‘Books and Resources’ Archives
Smart, curious, alert, observant…
I once again came across this wonderful quote from John Holt, and thought it deserved sharing: “What makes people smart, curious, alert, observant, competent, confident, resourceful, persistent – in the broadest and best sense, intelligent – is not having [Read More]
Growing Without Schooling
It’s the best not-back-to-school gift an unschooler could ask for: the newly revised www.holtgws.com site! All the back issues of Growing Without Schooling are now available online for free, as well as many articles, videos, and recordings by and about John Holt. [Read More]
Plywood Play Planks
These Plywood Play Planks look like the coolest thing since Lincoln Logs, although on a much grander scale. When I was a kid, I had a little cardboard playhouse that we loved, but of course it fell apart after a while. I can only imagine how fun it would have been to [Read More]
Winter Reading for Snowy Days
While watching the beginnings of some snowfall yesterday with a few families with young children, I noticed how mesmerized the kids were by the beautiful snowflakes. This reminded me of one of our favorite winter books, Snowflake Bentley, by Jacqueline Briggs Martin. [Read More]
A Collection of Fairy Tales
Over the years, we enjoyed a wonderful collection of children’s fairy tales. We read traditional tales, newer versions from favorite authors, and variants from different countries. The more we read, the more we were able to find various retellings, often with plot [Read More]
Predictable Books for Emergent Readers
Predictable books are delightful for reading aloud together, and they’re great for emergent readers as they’re learning to read. Here are some of our favorites: Over in the Meadow by Ezra Jack Keats Benny’s Pennies by Pat Brisson Rosie’s Walk by [Read More]
Series Books for Young Readers
There is a great variety of children’s literature available today, so as children are learning to read, there’s no reason to give up quality of content just to gain simpler texts for young readers to enjoy. There are many easy reader series books now that are [Read More]
Konexi: The gravity-defying word game
We recently found a great new game called konexi. It’s a 3D word-building game somewhat like Scrabble or Bananagrams plus Jenga. It’s an interactive group game with players trying to build words within the group’s connected tower of letters. Each [Read More]
Children’s Books
Picture Books with Patterned Writing, Repetitive Language and Predictable Text Over the years, we’ve loved reading children’s picture books filled with patterned writing, repetitive language, or predictable text. These might include alphabet books, counting [Read More]
Lewis and Clark
When Ben was about nine, we went with friends to an IMAX film about Lewis and Clark at the local science center. It was a great film, and we wanted to know more. We became fascinated with learning everything we could about the lives of Meriwether Lewis and William [Read More]