Honesty, Sanity, and Self-Restraint

Levi is studying American Documents this year through the Classical Conversations Challenge program. This essay, The Man with the Muck Rake, written in 1906 by Theodore Roosevelt was assigned for this week. I ditched the school schedule and the teen and I had a deep and invigorating 2.5 hour discussion on politics, social media, and virtue. Today I dropped off our ballots with a sense of peace.

Just a few quotes, though much more of the essay is quote-worthy:

"At the risk of repetition let me say again that my plea is not for immunity to, but for the most unsparing exposure of, the politician who betrays his trust, of the big business man who makes or spends his fortune in illegitimate or corrupt ways. There should be a resolute effort to hunt every such man out of the position he has disgraced. Expose the crime, and hunt down the criminal; but remember that even in the case of crime, if it is attacked in sensational, lurid, and untruthful fashion, the attack may do more damage to the public mind than the crime itself."

"It is a prime necessity that if the present unrest is to result in permanent good the emotion shall be translated into action, and that the action shall be marked by honesty, sanity, and self-restraint."

"The first requisite in the public servants who are to deal in this shape with corporations, whether as legislators or as executives, is honesty. This honesty can be no respecter of persons. There can be no such thing as unilateral honesty."

"But in addition to honesty, we need sanity. No honesty will make a public man useful if that man is timid or foolish, if he is a hot-headed zealot or an impracticable visionary."

"More important than aught else is the development of the broadest sympathy of man for man."

"The foundation stone of national life is, and ever must be, the high individual character of the average citizen."

 

Honesty, sanity, self-restraint. High individual character.

I could vote for that.

31 Days of Book Detectives ~ Day 21: The Boy Who Loved to Draw

[Click here to read other posts in the series.]

The Boy Who Loved to Draw is a picture book biography of the very first world-famous American artist, Benjamin West. Children who enjoy this story may enjoy the longer entertaining biography Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin by Marguerite Henry, acclaimed author of Misty of Chincoteague.

Benjamin West has a talent and a deep desire for drawing and painting, but the Quaker family and society into which he is born is very practical and Benjamin’s drawing leads him into mischief! Will they come to understand and value his abilities?

[This picture book includes three small reproductions of Benjamin West’s art, including his first painting, painted at age ten!]

Crime Scene [Setting]

Where?

Pennsylvania

West household

Real world, true story

When?

Colonial America

Mid-1700s, before the Revolutionary War

Benjamin’s whole boyhood

Suspects [Characters]

Who?

Benjamin West—young boy, loved to draw and paint, very talented, a little mischievous

The West family (Mama, Papa, John, Thomas, Samuel, Joseph, Rachel, Sarah, Hannah, Mary, and Elizabeth)—Quakers, stern

Baby Sally

Gray Wolf—Lanape “Indian,” lived in wigwam, sold baskets, kind and helpful

Grimalkin the cat

31 Days of Book Detectives ~ Day 18: How I Learned Geography

[Click here to read other posts in the series.]

Yesterday I shared a book illustrated by Uri Shulevitz. Today’s Book Detectives selection, How I Learned Geography, is illustrated and written by Shulevitz.

I love this one. I really do.

It’s brightly-colored. It’s short.

It’s profound and inspiring.

And it’s a true story of a little boy torn from his home by the devastation of war—a true story about a hunger that bread cannot satisfy.

The best part is the final page of the book where the author tells his history, of fleeing Poland in 1939 and moving all over the world. He tells us that the story takes place when he is four or five years old and living in Turkestan. He also shares a picture of himself in Turkestan at the age of seven, a beautiful map of Africa that he drew at the age of ten, and a drawing of the marketplace in Turkestan that he drew from memory at the age of thirteen (while living in Paris).

Readers discover that Uri knows, from personal experience, that knowledge feeds the imagination for a lifetime. He grew up to become an award-winning author and artist.

Few picture books are written in 1st person, so this may be a good book to use for a point of view discussion.

Crime Scene [Setting]

Where?

“Far, far east, where summers were hot and winters were cold, to a city of houses made of clay, straw, and camel dung, surrounded by dusty steppes, burned by the sun.”

(City of Turkestan, in what is now Kazakhstan)

Small room, dirt floor, with strangers and no toys or books.

Marketplace/Bazaar

Real world

Imagination—burning deserts, sandy beaches, snowy mountains, wondrous temples, fruit groves, cities)

When?

1939, after Hitler invaded Poland (the Warsaw blitz), at the beginning of WWII before the U.S. entered the war.

Suspects [Characters]

Who?

Father—Wise

Mother—Hungry, worried, bitter about the map

Uri—Hungry, curious, imaginative, artistic

 

31 Days of Book Detectives ~ Day 14: The Yellow Star

[Click here to read other posts in the series.]

The Yellow Star: The Legend of King Christian X of Denmark is only a legend, but it is a powerful one. Beautifully written and illustrated, this tale of courage and honor and ingenuity inspires any reader, child or adult, to ask what if? The author includes helpful notes at the back of the book regarding the veracity of the legend as well as historical information about the Nazi occupation of Denmark during World War II. The Yellow Star could serve as an introduction to the excellent middle grade fiction story Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. Children may be inspired to create their own yellow stars.

Crime Scene [Setting]

Where?

Copenhagen, Denmark, Europe

When?

During the reign of King Christian X

1940

During the Nazi occupation of Denmark during World War II

(Before the U.S. entered WWII)

Suspects [Characters]

Who?

King Christian X—honored and beloved by the people of Denmark, courageous, honorable, kind, wise

Danes—loyal to their king and to their fellow countrymen, united

Nazis—full of war and hate

 

31 Days of Book Detectives ~ Day 5: Seeker of Knowledge

[Read the Introduction to this 31 Days series here.]

[Read a little more about our analysis process here.]

Seeker of Knowledge: The Man Who Deciphered Egyptian Hieroglyphs is the perfect length for reading aloud at a Book Detectives meeting. It’s a fascinating biographical story, blending history (ancient and modern) and literature with wonderful illustrations. If you’re wanting to add a craft to your Book Detectives meeting, this story is begging for a hieroglyph art project!

Crime Scene [Setting]

Where?

Paris, France [house, roof]

Egypt (Rosetta), Nile River

Real world

When?

Champollion’s whole life (40 years)

Born 1790 (George Washington, French Revolution, Napoleon) [Fair warning: CC students will be breaking into song…]

True historical story

Suspects [Characters]

Who?

Jean-Francois Champollion—seeker of knowledge, loved ancient languages, obsessive, passionate, young

Brother—encouraging and helpful

Englishmen

Napoleon—wanted to dominate world, fascinated by Egypt

31 Days of Book Detectives ~ Day 4: Temple Cat

[Read the Introduction to this 31 Days series here.]

