What are some good books to have on hand for the early years of homeschooling (pre-k through 6th or so)? Books with good general information, that can be used with a variety of curriculum and homeschooling styles?
Having a well-stocked library is the key to the love of reading and learning. Kids are naturally curious about the world around them, so having good reference materials makes learning fun!
The Children's Encyclopedia is a favorite in our house. We have used it as an integral part of 2 years of curriculum, but it's also been a good reference book just for fun. It is very well loved in our house! I recommend the large version. The smaller version is cheaper, but this book is used a LOT and I really like having the larger print version.
Every kid has trouble spots. But rather than make them do boring practice, make it fun! It's as simple as laminated cards and a wipe-off marker. We have Brain Puzzles, Logic Puzzles (both are good for improving concentration), Math Puzzles, Word Puzzles, French, Tricky Words to Spell, and Grammar and Punctuation
Another of my very favorite resources is the Learning Palette. The base is sturdy and you can buy card sets as your kids grow. (PS, This set is pricey, but it's a great reason to have a Book Party, the Usborne hostess rewards are awesome!). You can get cards for math and phonics, all different levels. These are self-grading, so kids can do them on their own!
There are also some great math facts practice with the Wrap-ups, also self grading! Great tools for extra math practice that aren't worksheets.
Now we have reading. Teaching or helping kids learn to read is a daunting task. Usborne makes it fun and easy. I'm going to give you a couple of different options, you can choose depending on your needs.
First option is a reading program, something to teach your kids to read. Usborne has two great Reading Programs. The Very First Reading Program comes with 15 books that progressively walk through the phenomes. The books start with a lot of parent reading, with just a few words that the child can confidently read. As you progress through, the child reads more and more. It also comes with a parent guide. These are great books that we use in our homeschool. Fun, engaging stories that help build reading confidence systematically.
There is also a Start to Read Pack with stickers, activity book and poster and 8 paperbacks from the Very First Reading Set. There's also a free website to practice the first stages of reading - teachyourmonstertoread.com
The First Reading Program is the next step with great stories that get progressively harder. Fun stories with great illustrations. It also comes with a Parent's Guide to help you through.
If you don't need help teaching phonics, but instead are just looking for great easy readers for young children, look no further. My absolute favorite early readers (we love them so much, it inspired my blog name!) are the Usborne Farmyard Tales. There are 6 different titles in the series. They are written especially for young readers (though my 4th grader still loves to read it). Three of the books come with CDs. This is an undervalued rescource, in my opinion! These stories are so good, your kids will want to listen to them all the time, but what mom has time for that? Pop the CD in and they can read along (Note: the CD does not have page-turn sounds, but if they are semi-familiar with the stories, they can kinda follow along without the sounds).
Here is a look inside. If you notice, the top lines are simple, the bottom lines are more complex. The top lines alone make a whole story. This is so a young reader can read the "whole" story all by himself! What a confidence booster! The bottom lines add detail to the story. He can read it with you and take turns, he reads the top line, you read the bottom lines. As he gains confidence, he can add the bottom lines and read the entire story by himself. The stories are cute, the characters lovable. And since we live on a farm, we have fallen in love the Farmyard Tales. Our favorite is The Complete Book of Farmyard Tales, but I'll list them all for you below.
I hope this helps! Usborne has lots of reference materials, Science, Math, History, but these are my favorites that tend to be classics.
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