I have posted before that I really struggled finding the right books for my daughter to “get into” I bought the usual Little House, Magic Tree House, Beverley Cleary, etc books with high hopes and she responded with little interest. The key was to have patience and not force the issue of reading and trust that she would eventually fins something she loved and if not- well, not every one is an avid reader. Last year she started finding her niche, the firs series she really loved were the Dav Pilkey’s Captain Underpants Series, which I wrote about recently.
The next book to really grab her was “Fashion Kitty” by Charise Mericle Harper. It is also a graphical novel- it stars a seemingly normal cat with an interest in fashion. When Kiki Kittie makes a wish on her eighth birthday, she becomes a superhero of sorts—Fashion Kitty, whose job it is to save other felines from making fashion faux pas. The book is a bit of a hybrid of a picture book and a graphic novel because it combines comic book panels with some pages that feature traditional illustrations.
The book inspired my daughter in all kinds of ways- to draw endless pictures of Fashion Kitty herself, make up stories- AND she learned how to do a search at Chapters on their computers- she has been eagerly await the next installment, due out this Spring. I highly recommend this series- especially for girls 7-10 years.
Posted by Lisa - Unschooling Mom as Book Recommendations, Books for 8-12 Year Olds at 9:09 PM EST
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There was an interesting thread on one of my homeschool lists recently; a new-ish unschooling mom posted that she was worried that she just wasn’t doing ” enough”. The best advice- and one that made my laugh out loud - she got was “just lie down on the living room floor and wait for the feeling to go away. ” How true! Many times I have Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Lisa - Unschooling Mom as Unschooling Philosophies and Ideas at 12:30 AM EST
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These are an EXCELLENT set of books for learning to read. The series is called the “Bob Books” by Bobby Lynn Maslen. They have 3 different sets, A, B and C and then different level within those. You should start with first set. “Bob Books First”. When my daughter wanted to start reading we ended up using these because they were so highly recommended by other homeschoolers. One reason I liked them so much as they gave my daughter feeling of accomplishment- she felt she was “really” reading and did not get frustrated or angry as she did with other early reading books and series. They rely on phonetics and feature cute drawings that both my kids loved. My girlfriend started all 4 of her kids reading with these.
I bought first set new then borrowed the rest - later I ended up buying them. The sets come with 10 little books and finger puppets. I have also seen them on ebay a few times.
Posted by Lisa - Unschooling Mom as Book Recommendations at 12:55 PM EST
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Depends on who you ask. I am not big on labels and unschooling bests describes the way we homeschool . Some uschoolers take offence and like to tell me I am not *really* unschooling . To me this smacks of the mommy-er than though attitude I come across every so often and I just nod and dismiss.
Every ones homeschooling experience will be different. One of my good friends- one I will describe as unschooling- lives in a rural area with 4 children. I live a courtyard in the suburbs and we have about a zillion kids around us. I get a lot of the negative socialization that my daughter would be even more exposed to if she were in school. Based on some of the incidents we have had on the street the last few years I think we made a very wise choice keeping her out of institutionalized learning. My girlfriends kids may be lonely for other kids to play with at times but she sure doesn’t get the awful peer pressure my daughter faces.
That same peer pressure will often be a catalyst to learn something new and she will often ask to learn something because the other kids know it and she wants to be the same. This to me is valid reason and falls in to my beliefs as unschooler and child led learning. Last week she became obsess with learning her times tables. She made up Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Lisa - Unschooling Mom as Unschooling Philosophies and Ideas at 11:37 AM EST
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Posted by Lisa - Unschooling Mom as Breastfeeding Support at 12:18 PM EST
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