[Read a little more about our analysis process here.]

Temple Cat is a simple picture book, perfect for younger ages or for beginning-level analysis. It is short and the illustrations are rich.

Authorship: Some kids may be familiar with a chapter book by the author, Frindle, which is one of the books discussed in Deconstructing Penguins. I try to point out other books by the author or share a bit about his or her life if possible.

The protagonist in this story isn’t a typical protagonist. When animals are the main character in a story, the character who needs or wants something, they are usually given human traits. They talk. They think. They have human emotions or needs or desires. When we are discussing the conflict, I remind kids that “man” (as in “man vs. society”) means hu-man, as in a character with human traits. It can be an animal or a boy or a woman or even a thing that has been personified, such as a toy. In Temple Cat, however, the cat is most definitely a normal cat and not a human (or a god)—but that is the point of the story!

Crime Scene [Setting]

Where?

Neba, Egypt

Temple—formal, regal, shiny, glamorous, magnificent, somber, boring

Seashore

Fisherman’s Hut—enjoyable, delicious, plain, tiny, humble, comfortable

Real World

When?

Ancient Egypt

Whole life—from the time he was a tiny kitten

3-4 days of traveling

Suspects [Characters]

Who?

Cat—Egyptians think he is a god, he acts like a cat, does not talk but thinks and feels and wants

Servants, priests, Egyptians—worship and spoil cat

Fisherman and children—love cat

31 Days of Book Detectives ~ Day 3: Gilgamesh the King

[Read the Introduction to this 31 Days series here.]

[Read a little more about our analysis process here.]

Gilgamesh is the second oldest recorded fiction story in the world, also originating from the city of Uruk in the ancient civilization of Sumer. Gilgamesh the King, retold and illustrated by Ludmila Zeman, is the first in a trilogy of gorgeous, simple picture books, a perfect length for reading aloud at a book club meeting.

I found the conflict a little more difficult to identify in this story. Gilgamesh wants to be the most powerful person in the world, but what he needs is a friend. He is battling his own nature, but he also fights Enkidu for supremacy. And, clearly, the people of the city also need mercy. The battle between Gilgamesh and Enkidu is the turning point for all of these, though, and it symbolically takes place on the great wall. Gilgamesh does not get what he wants but he gets what he needs, and the people also get what they need and want as a result.

Crime Scene [Setting]

Where?

Land of Mesopotamia

Great city of Uruk—dazzling, beautiful, great wall

Forest—lush and full of animals

(The location is a real place, but at least part of the story is mythology.)

When?

“Long ago”

Ancient civilization of Sumer

Suspects [Characters]

Who?

Gilgamesh—King, sent by the Sun God to rule Uruk, part god and part man, looked human but didn’t know how to be human, had power and wealth but was alone, bitter and cruel

People—overworked and hungry, in despair

Enkidu—sent by the Sun God, made from clay of the earth, strong as Gilgamesh, wild creature-man, lived with the animals in the forest, kind

Shamhat—woman, musician, beautiful, loved by all, tender and kind

[FYI: The author has altered the story in order to avoid the graphic nature of the original. This picture book is appropriate for younger ages. There is one page that some parents may take issue with, however. The illustration shows Enkidu and Shamhat kissing and reads, “In the days that followed, Shamhat taught him to speak and to sing and she fell in love with him. They explored the ways of love together and Enkidu promised he would stay with her always.”]

31 Days of Book Detectives ~ Day 2: Lugalbanda

[Read the Introduction to this 31 Days series here.]

We have jumped in the “Way Back” time machine and returned to ancient history this fall in our homeschool, so it is fitting to kick off this Book Detectives series with a few ancient literature selections.

Lugalbanda is about as ancient as it gets. It is the oldest recorded fictional story, dating from 2400 BC (hundreds of years before the earliest text of Gilgamesh). This is a long picture book retelling, with lovely color illustrations on each two-page spread. It also contains six pages of excellent historical notes by way of introduction and conclusion.

In our Book Detectives meetings, once we’ve read the story, we begin discussion by exposing our “crime scene” and “suspects,” in keeping with our detective theme from Deconstructing Penguins.

Our “crime scene” is the setting, and our “detective tools” are the questions where? and when? I often ask specific questions from the extensive Socratic List in the Teaching the Classics syllabus, such as: “What is the mood or atmosphere of the place where the story happens? Is it cheerful and sunny, or dark and bleak? Is the setting a real or imaginary place? Does the story take place in a particular era? In what season? Over what period of time?

Our “suspects” are the characters in the story, and our main question tools are who? and what?  Who are they? What are they like? Man or animal? How old? What (quality) adjectives describe them?

When we’ve exposed our setting and characters, we move on to the plot chart. We usually identify the protagonist at the end of the exposition, when the first sign of trouble begins and causes the rising action. We identify the protagonist by asking Who wants or needs something? What is holding them back?

We then fill out the rest of the plot (rising action, climax, denouement, and conclusion) before writing in the conflict and finally discussing the theme. The plot is the specific, concrete details of the story and the theme is the universal, abstract ideas we take away from the story. Adam Andrews of Teaching the Classics says that the theme is different from a moral, and stories can say something about an abstract idea without giving the reader a moral conclusion (particularly in more complex works of literature). But children’s stories often lend themselves to specific moral lessons, and the kids often come up with one on their own.

My short disclaimer: I do not claim to have the “right answers.” These notes are merely my own interpretation (and those of the kids participating in discussion) of the clues in the text. Just as two detectives at a crime scene may come up with different conclusions based on the evidence, my interpretation may not match another reader’s.

Crime Scene [Setting]

Where?

Uruk—a Sumerian city-state in southern Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq). A great city with brick buildings and paved streets

Zabu Mountains “where the cypress trees grow”

Lullubu Mountains “where no cypress trees grow”

Aratta—a legendary city with great artists and fine crafted objects, metals and precious stones

When?

“A very long time ago.” Before 2400 BC. A time when people worshipped nature as gods.

The main part of the story happened over a year’s time, roughly.

[This was the culture in which Abram of the Bible lived.]

Suspects [Characters]

Who?

King Enmerkar—powerful ruler of Uruk, proud, jealous

Many gods

Inana—the greatest of all the gods, goddess of love and war, the evening star, chooser of kings and fates, home in Uruk

Lugalbanda—young and weak, loved and admired his brothers more than anything in the world, brave

Brothers—young men in the prime of life, princes, commanders in the king’s army, loving toward Lugalbanda

Anzu bird—gigantic, terrible monster of the skies, teeth of a shark, talons of an eagle

We usually don’t cover literary devices in our Book Detectives meetings due to time limitations, but this retelling of Lugalbanda contains wonderful examples of alliteration, similes, metaphors, repetition of phrases, imagery, personification, and more. For IEW students, this is great material for identifying dress-ups and decorations.

