Best Easy Chapter Books

When kids begin reading there is a distinct transition period where they move from reading primarily picture books to chapter books. For most kids the jump to chapter books is a significant challenge and introducing easier chapter books helps to fill that gap. Here are our favorite transition, or easy chapter books.

The Littles are tiny people with tails. The biggest among them is six inches tall. There are trash tinies who live in garbage dumps, forest tinies who live in the woods, and the main characters which are the house tinies. They live in the houses of big people.

Abel's Island (Newbery Award & Honor Books) Abel is a mouse who gets stranded on an island and tries many ways to get off the island.
 
The Big Wave focuses on the after effects of a tsunami that strikes a small village in Japan. One boy left without a family is taken in by friends. Although he struggles with the loss of his family, he eventually overcomes his mental state and chooses to live again.

A Lion to Guard Us tells the story of immigrant children who board a ship headed for America to find their father. During their journey they encounter some shady folks who try to take their most precious possession.

Set in the Netherlands during World War II The Little Riders is a story about a family who protects the church clock tower figures from the enemy. 

26 Fairmount Avenue (Newbery Honor Book, 2000) is one book in a chapter book series by Tomie De Paola. In the loosely autobiographical series, Tomie talks about art lessons in school, first movies, dance lessons, acting in the school play and how World War II changes life for him and his family.

 


 * I did not receive any compensation for this recommendation. I'm just a homeschooling mom who has found many products that I like. If you're interested in the products I recommend on this blog I want to make it easy for you to find them. 
** I am an Amazon associate and receive a small portion of the sales on orders made after clicking in from this site, which I promptly spend on homeschooling books and supplies for my children.

Schnitzel - Cooking German Food

Living in Germany, we have had the chance to try many schnitzels. In fact it has become one of the kids favorites so we had to try cooking it at home.

Schnitzel is a traditional German dish made from meat (pork, turkey, chicken are the most common), tenderized with a hammer, usually breaded and fried. In restaurants it is often served with a choice of sauces (gravies). Mushroom and cream are the most popular.

My oldest had some daddy time as they worked together to make schnitzel.

My husband hammered the meat. When Jemma was in the hospital we watched one of the mothers of another patient prepare schnitzel. She hammered the snot out of the meat. (That's a quote from my husband.) Our room was down the hall and we could hear her hammering from there.

My daughter prepared the egg and bread crumb plates.

Our schnitzel was served with zucchini bread and cucumbers. Cucumbers are very popular here. They were served with each Friday breakfast in the hospital and at every German potluck I have attended. Zucchini bread on the other hand, is a family favorite, not a German food.

To see our other international cooking activities please visit our Food Page.

Geometric Design - Seven Circle Grid Patterns

Building on the seven circle shape discovery activity, we used a compass to create a seven circle grid and then used the grid to create geometric designs.

Both activities were based from the Islamic Art and Geometric Design from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

This time instead of drawing seven circles and looking for shapes in the center circle we covered our papers with overlapping circles.

Next a ruler was used to create a shape in one of the circles. Then the shape was repeated in adjacent circles. After the first set of circles were filled with shapes, more shapes were created in the spaces left blank between the circles. The new shapes were repeated in the same pattern.

After the initial shapes were created, the designs were colored with colored pencils.

This activity can be very addictive. In the course of completing a design, other designs and possibilities become apparent begging for a turn to be colored. Everyone enjoyed it very much.


Here is a basic 7 circle grid. Please feel free to download it for personal or classroom use.
7 Circle Grid


Here are links to a few of our past Math Art posts.
Tessellations
Math Art - Geometry
Math Art for First Graders

This post is linked to: 
Teaching Blog Addict

Earth Science Unit Study - Week 2 - Earth's Layers

Week 2: We made a model showing the Earth's layers and found foods with similar layers.

How to Dig a Hole to the Other Side of the World is one of my all time favorite children's science books. The simple story tells the reader the hazards of digging a hole through the Earth, some handy items to have, such as a heat-proof suit, and what may be found in the dig as it progresses.

