fave ever
Sophie and I loved this book but be warned, it’s Sophie and I loved this book but be warned, it’s like 30 pages and the pages are covered in text. We started for bedtime last night without knowing how long it was so had to finish it this morning. 
A heart warming story about an orphan girl, a doll no one wants and a kind police man and his wife. Beautiful photos and endearing story.
Such a heart warming story about a boy who gives a Such a heart warming story about a boy who gives a sweater to a man who needs it and then at the end all his family comes through for him as well. I don’t want to give the story away but we love this one! It’s a longer one, but such a beautiful story! 

I know I’m slacking! I never wrote my blog post on these. (Sorry Mandy!) Lots has been going on here that I had no control over. I’ll get to it soon!
This is a very silly little interactive book. If y This is a very silly little interactive book. If you’re familiar with the other crayons book you’ll know the humour. This one comes with little paper dolls and built in envelopes and lots of fun extras. A very silly little Christmas story about a box of crayons.
A sweet little book about how Santa got his reinde A sweet little book about how Santa got his reindeer. We really enjoyed it.
One of our favourites! This is a sweet little stor One of our favourites! This is a sweet little story about a mouse who can’t find a house his size so he drags the people out of the nativity to use the manger. But the humans keep setting it back up!  Then he hears the Christmas story and realizes there had been no room for Jesus in the inn so he drags all the statues back into the stable and gives Jesus the manger. Then the mouse ends up finding a gingerbread house to live in. Very cute little story that also reminds us of the reason for the season.
This is the bookshelf in my 8 year olds room. Thes This is the bookshelf in my 8 year olds room. These are all chapter books she’s read on her own. She also frequently goes and grabs books we have used for read aloud from our family shelf (Roald Dahl, Mrs piggle wiggle, etc). She’s going to go on in my stories later today to talk about her faves but this gives you an overview of what’s on her shelves.  She has typical 8 year old interests but reads far above grade level.  I would think most of these would be able to be read by any grade 3 student.  She will show inside some in stories a little later.
Such an adorable book! Perfect kids missing their Such an adorable book! Perfect kids missing their grandparents. A little girl is missing her grandpa and a reindeer flies her to deliver the card and then brings her back. Beautiful illustrations and flaps to open. I flipped through it in my stories.
Such an awesome and unique story from the perspect Such an awesome and unique story from the perspective of a boy who’s father made and sold myrrh and how they ended up selling it to the wise men to bring to Jesus.  I think it shows beautifully how even working diligently at your work behind the scenes brings honour to God
This is just a cute little story about reindeer bu This is just a cute little story about reindeer but it also has cut out, peep through parts on some pages that the kids think are fun. It’s mostly in grey and white but a quick, short, cute read
❤️ ❤️
This is a sweet book written about a little Inuit This is a sweet book written about a little Inuit girl and based in Iqaluit, Nunavut. It’s a version of the 3 bears but with polar bears. It’s a cute story with beautiful illustrations that the girls loved so much.
I decided to share a book * daily * (when I get to I decided to share a book * daily * (when I get to it) and will put together a blog post as well. 
This is a cute little book about a man who gets tree that is too big so he cuts the top off and puts it outside and someone else grabs it, does the same, and so on and so forth until it ends up coming full circle with a little mouse family in the old mans house.  Just a cute little story the girls really enjoyed.
Sometimes I wonder if my teacher friends feel like Sometimes I wonder if my teacher friends feel like I’ve lost my mind, or sold out or something. Not that what people think would ever sway what I do, but I do wonder. And I always wish they’d have a conversation with me about it. Because I was extremely anti-homeschool as a teacher, so I guess in that way I’ve changed. But really, I just became educated about homeschooling. My love for, and thoughts about, education never changed. In the classroom I saw each child as an individual and I worked myself to the ground trying to reach each one; trying to figure out the best way for that individual to learn, trying to fill gaps that I hadn’t made, trying to install a love for learning. Trying to be a support for my students. And I know so many other teachers doing that every day. And I still am too. Just at home with my own kids. My ability or desire to educate hasn’t changed. So when you see me saying we made cards instead of math, you don’t have to think I’m tossing aside their learning. They’ll still do all they need to do this year for their grade level, and most likely more.  It takes far less time in a day to properly teach 2 children then to teach 25+. I don’t lose even a single moment sleep wondering about the quality of their education. 
But I also get the beauty of not handing off their character training. I get to mold them and shape them. I get to walk them through their arguments and attitudes and help build their character. I get to teach them daily that you can be kind to someone (your sister) even when they aren’t kind back. I get to teach them to think for themselves and to follow their interests. I can remind them to work diligently at all they do, as working for the Lord not men. And I get to remind them that I care way more about the character they have than they grades they have. 
I’m still pro education! I still feel like I’m working hard along side teachers with the same goal. I’m just obeying Gods calling on how to use my skill, as I trust you are. 
So if you have questions or assumptions about homeschool, ask me! I am not offended, I’m an open book, and I’m extremely confident in what we’re doing here.  Tired yes, but also confident. ❤️
My husband attended a death on his job recently th My husband attended a death on his job recently that left a man in his 80s living alone with no family in town. We decided to bring him a meal tonight. The girls asked who I was cooking for and when I told them, they wanted to make him drawings to “lift his spirits” they said. So instead of math, they made pictures. Some things are just bigger than us and more important than practicing our mental math facts. This afternoon I’m a little teary and just so dang proud to be their mama.  Needed this reminder of the goodness of their hearts amidst all the character training moments lately. ❤️❤️ Dont forget the good inside your kiddos. ❤️
The most recent post on my blog is a review of the The most recent post on my blog is a review of the company CrossTimber gifts who makes these name plaques and these worksheets based around a name
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