“For days men flocked to the city in answer to the king’s call. They covered the ground like a heavy fog and stirred up a cloud of dust so big it whirled up into the sky. Their shields clattered. Their spears spiked the air. They stormed through the fields of barley that surrounded the city and crossed the plains like a herd of wild bulls. And Lugalbanda went with them.”

“War won’t wait.”

“In the Lullubu Mountains, where no cypress trees grow, where no snakes slither and no scorpions scurry, where the little prince slept and the night was dark, the multicolored mountain of the goddess Inana rises like a tower higher than all the others. At its top grows a tree so big its branches cloak the mountain slopes in shade and its roots drink like snakes from the seven mouths of the rivers far below.”

Back to Ancient History (and Classical Conversations, Cycle 1)

 

We are finishing up Modern history this summer and preparing to hop in the “Way Back Machine” in the fall. We get to return to Ancient history! [This marks the beginning of my 3rd tour through history!]

After much consideration and a few years of experience, I’ve chosen option #5 from this post exploring ways to integrate Classical Conversations history sentence memorization and The Story of the World. This means that we study world history chronologically by reading all four volumes of The Story of the World over a period of three years, roughly corresponding to the CC history sentences memory work in Foundations and more closely corresponding to the themed writing in Essentials. The beauty of this schedule is that my kids will go through world history twice during 1st – 6th grades (once as a light introduction with some picture books and a second time as an in-depth study with integrated writing) before beginning the Challenge program in 7th grade.

CC Foundations cycle 1 history sentences cover a broad range of civilizations and geographical regions from ancient to modern, only roughly chronologically due to the various lengths of time each civilization was flourishing (and a few of the sentences really jump around on the timeline because they are grouped by geographical region rather than chronologically). We’ll be focusing on the ancient civilizations for our in-depth studies, but we’ll be placing each one of the history sentences along with the facts from the history timeline (which students memorize in full from ancients to modern every year) in our new timeline book.

I am tutoring an Essentials class this year, and both Luke and Leif will be joining me. So we will using the Ancient History-Based Writing Lessons from IEW and writing papers using literature selections from and non-fiction sources about Sumer, Egypt, Israel, Babylon, Greece, and Rome.

Our last time through the Ancients, I posted an extensive list of literature selections, so I’ll focus on mostly non-fiction books and resources for Ancient history and geography in this post. I’ll share our resources for cycle 1 math, science, Latin, English grammar, and fine arts in an upcoming post.

If you wish to read Our Big-Picture Educational Scope and Sequence Integrated with Classical Conversations, check out this link. It covers our progression in all subjects from Pre-K through 6th grade.

Honestly, our children are so blessed to have so many excellent books and resources available to them in this day and age. This list could have been much longer, and I know there are many other beautiful, informative, fascinating, or hilarious books out there that we don’t have (yet, ha!)! This is a wide range of books from simple picture books to longer chapter books. Some are serious. Some are meant to be funny and entertaining. I prefer a wide variety!

[I do not formally schedule or read aloud most of these books. I set them out when we are covering that civilization or time period and the boys grab them and read independently whenever they have time or I tell them it’s time to read. I’ve had these books out in stacks this past week while sorting and planning, and I could not keep the boys out of them!]

Ancient History

(Click here for more literature and historical fiction selections.)

General:

The Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of World History

The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia

Classical Acts and Facts History Cards from Classical Conversations

The Story of the World: Volume 1: Ancient Times: From the Earliest Nomads to the Last Roman Emperor

Ancient History-Based Writing Lessons [IEW]

Famous Figures of Ancient Times: Movable Paper Figures to Cut, Color, and Assemble

Sun-Day, Moon-Day: How the Week Was Made (includes Babylonian, Greek, and Roman stories)

100 Things You Should Know About World Wonders (Short paragraphs of information not just about the 7 wonders of the ancient world, but also wonders in the Americas, Africa, the East, Easter Island, Stonehenge, natural wonders, and a few modern wonders)

Time Cat by Lloyd Alexander (A fun fiction chapter book. Jason and Gareth travel to Egypt and Rome/Britain as well as more modern time periods.)

Pages of History (volume 1; up to Martin Luther) (A time-traveling history book from Veritas Press)

YouTube series:

Horrible Histories, History Teachers, Crash Course History [All hilarious. Parental guidance suggested.]

PBS – Pyramid – David Macaulay (Hour-long show, much of it animated)

PBS – Roman City – David Macaulay (Another of Macaulay’s Early Civilizations shows)

Games:

Educational Trivia Card Game - Professor Noggin's Ancient Civilizations

Educational Trivia Card Game – Professor Noggin’s Countries of the World

Educational Trivia Card Game – Professor Noggin’s Wonders of the World

The Classic Historian Ancient History Go Fish

BrainBox Horrible Histories Awful Ancients

 

Pre-History

Archaeologists Dig for Clues (Simple, fun presentation, but very informative!)

Discovery in the Cave (Step Into Reading 4) (Lascaux cave paintings in France)

First Dog by Jan Brett (A simple, sweet picture book about a cave boy)

 

Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia (DK Eyewitness Books)

Science in Ancient Mesopotamia (and Egypt, Greece, Rome, China, Early Islamic Cultures, and India in series)

 

Egypt

Discovering Ancient Egypt (interactive website with activities—the hieroglyphic typewriter is fantastic)

Ancient Egypt TOOB by Safari (I love the Safari TOOBS with miniature figures, and this one is great fun for ancient history studies!)

Uncovering History: Everyday Life in Ancient Egypt (This is one of my favorite general books on Egypt.)

Bill and Pete Go Down the Nile by Tomie dePaola (A cute picture book for younger kids)

Story of the Nile: A Journey Through Time Along the World’s Longest River (This is a beautiful picture book.)

Ralph Maseillo’s Ancient Egypt Drawing Book

Seeker of Knowledge: The Man Who Deciphered Egyptian Hieroglyphs by James Rumford

Hieroglyphs (The included stencil makes this book extra fun.)

Tutankhamen’s Gift by Robert Sabuda

Tut’s Mummy: Lost… and Found (Step Into Reading 4)

Egyptian Diary: The Journal of Nakht (This series of books by Richard Platt is quite entertaining.)

Temple Cat by Andrew Clements

Egyptian Gods and Goddesses by Henry Barker (A great easy reader for independent reading!)

Secrets of the Mummies (Eyewitness Readers Level 4)

Chester Crab Comix: Ancient Africa (Egypt, Mali)

 

Greece

I Wonder Why Greeks Built Temples and Other Questions About Ancient Greece by Fiona Macdonald (Also Egypt and Rome in series)

You Wouldn't Want to Be a Slave in Ancient Greece! (And others in series for Sumer, Egypt, Greece, Rome, Mayan and more)

History News: The Greek News (Get your history, newspaper-style! Check out Egypt and Rome in the same series.)