The Magic School Bus Inside the Earth (Magic School Bus) is another great book to go with this lesson. As the kids journey inside the Earth they learn about rocks, volcanoes and Earth's layers.

Beginning with the birth of a hurricane, the film Earth from Space covers many Earth science topics we plan to revisit throughout our unit study. Off the coast of Antarctica, when the ice freezes, saltwater sinks rapidly to the bottom of the ocean creating currents which help to regulate the Earth's temperature. Hurricanes actually drop the temperature of the ocean by releasing heat into the atmosphere. Everything is connected and the common thread is the Earth.

Just like an egg, our Earth is broken into layers. It is hottest at the core in the center. Liquid magma surrounds the core in the mantle, and although the crust varies in thickness, it is very thin in comparison to the diameter of the Earth.

An apple has a thin skin similar to the crust of the Earth. Inside, the core is shaped like a star, so the thickness varies just like the thickness of the Earth's layers vary at different locations.

The pit of the plum was covered with a skin. This is similar to the way the core is broken into an inner and outer core.

Here is a cross section of the Earth showing the different layers. This drawing was made by me so the kids could see the relative thickness of each layer. The dark ring around the outside is the crust. The red and orange show the mantle changes a bit with depth, and the yellow and white in the center are the inner and outer core.

After looking at the food and drawing, the kids had the chance to create their own Earths with layers out of dough.

The salt, water, spices and oil were added to the crust to represent rocks, coal, gold, diamonds or animal bones that may be found in the thin layer.

Once the models were complete, they were sliced open so the layers could be seen. This model shows the inner core - yellow, outer core - red, mantle orange, and crust - green.

More of our hands-on science activities are available on our Science Page.

This post is linked to:
Tried it Tuesday

* I did not receive any compensation for this recommendation. I'm just a homeschooling mom who has found many products that I like. If you're interested in the products I recommend on this blog I want to make it easy for you to find them. 
** I am an Amazon associate and receive a small portion of the sales on orders made after clicking in from this site, which I promptly spend on homeschooling books and supplies for my children.

Middle Ages Unit Study - Week 1 Maps

Week 1: We colored and labeled medieval maps.

The middle ages were a time of turmoil for the people of Europe. The Roman Empire had fallen and instead of spending time on learning and leisure time, the people were thrown back into a life where covering basic needs were the priority. Soldiers no longer kept the land safe, powerful people fought for control and knights, kings, peasants, and castles was the result.

To kick off this unit study we read the picture book The Middle Ages (Journey Through History). It provided a brief overview of the people and how they lived.

In addition, we watched the video Once Upon a Time Man, The Cathedral Builders. This children's animated video from the 1970's is entertaining and provides a good overview of the time period.

My oldest is very well read on the topic of the middle ages. At the bottom I have listed some of the books we have read together which I would recommend. Contrasted with her are my younger children who are learning about the middle ages from the beginning. Although there are always wide ability gaps when studying topics together, this time there are distinct knowledge gaps which will make it a challenging subject.

Our first project was very simple to prepare, but a challenge for the children. 

Each child began with a map of Europe which they crumpled over and over to give an aged appearance.

Next they colored the water and labeled mountain ranges, rivers, regions and cities referencing an atlas.

As we continue this unit study there will be many more involved crafts and activities. Please join us and feel free to sign-up to follow Highhill Education by email if you haven't done so already.

Initial Book List
Story of the World, Middle Ages by Susan Wise Bauer
Story of the Middle Ages by Samuel B Harding
The Minstrel and the Dragon Pup by Rosemary Sutcliff
The Kitchen Knight by Margaret Hodges
Castle Diary by Richard Platt
Ms. Frizzle's Adventures, Medieval Castle by Joanna Cole

Of Swords and Sorcerers by Evernden
King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table by Howard Pyle

The Great an Terrible Quest by Margaret Lovett
Otto of the Silver Hand by Howard Pyle
The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli
Adam of the Road by Robert Lawson 
The Little Duke by Charlotte Mary Yonge

This post is linked to:
No Time For Flash Cards

* I did not receive any compensation for this recommendation. I'm just a homeschooling mom who has found many products that I like. If you're interested in the products I recommend on this blog I want to make it easy for you to find them. 
** I am an Amazon associate and receive a small portion of the sales on orders made after clicking in from this site, which I promptly spend on homeschooling books and supplies for my children.

