Dover Publications has some beautiful coloring books - they make me want to break open the Crayolas! They sent me a coupon and I had to share.

These books aren't for little kids, with bug-eyed cartoon princesses - oh no, they are anatomically, factually, and historically correct high quality books designed for slightly older kids and adults.

You can get books on famous fashion designers of the past, with drawings of Paquin and Chanel. You can get books of traditional Japanese design. You can get a book based on Greek myths, and color the Argonauts. I subscribe to the e-mail free sample, and save and print the images. The children always love them! They also have paper dolls, books, collections of poems, and more. How cool is this one? Sistine Chapel They also have Van Gogh, Degas, Casset, and more masterpieces in coloring books AND art cards.

The truly organized among us - cough, cough, not me! cough cough - will see this as a golden opportunity to stock up for Christmas gifts/ school year birthday closet gifts, especially since this week crayons, colored pencils, and other school supplies are deeply discounted.

Here's the coupon code - $10 off a $40 order.

This year in our homeschool, we will be covering Montessori's The Great Lessons for science, Basic Topography, and then Early Man for social studies (with a little patriotism thrown in - the kids don't know any of the classic songs!). Actually, by the time we hit Early Man for Social Studies, we should also be hitting it for Science, so it's a two-fer!

The first of the Great Lessons involve the Creation of the universe, and basic earth science - solar system, volcanoes, rocks and minerals. Later lessons progress through time with the coming of life, the coming of man, etc. The Montessorian approach goes from BIG to small... and so the creation of the earth is taught first, and gradually the subjects become more and more narrow. This is opposite of most approaches, that start narrowly and grow broader (i.e., self, then family, then state, then country, or self, other mammals, other major animal groups, etc.)

I chose Early Man (I'm planning an overview through early Biblical times, with vertical history for the development of agriculture, simple machines, etc.) because I think that will be a good base for their catechism and next few semester's studies, when we will do Ancient Greece, Rome, and Egypt. There are no larger political issues that may be difficult for a second grader to grasp, or inappropriate for me to explain to them. Also, it's not something my fledgling readers need to cover in depth, unlike, say, 18th century European history or 19th century American history. Although, it would be kinda neat to study the Civil war while we live here in Charleston, where you can visit forts, battle sites, plantations, and slave museums! They are simply not old enough though.

To make a long story short, a skill that continues to elude me, as demonstrated in the previous paragraph, here's what I have my eye on: (these are just the coloring books - they have lots of other booklets too!)

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES:
Constellations of the Night Sky (Science)
Learning About the Solar System (Science) (Pocket sized and only $1.50!)
Exploring the Solar System (Science) (maybe)
Rocks and Minerals (Science) (yes, a coloring book of rocks. I am the mother of boys!)
The Dinosaur Coloring Book (Science) (includes the animals and plant life of the Mesozoic Era)
Prehistoric Man
The Story of Stonehenge and other Megalithic Sites

(not coloring books, I think these would be great for three-part cards though)
Learning About Rocks
Learning About Minerals

(and, because my life is not exciting enough... but it ties in nicely with the three states of matter and other physical science from the Great Lessons)
Physics Experiments for Children

LITERATURE:
Aesop's Fables (for literature)
A Child's Garden of Verses (Literature) (for $2.77, how could I not?)

PERSONAL INTEREST
Sharks (Mr. R)
Shells of the World (We go to the beach almost every weekend)
Bible Stories Woodcuts (from a 15th century Bible)


Yeah, I know it's a lot of links. Too bad Dover doesn't have an associate program like Amazon! However, if I put the list, with links, in the computer, it increases my chances of being able to find the list when it comes time to order! Much easier than a slip of paper that the children might scribble on....blow their nose one ... lose.

Labels: children, education, Family Life, Frugal