Good Times Travel Agency: Adventures in Ancient Greece (And more in series)

TOOLS OF THE ANCIENT GREEKS: A Kid's Guide to the History & Science of Life in Ancient Greece (Also Rome in series)

Chester Crab Comix: Greeks, Romans, Countrymen!

The Librarian Who Measured the Earth by Kathryn Lasky (One of my favorites!)

What’s Your Angle, Pythagoras? (Math)

Herodotus and the Road to History by Jeanne Bendick (A short, illustrated chapter book about the first historian)

Archimedes and the Door of Science by Jeanne Bendick (Another winner from this author about the ancient mathematician)

Basher History: Mythology: Oh My! Gods and Goddesses

Greek Myths by Deborah Lock (DK Readers Level 3)

 

Rome

Rome in Spectacular Cross-Section (This is a beautiful oversized book with detailed illustrations by Stephen Biesty. Check out Egypt and Greece in this series, as well.)

Augustus Caesar’s World by Genevieve Foster (An excellent longer narrative)

Chester Crab Comix: Greeks, Romans, Countrymen!

Pompeii… Buried Alive! (Step Into Reading 4)

Pompeii: Lost and Found by Mary Pope Osborne

Magic Tree House Fact Tracker #14: Ancient Rome and Pompeii: A Nonfiction Companion to MTH #13

Roman Diary: The Journal of Iliona, A Young Slave (Another book in the entertaining series by Richard Platt!)

Galen and the Gateway to Medicine by Jeanne Bendick (A wonderful short, illustrated chapter book about the greatest doctor of the Roman empire)

Asterix and the Laurel Wreath (And a bunch of other ancient-history themed Asterix books—classic comic books!)

Saint Valentine by Robert Sabuda (Neat mosaic illustrations)

 

China

Magic Tree House Fact Tracker #31: China: Land of the Emperor's Great Wall: A Nonfiction Companion to MTH #14

The Great Wall of China

If I Were a Kid in Ancient China (Children of the Ancient World series) (This series has Egypt, Greece, and Rome versions, as well.)

Good Times Travel Agency: Adventures in Ancient China (And others in series)

Confucius Speaks: Words to Live By (Confucius in comic strip form)

Confucius: The Golden Rule

 

India

Prince Siddhartha: The Story of Buddha

I Once Was a Monkey: Stories Buddha Told

 

Ancient American Civilizations

Chester Crab Comix: The First Americans (includes Anasazi and Moundbuilders)

DK Eyewitness: Aztec, Inca, and Maya

Let’s Play ~ Timeline!

My boys have been on a huge game-playing kick lately. Leif, my trivia hound, carries the Professor Noggin Card Games and Classical Historian Go Fish Card Games wherever he goes. They are perfect for play on the go or stuffing in a backpack or purse for “just in case.”

We’ve discovered another fun one! We are rather fond of timelines in general because of our CC history sentence songs and timeline songs. The boys have a great number of “pegs” already memorized.

Timeline Historical Events Card Game is a game played with 110 mini timeline cards. I think of them more like tiles than cards—they are about half the size of a regular playing card. They need to be small, because you are building a timeline on your table as you play the game! The artwork is nice and often gives a few visual clues (such as period clothing) to help with placement. The sturdy cards are nicely packaged in a sturdy tin.

Each card has two sides with the same picture and event label on each side. One side has a date; the other does not. Players are dealt four cards, date side down. The remaining cards are stacked on the table, and the top card is played in the middle to begin the timeline. Each player takes a turn adding cards to the timeline. Cards are placed date side down where the player thinks they belong on the timeline. Once placed, the card is turned over. If the date is in the correct order, the card stays. If not, the card is returned to the box and the player must draw another card. The first player to play all his cards wins.

[The cards have only an event label without any other information, but our curiosity was piqued a few times and we were inspired to research more!]

This game is easy to adjust depending on the age and abilities of the players. The more cards the players start with, the harder the game. The more players participating, the harder the game. More obscure events (or those very close together chronologically) can be removed from the deck. [Note: There are a few “origins” cards that could easily be removed if one feels that is necessary. It wouldn’t affect the game.]

There are additional sets that can be played separately or added together to create a much more diverse and difficult game. We also have the Diversity Set, which contains a wider range of events, inventions, discoveries, and arts-related cards such as literature (not “diversity issues” as the title seems to suggest). These cards seem to be more difficult to place. I may go through the deck and pick out my favorites until we feel confident and ready to add more to the stack.

For under $15, this game is a great value to add to a game collection. I hope Monuments and Arts and Literature sets are in the works as one of the Amazon comments hinted at!

[This game could be played with the Classical Conversations History Cards or the Veritas Press History Cards, but you would need a much larger space!]

Reading Round-Up ~ February

I’ve spent the past two months sick, which means life has been chaos and unproductive around here for the whole of 2015 (because nothing gets done if I’m not standing over someone enforcing it, argh!!). Reading, however, is what does happen. And it’s times like these that I am more grateful than ever that my boys love to read.

Luke and Leif have tackled the book stack with characteristic enthusiasm.

A few of the books they have enjoyed in the past month:

Science

:: What's Smaller Than a Pygmy Shrew? (Wells of Knowledge Science Series) is a simple picture book that does a great job of introducing molecules and atoms. I now know what a quark is. Well, I know more about quarks now than I did before reading this book (which was nothing).

United States

:: Government (Chester the Crab's Comix with Content). I was delighted to discover this educational comic series, and the boys have been devouring each one I purchase for them. Nothing like a comic book to make economics, government, civil rights, and the reconstruction of the South accessible to elementary-aged boys.

:: The Skippack School by Marguerite de Angeli, published in 1939, is a sweet, easy chapter book set in a Mennonite community in Colonial America

:: Eli Whitney, Master Craftsman by Miriam Gilbert, published in 1956, is another sweet and simple chapter book.

:: The Story of Eli Whitney by Jean Lee Latham. This is a slightly longer biography of Eli Whitney, written in 1953.

:: Robert Fulton Boy Craftsman by Marguerite Henry, published in 1945, is a simple chapter book about another key player in the Industrial Revolution.

Russia

:: Favorite Fairy Tales Told in Russia retold by Virginia Haviland. We own many books in this series, and Luke in particular loves them.

:: Classic Tales and Fables for Children by Leo Tolstoy

:: The Language of Birds by Rafe Martin. A picture book Russian folktale.

:: Hidden Tales from Eastern Europe by Antonia Barber. Another picture book with several tales from Eastern Europe.

England and France

:: Perrault's Fairy Tales. Fairy tales written by the French author Charles Perrault in the late 1600s.