Best Classic Books

My kids are young: 7, 10 and 12, and we're just getting into the classics. They love what we've read so far. If you have a minute, I would like to read your comments on the favorite classics of your kids.

Charlotte's Web
I'm not sure this book needs a description, it is so well read. Charlotte the spider helps Wilber the pig to escape his fate of becoming a meal, only to live her own complete life cycle. It's the classic tale that explains life and death, and that life goes on. This beloved tale is a great first chapter book for six or seven year old kids.



Pinocchio: The Tale of a Puppet (Classic Reprint)
Pinocchio gets into so much mischief, like the time he plants his golden coins. He is quite a naughty puppet who frequently misbehaves. My children were all ears while I read this tale as another first chapter book. 

Heidi
When Heidi's mom dies, she is sent to live with her Aunt. After several years her Aunt brings her to live with her grandfather high on a mountain top. Heidi is a flexible, happy girl adored by all. She adapts quickly to her new life and adjusts again when she is sent to be the playmate of a handicapped rich girl in the city. Heidi's tale, brings vivid scenes of life in the Alps and pleasure to young readers.

The Jungle Book

Several different stories were written as part of the Jungle Book. Some books encompass the first set of stories, some the second, some both and yet some a mix or overlap. Luckily, the order the stories are read are not of critical importance. The Jungle Books is the story of Mowgli, a boy growing up among the wolves and other forest animals in India.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Dover Thrift Editions)
After reading an abridged edition of Tom Sawyer with my son he was hooked, but it turned out he wasn't ready for the rich and complicated language of the original text. Just the beginning when Tom made his fence painting work more desirable than play to the neighborhood boys had me ready to read-on. I read the full version with my daughter at 12 years old and she highly recommends Tom Sawyer. I will try again with my son in a few years and I think he will like it too.

More of our favorite reads can be found on our Reading and Arts Page.

   

This post is linked to:
* I did not receive any compensation for this recommendation. I'm just a homeschooling mom who has found many products that I like. If you're interested in the products I recommend on this blog I want to make it easy for you to find them. 
** I am an Amazon associate and receive a small portion of the sales on orders made after clicking in from this site, which I promptly spend on homeschooling books and supplies for my children.

Learning to Spin Wool

We spun wool into yarn.

At a local historical festival we were mesmerized watching the spinners and asked them how we could learn. It turned out there was a lady in our neighborhood willing to give us lessons. When my oldest was 7 years old she learned how to spin wool into yarn. Now my six year old is learning.

The fibers are strengthened and held together by twisting alone. This can be done entirely by hand, but the spindle enables the spinner to add a lot of twist to the yarn at a rapid rate.

The spinner alternates between spinning the spindle to add twist to the fibers and pulling the raw fibers to thin them out and exact the amount of fiber to be turned into yarn.

A spinning wheel works the same way, but the feet power the spinning. So instead of alternating between spinning the fibers and pulling them, everything is done simultaneously. Both my older daughter and I learned how to spin on a spindle before trying out a spinning wheel. We practiced a minimum of 5 minutes per day for about a month before we were ready to try. Then, once we knew what to do with our hands we could add our feet.

To try out this craft a hand-held spindle and some fiber are all that's required. Since I haven't found a fiber store in Germany yet, I have purchased many items on-line from Mielke's Fiber Arts, LLC. I would recommend a Fiber Sampler which is a bag with small amounts of fiber of many different colors and a basic spindle. I bought the one with the sheep on it and it works great. If money is tight a spindle can be constructed from a wooden dowel, old CD and a hook.

This post is linked to
Trivium Tuesdays
Yarn Along