:: Charles Dickens: The Man Who Had Great Expectations by Diane Stanley. I love Diane Stanley’s meaty picture book biographies.

:: Charles Dickens and Friends: Five Lively Retellings by Marcia Williams is written in comic-strip form.

:: Oliver Twist (Eyewitness Classics) by Charles Dickens. We own several of the DK Classics. These illustrated retellings include many factual details and historical content that correspond to the story.

:: We are still reading aloud A Tale of Two Cities, and will be working on that for some time. It fits in beautifully with our current history studies (England and France around the time of the French Revolution). I read slowly, and we stop often to discuss or clarify.

:: We also watched Les Misérables (the movie) together one afternoon. (I fast-forwarded during a couple scenes.) I spend so much time feeling unsure of myself and a great deal of time feeling guilt for the things I know I do poorly, but occasionally I have a moment in which I think I must be doing something right. That afternoon was one of those moments. My boys love Les Miserables, and they love the music, which they sing at the top of their lungs. At one point Luke said, “This is my idea of fun.” See, I’m doing something right.

Short Fiction Chapter Books

:: The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson. This darling book, published in 1958, is set in Paris, France.

:: All Alone by Claire Huchet Bishop. A ten-year-old boy on the French Alps faces a challenge.

:: The Last Little Cat by Meindert DeJong. This is a short chapter book written by the author of The House of Sixty Fathers and The Wheel on the School.

:: A Tree for Peter by Kate Seredy. We have read Kate Seredy’s The Good Master, The Singing Tree, and The White Stag, so I was excited to see that A Tree for Peter had been republished. Philomena and The Chestry Oak are next on the to-read list.

Challenging Fiction [Fantasy]

:: Here, There Be Dragons (The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica). Luke re-read all seven books in this series.

 

[I’ll share Levi’s and my reading in separate posts.]

Friday Five ~ On YouTube

What We’re Watching on YouTube

[Parental discretion advised]

1. We own four other David Macaulay PBS Specials on DVD (Pyramid, Roman City, Castle, and Cathedral), but we are missing the Mill episode, so I was excited to find it on YouTube (above).

2. The historyteachers parodies are hilarious. My boys have been walking around singing “La la Liberte, e e-galite, fra fra-ternite, French Revolution.” (We watched several others as well, especially Catherine the Great.)

3. We then moved on to the French Revolution on Horrible Histories. Because I hadn’t damaged my children enough.

4. Only slightly more serious (and detailed) is the Crash Course History series with John Green.

(Disclaimer: I am balancing out the silliness by reading A Tale of Two Cities aloud to the boys. Pinky swear.)

5. The following video is not about the French Revolution or the Industrial Revolution. It is, however, one of my boys’ favorites—because I have odd children.

 

What have you been watching on YouTube?

Friday Five ~ On Netflix

What we’re watching on Netflix Streaming:

1. Hunting the Elements. Great science fun!

2. How the States Got Their Shapes. United States geography and culture.

3. The Men Who Built America. Learning about our tycoons (all CC peeps sing with me…).

4. Mr. Peabody & Sherman. Okay, we own this one on DVD, but it’s a blast and it’s available on Netflix Streaming now.

5. The Boxcar Children. Darling.

 

Do you have favorite movies or series (for kids or adults) available on Netflix Streaming?

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”

The boys and I read about the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror in The Story of the World yesterday (which, of course, prompted all sorts of CC history sentence songs and connections, including the realization that George Washington became president the same year the French Revolution began).

As I was collecting corresponding books from our shelves (notably The Royal Diaries: Marie Antoinette: Princess of Versailles, Austria-France, 1769 and The Scarlet Pimpernel), I sighed a happy sigh when my eyes landed on A Tale of Two Cities. What a masterpiece.

Can you think of any other book that has such famous first and last lines?

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”

“It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known.”

Just typing those words gives me the chills.

The metaphors and picturesque language in A Tale of Two Cities are exquisite. It is a tale of redemption that rivals Les Miserables. And it is my favorite Dickens novel.

So I decided to read it aloud to the boys. I don’t know how far we’ll get, but I want them to hear the words. They are capable of reading so much on their own, I want to read something together that will challenge them. Something we can spend time on and discuss. [The boys have listened to A Tale of Two Cities retold by Jim Weiss, so they know the basic story line.]

I read the opening passage:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way…

Leif’s comment? “That’s an upside-down world.”

Yes. Yes, it was.

What Luke Has Been Reading

This kid has turned into a reading maniac! I found myself saying such ridiculous things as “Put down that Tolkien book and do some school!” What was I thinking?

He is working toward Memory Master for Classical Conversations Foundations (for the third and final cycle of information in history, science, Latin, English grammar, geography, and math). He completes an art project and watches a short science demonstration in class weekly. He sits through Essentials class (grammar, writing, and math games) weekly. We diagram an occasional sentence. Choir (and music theory homework) begins in a week or two. He swims at least three days a week. And he organizes my flatware drawer in the kitchen just for fun.

That’s enough “school,” right?!

I can add educational games and documentaries to the list. That helps.

Okay, maybe there needs to be more math and writing in there. Sigh. Math he can do. Writing—well, that’s torture.*

In general, it has looked a lot like “unschooling” around here lately. [In other news, I’m ready to NOT be sick.]

 

History (and Science History)

Benjamin Franklin: Young Printer (Childhood of Famous Americans)
Traitor: The Case of Benedict Arnold by Jean Fritz
The Mystery of the Periodic Table (Living History Library)

Historical Fiction

Carry On, Mr. Bowditch. This is the audio book the boys are listening to at bed time.
Guns for General Washington: A Story of the American Revolution
Dutch Color
The Great Wheel by Robert Lawson

Literature

Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling
Tales from the Perilous Realm by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Fiction

The Green Ember. I read about this book on Story Warren and ordered it through the Kickstarter campaign. All of the boys loved it!
Flights and Chimes and Mysterious Times
Time and the Tapestry: A William Morris Adventure. This time-traveling fictional mystery has some fun history of the arts-and-crafts movement woven in the story similar to Chasing Vermeer or The Wright 3 by Blue Balliett.

I’m sure I’m missing several from his chapter book list this past month.
 
Plus… a gazillion picture books on all topics (history, art, literature, geography, science, cultures, fables and fairy tales…)
________________________________________________________________________________________________

Today Luke told me that he wants to read all the books in the house by the end of the year.

Good luck with that, Dude.

*Funny story. Luke was required to submit a writing sample for the charter school in which he is enrolled. He had a few prompts to choose from. I told him what he needed to do and gave him some suggestions for getting started, which he promptly shot down. He then proceeded to bang his head on the table for hours, all the while NOT doing the writing assignment. Because torture. “I don’t know what to say. I have no imagination. I can’t write. I hate this.” And so on.

The second day I sat him down again and he commenced with the head banging. After a little while he sat up straight in a sudden motion and a light bulb appeared over his head.

“Mom, if I write three paragraphs, can I have a piece of ice cream cake from the freezer?”

“Um, absolutely son. You bring me three paragraphs and I’ll serve you up.”

Five minutes later…

“I was driving up the long winding road to House Rock Campground when suddenly I heard a rumbling noise. It was a rock slide! I quickly went into reverse but accidentally went off the cliff! Luckily I landed in a deep part of the river right side up. I broke the window before I sank and climbed out.

“I looked around but I couldn’t find a way to get up the cliff. So I swam down to my car and rummaged around until I found some rope. I tied a slipknot and located a tree stump at the top of the cliff. I threw my rope and after a few tries hit the tree stump. I climbed up and finally I was at the top.

“I looked around and saw a car coming. I asked the driver if I could hitch a ride. He agreed and drove to the nearest town. I bought supplies and started hiking to House Rock. When I arrived I set up my new tent and curled up in my new sleeping bag and fell fast asleep.”

It may not look like much, but for this son it was blood from a rock. And, for this rock, the only thing more powerful than the torture of writing is the promise of sugar.

What We’ve Been Reading [part 1]

Luke

Luke has been the most consistent reader in our house the past couple months. He’s the child most likely to get his work done and most likely to read what I suggest.

Fiction

:: The Chronicles of Prydain is one of the most frequently recommended series on book lists that I’ve perused (along with The Chronicles of Narnia), particularly on classical school book lists. Luke declared this series his favorite reading of the past few months. [Levi has enjoyed many Lloyd Alexander books such as Time Cat: The Remarkable Journeys of Jason and Gareth.]

:: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman is another oft-recommended book on the lists I’ve been using, so I passed this one on to Luke.

:: Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes. I think a Mt. Hope reader suggested this one some time back. All three boys read and enjoyed it, so I purchased Jonathan Auxier’s most recent book, The Night Gardener. Luke gives it nine out of ten. Here is a short video of the author sharing his own favorite children’s fiction:

 

:: The Boundless by Kenneth Oppel. Luke gives this book ten out of ten.

:: The Dark Is Rising Sequence: Over Sea, Under Stone; The Dark Is Rising; Greenwitch; The Grey King; Silver on the Tree is another series frequently recommended (in particular, by Susan Wise Bauer), so I’ve borrowed them all from the library and Luke is just getting started.

Historical Fiction

:: Number the Stars was on Levi’s reading list for Challenge A, and after reading it myself I decided that Luke would really enjoy it, which he did. The story is set in Denmark during World War II but isn’t quite as heartbreaking as other books from that time period, which makes it a great introduction for younger kids.

:: I Am David was a logical next choice. A twelve year old boy escapes a prison camp in Eastern Europe and travels to Denmark. This is one of my absolute favorites from my childhood. Luke declared that he wished it were longer because he enjoyed it so much! We may have to watch the movie version in the next week or two.

Literature

We are studying modern history this year (1600 to present). I’ve read aloud chapter after chapter after chapter (seventeen, to be exact) of The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child, Volume 3: Early Modern Times, and we’re still in the 1600s. It was a happening time in history! I try to weave in (though not perfectly) literature from the time period we are studying. Beginning in about the 1600s, the literature selections we have to choose from widen considerably.

:: The boys had been complaining that the retellings of Gulliver’s Travels that we own all only tell the first two of the four stories. And, by golly, we can’t have that. So I purchased (and they all read) the Classic Starts version of Gulliver's Travels, which contains all four stories (abridged). I completely forgot about the masterpiece Jonathan Swift's Gulliver retold by Martin Jenkins and illustrated by Chris Riddell, so that’s on its way from Amazon as well. Is it wrong to own more than three retellings of Gulliver’s Travels?

:: I tried to get Luke to read the original Robinson Crusoe by Defoe, but he wasn’t quite up to it. We also have a few different retellings of that one, so he picked up a new-to-us vintage copy and enjoyed it.

:: Luke wasn’t quite ready for Don Quixote retold by Martin Jenkins (another masterpiece, hilariously illustrated but quite long), so I had him read Don Quixote and Sancho Panza retold by Margaret Hodges.

:: The Family Pilgrim's Progress by Jean Watson. This meaty picture book is a great introduction to the classic.

History

Luke has read many history-related picture books and chapter books recently (especially from around the time of the Pilgrims), but the following are a few of our favorites.

:: The King's Day: Louis XIV of France (wonderful illustrations, fascinating life)

:: Hana in the Time of the Tulips (historical fiction, beautiful Rembrandt-style illustrations)

:: Peter the Great (Diane Stanley’s biographies are excellent)

:: Don't Know Much About the Kings and Queens of England (We’ve referenced this one over and over again. Short one to four page entries for each king or queen with highly entertaining illustrations.)

:: Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin by Marguerite Henry (author of Misty of Chincoteague) tells the story of the American artist Benjamin West. The Boy Who Loved to Draw: Benjamin West is a lovely picture book option.

[Again, this post contains affiliate links. I receive a small commission on purchases made through these links—even if you do not purchase the recommended item! Thanks for generously supporting my book addiction children’s education. I greatly appreciate all of you who have recently shopped Amazon through my links!]

Cycle 3 History, Literature, Speeches and Poetry Memory Work, and Geography

American History 1492-Present

This list could have been 1,000+ books long. So many wonderful history, historical fiction, and literature books are available for American history. Picture books, easy chapter books, chapter books, reference books… It was a daunting task to put together a book list for this time period. I have tried to whittle down the selections to a few favorites, but stay tuned for our monthly book lists as we go through our year. And know that this list is by no means exhaustive. Check your library for books available on the topics.

Our family will be covering world history from 1600 to present over the course of the next year (through next summer), but I am listing just American history-related resources in this post, especially for those wanting a list to correspond to the Classical Conversations Cycle 3 history memory work. (A few titles are not specifically American history, but related to the events such as WWII.)

 

Reference Materials (to span the whole year)

The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child, Volume 3: Early Modern Times
The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child, Volume 4: The Modern Age: From Victoria's Empire to the End of the USSR
The Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia Of World History
The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia
Classical Conversations Classical Acts and Facts History Cards
Children's Encyclopedia of American History (Smithsonian)
The American Story: 100 True Tales from American History
The Children's Book of America edited by William J. Bennett
The American Reader: Words That Moved a Nation (a chronological collection of speeches, documents, and poetry with introductory information)
America: The Story of Us (DVD) and many other documentaries
Your Story Hour: Heritage of Our Country Series (radio drama, CDs)

 

** Poetry or speeches to memorize

:: Challenge A books
::: Challenge B books
:::: Challenge I books (use parental discretion for younger ages)

1. Columbus (1492)

Pedro's Journal: A Voyage with Christopher Columbus, August 3, 1492-February 14, 1493 (historical fiction, easy chapter book)
Christopher Columbus (Step into Reading, Step 2, Grades 1-3)
The Discovery of The Americas: From Prehistory Through the Age of Columbus by Betsy and Giulio Maestro (beautiful picture book)
Journeys in Time: A New Atlas of American History (picture book, short stories of journeys by Native Americans, Columbus, and much more through modern history)
The Lost Colony Of Roanoke by Jean Fritz
Roanoke: The Lost Colony--An Unsolved Mystery from History by Jane Yolen
James Towne: Struggle for Survival by Marcia Sewall
Exploration and Conquest: The Americas After Columbus: 1500-1620 (American Story) by Betsy Maestro

2. Pilgrims (1620)

The World of Captain John Smith by Genevieve Foster
Three Young Pilgrims by Cheryl Harness
The Pilgrims at Plymouth by Lucille Recht Penner
Don't Know Much About the Pilgrims by Kenneth C. Davis
 
:: Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham
:: Amos Fortune, Free Man by Elizabeth Yates
:::: The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth Speare

The New Americans: Colonial Times: 1620-1689 by Betsy and Giulio Maestro
Struggle for a Continent: The French and Indian Wars: 1689-1763 (American Story Series) by Betsy Maestro
The Matchlock Gun by Walter D. Edmonds

**Begin memorizing/copying Ben Franklin proverbs and sayings

3. Boston Tea Party (1773)

Liberty's Kids - The Complete Series (DVDs, a family favorite!! To watch over weeks 3-5)

Concord Hymn by Ralph Waldo Emerson (“The shot heard round the world”—written in 1837)

**Memorize part of Patrick Henry’s “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” speech

Where Was Patrick Henry on the 29th of May? by Jean Fritz
Sam the Minuteman (I Can Read Book 3) (Lexington)
Can't You Make Them Behave, King George? by Jean Fritz
Let It Begin Here!: Lexington & Concord: First Battles of the American Revolution
Boston Tea Party by Pamela Duncan Edwards
Liberty or Death: The American Revolution: 1763-1783 (American Story)by Betsy Maestro 

:::: Johnny Tremain by Esther Hoskins Forbes 

4. Declaration of Independence (1776)

**Memorize first two sentences of the Declaration

Jefferson’s Truths by Michael Clay Thompson (a fantastic exploration of the history, philosophy, structure, grammar, vocabulary, and context of the Declaration of Independence)

The Declaration Of Independence illustrated and inscribed by Sam Fink
The Fourth of July Story by Alice Dalgliesh
Red, White, and Blue: The Story of the American Flag (Penguin Young Readers, L3)
Thomas Jefferson by Cheryl Harness
Revolutionary John Adams by Cheryl Harness
The Remarkable Benjamin Franklin by Cheryl Harness

George Washington's World by Genevieve Foster

5. George Washington (1789)

(*Memorize Preamble to the Constitution and list of Bill of Rights, weeks 23 & 24)

George Washington -- Soldier, Hero, President (DK Readers, Level 3: Reading Alone)
George Washington by Cheryl Harness
Shh! We're Writing the Constitution by Jean Fritz

A New Nation: The United States: 1783-1815 (American Story) by Betsy Maestro 

6. Louisiana Purchase (1803)

How We Crossed The West: The Adventures Of Lewis And Clark by Rosalyn Schanzer
Lewis and Clark: A Prairie Dog for the President (Step into Reading, Step 3)
Thomas Jefferson's Feast (Step into Reading) (Step #4)

:::: Billy Budd, Sailor by Herman Melville

7. War of 1812

The Town that Fooled the British: A War of 1812 Story (Tales of Young Americans)
Francis Scott Key's Star-Spangled Banner (Step into Reading) 

*Memorize all 4 verses of The Star-Spangled Banner

Amazing Impossible Erie Canal by Cheryl Harness (1817)

8. Missouri Compromise (1820)

:: A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl's Journal, 1830-32

Susanna of the Alamo: A True Story by John Jakes (1836)
Voices of The Alamo (Voices of History) by Sherry Garland

Trail of Tears (Step-Into-Reading, Step 5) (Cherokee Trail of Tears, 1838)

Amistad: The Story of a Slave Ship (Penguin Young Readers, L4) (1838)

A Pioneer Sampler: The Daily Life of a Pioneer Family in 1840
Welcome to Kirsten's World, 1854: Growing Up in Pioneer America (American Girl)

**Memorize lyrics for “America, My Country ‘Tis of Thee” (1832)

:::: The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

9. Compromise of 1850

Escape North! The Story of Harriet Tubman (Step-Into-Reading, Step 4)
The Drinking Gourd: A Story of the Underground Railroad (I Can Read Book 3)

Mark Twain and the Queens of the Mississippi by Cheryl Harness

:::: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

10. Mexican War (1846 to 1848), Gadsden Purchase (1853), President Polk, Manifest Destiny

Welcome to Josefina's World: 1824 (American Girl) (Daily life of Mexican Americans in New Mexico in the early 1800s)
James K. Polk: Eleventh President 1845-1849 (Getting to Know the U.S. Presidents)
Daily Life in a Covered Wagon by Paul Erickson
Rachel's Journal: The Story of a Pioneer Girl

11. Abraham Lincoln, Civil War (1861-1865)

**Memorize Gettysburg Address

The Address by Ken Burns (Documentary DVD)

Just a Few Words, Mr. Lincoln (Penguin Young Readers, L4) by Jean Fritz

Lincoln: A Photobiography by Russell Freedman
Abraham Lincoln by the D'Aulaires

Lincoln's Ten Sentences: The Story of the Gettysburg Address by Michael Clay Thompson (another fantastic exploration of the history, context, structure, grammar, vocabulary, and poetic content of the Gettysburg Address)

Abraham Lincoln's World by Genevieve Foster

:::: The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane

12. End of Civil War (1865), General Robert E. Lee, General Ulysses S. Grant

**Memorize “O Captain, My Captain” by Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman: Words for America by Barbara Kerley

From Slave to Soldier: Based on a True Civil War Story (Ready-to-Reads)
Billy and the Rebel: Based on a True Civil War Story (Ready-to-Reads)
Civil War Sub: The Mystery of the Hunley (Penguin Young Readers, L4)
The Monitor: The Iron Warship That Changed the World (All Aboard Reading, Station Stop 3)

13. 14th Amendment (1868), Freeing Slaves, (Civil Rights Movement)

The Groundbreaking, Chance-Taking Life of George Washington Carver and Science and Invention in America by Cheryl Harness
A Weed Is a Flower : The Life of George Washington Carver by Aliki
Fifty Cents and a Dream: Young Booker T. Washington

:::: Up from Slavery by Booker T. Washington
:::: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

14. Late 1800s, Tycoons (Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, Carnegie, Swift), Industrial Age

All About America: The Industrial Revolution by Hilarie N. Staton
The Bobbin Girl by Emily Arnold McCully
Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers' Strike of 1909
Marvelous Mattie: How Margaret E. Knight Became an Inventor
Henry Ford: Big Wheel in the Auto Industry (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Inventors and Scientists) 

15. Theodore Roosevelt, Rough Riders, Battle of San Juan Hill (Cuba) (1898)

The Remarkable Rough-Riding Life of Theodore Roosevelt and the Rise of Empire America by Cheryl Harness

Welcome to Samantha's World-1904: Growing Up in America's New Century (American Girl)

Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank B. Gilbreth (autobiographical chapter book about a family in the early 1900s—fabulously funny)
All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor (fictional and lovely series about a family living in New York City at the turn of the century)

::: Little Britches: Father and I Were Ranchers 
:::: The Call of the Wild by Jack London

16. Immigrants (1820-1930)

**Memorize “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus

Emma's Poem: The Voice of the Statue of Liberty
The Story of the Statue of Liberty by Betsy Maestro
When Jessie Came Across the Sea by Amy Hest
The Memory Coat by Elvira Woodruff
The Long Way to a New Land (I Can Read Book 3)
Coming to America: The Story of Immigration by Betsy Maestro

 

17. WWI, President Wilson, sinking of the Lusitania (1914-1918)

War Game: Village Green to No-Man's-Land by Michael Foreman
Christmas in the Trenches by John McCutcheon
Archie's War by Marcia Williams (historical fiction, scrapbook style from the perspective of a 10 year-old boy)
World War I (American Milestones) (workbook)

The Great American Dust Bowl by Don Brown (graphic-novel picture book) (1935)
Dust for Dinner (I Can Read Book - Level 3)

Amelia And Eleanor Go For A Ride by Pam Munoz Ryan (1933)
Welcome to Kit's World, 1934 : Growing Up During America's Great Depression (The American Girls Collection)
26 Fairmount Avenue by Tomie dePaola (A wonderful autobiographical series of beginning chapter books by children’s author and illustrator Tomie dePaola starting with his childhood in 1938 and going through WWII, these books capture the essence of what it was like to be a child living in the United States during WWII.)

Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan (A Mexican girl immigrates to California in 1930, historical fiction chapter book)
Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis (Michigan, 1936, historical fiction chapter book)
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (Mississippi, Depression-era, historical fiction chapter book)

18. Pearl Harbor, WWII (1941)

Listen to Dwight D. Eisenhower’s D-Day pre-invasion address to the troops

D-Day Landings: The Story of the Allied Invasion (DK Readers Level 4)
Pearl Harbor : Ready To Read Level 3
The Journey That Saved Curious George : The True Wartime Escape of Margret and H.A. Rey
Memories of Survival by Esther Nisenthal Krinitz
The Yellow Star: The Legend of King Christian X of Denmark
War Boy: A Wartime Childhood by Michael Foreman

Twenty and Ten by Claire Hutchet Bishop (short chapter book)
The Little Riders by Margaretha Shemin (short chapter book)
Going Solo by Roald Dahl (the autobiographical account of Roald Dahl’s experience as a pilot in WWII, refreshingly enjoyable reading in the midst of a tragic time period, chapter book)

:: Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
:: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
::: The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom

19. NATO (1949)

Korean War (1950), Vietnam (1960), and the Cold War
Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai (A girl from Vietnam immigrates to Alabama, autobiography)
The Land I Lost: Adventures of a Boy in Vietnam by Quang Nhuong Huynh (autobiography, short chapter book)
Water Buffalo Days: Growing Up in Vietnam by Huynh Quang Nhuong (autobiography, short chapter book)
The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sis

20. 1954, Brown v. Board of Education, Segregation

**Memorize parts of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech (1963)

Free at Last: The Language of Dr King's Dream by Michael Clay Thompson (more history, context, grammar, poetics, and vocabulary)

Martin's Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
A Picture Book of Rosa Parks by David A. Adler
The Story Of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles

Disney's Ruby Bridges (DVD)
The Rosa Parks Story (DVD)

The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 (historical fiction chapter book)
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia (Oakland, CA, 1968, Black Panthers, historical fiction chapter book)

::: Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

21. 1969, U.S. Astronauts on the Moon

Moonwalk: The First Trip to the Moon (Step-Into-Reading, Step 5)
Look to the Stars by Buzz Aldrin
Reaching for the Moon by Buzz Aldrin
One Giant Leap by Robert Burleigh

22. September 11, 2001

America Is Under Attack: September 11, 2001: The Day the Towers Fell (Actual Times) by Don Brown
The Little Chapel that Stood by A. B. Curtiss
Fireboat: The Heroic Adventures of the John J. Harvey

23. Preamble to the U.S. Constitution

The Constitution of the United States of America inscribed and illustrated by Sam Fink

24. Bill of Rights

The Bill Of Rights: It Can't Be Wrong (American Milestones) (workbook)

 

WRITING

IEW U.S. History-Based Writing Lessons, Vol. 1: Explorers–Gold Rush (for use in Classical Conversations Essentials Class)

U.S. Geography

Sheppard Software free online U.S. Geography games and quizzes (fantastic!)

The United States of America: A State-by-State Guide 

Presidents

Getting to Know the U.S. Presidents by Mike Venezia (series)

Don't Know Much About the Presidents by Kenneth C. Davis

 

Songs and Music of America

Songs of America (Cedarmont Kids)
Wee Sing America

American Composers and Musicians

Composers of America radio shows and more at Classics for Kids

Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue by Anna Harwell Celenza
George Gershwin (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Composers)
Leonard Bernstein (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Composers)
Aaron Copland (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Composers)
John Philip Sousa (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Composers)
Duke Ellington (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Composers)
The Beatles (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Composers)
When Marian Sang: The True Recital of Marian Anderson (1937)
The Voice That Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights
Duke Ellington: The Piano Prince and His Orchestra

(And many recordings of great music)

[I will be posting resources for Classical Conversations Cycle 3 composers (none American) separately.]

Artists of America

50 American Artists You Should Know
13 American Artists Children Should Know

The Boy Who Loved to Draw: Benjamin West
Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin by Marguerite Henry
The Boy Who Drew Birds: A Story of John James Audubon

(And more books by Mike Venezia: Andy Warhol, Edward Hopper, Grandma Moses, Georgia O’Keefe, Jackson Pollock, Winslow Homer…)

[I will be posting specific resources for Classical Conversations Cycle 3 artists (all American) in a separate post.]

 

Stay tuned for more American literature and poetry (including selected poems to memorize)…

*This post contains affiliate links.*