Is there such a thing as "cute" middle (or high school) level materials?

[Dmmetler]

Specifically, is there anything out there that would appeal to an 8 yr old who still loves cute and cuddly (and for whom the pictures in SM were perfect), but who really needs high school levels of depth and detail in most subject areas? We're curriculum shopping for next year, and she keeps gravitating to these cute, colorful workbooks and the like-only to put them down with a sad look when she realizes that they barely go beyond multiplication or that the science content doesn't live up to her standards. We're having trouble with literature for the same reason-basically, she can read the same books she's been reading for years on her own, or she can leave "cute" behind, and if anything, I think she's clinging to those talking animal books for dear life. She asked me to order SSL 2 for her-which I suspect will completely disappoint her given that she's doing Cambridge 2 this year-but I think she just wanted the cute monkey. I think she loved Math Kangaroo in large part because of the logo (and the fact that they gave her a stuffed kangaroo)-it was a math competition that had hard problems, but still had a cute mascot.

 

She's struggling socially because the older kids in our homeschool group, many of whom got along well with DD, are moving into serious pre-teen stuff, and DD just isn't there emotionally yet. Some of the kids her age are very happy with the K-3 kids, some are happy with the would-be pre-teens, and DD just isn't quite happy anywhere. I think she's kind of clinging to the animal books because she doesn't want to dive into Twilight and the Hunger Games, and that may be why she keeps looking at books with cute covers and cartoons.

 

Fred and MCT have both been good fits-I plan to focus on writing next year and do a bridge year before starting Voyage, simply because I don't think she's gotten the depth out of Town yet, and she'll continue with Fred (she wants to do Fred Physics, as well as continue using him for Algebra-she's done the two Pre-Algebra books, with lots of supplements, this year), and they're still at least a little cute-but they're not the brightly colored pages and cute pictures that Singapore Math (and science) had for her.

[brownie]

I'm looking into Ferret it Out by Fireworks press next year. That might appeal.

 

Also, DS read all the Wrrior books which are talking animals and in the YA section at our library. Also, what about Redwall?

I hate to tell you but at 10 we're still struggling to find books bc there is little appropriate to read for a 10 year old boy who has been reading at a 6th grade level for 5 years. Classics would be fine but that is not what he would typically choose to read. Really he is past the YA section ability-wise, but what would I even allow him to read in the adult section? Stephen King? Probably not appropriate for a boy who still needs the blind down at night before he'll enter a room :)

[lewelma]

For Biology we used these cute and cuddly books:

 

The Way Life Works

The Cartoon Guide to Genetics

The Stuff of Life

The Way We Work

 

For Physics:

How Things Work

Life of Fred Physics

The Cartoon Guide to Physics

 

For Chemistry:

The Cartoon Guide to Chemistry

McHenry's The Elements (much lower level than above, but very fun for memorizing)

 

These are mostly high school level,

 

Ruth in NZ

[dbmamaz]

I'm confused, you are buying her 2nd grade curriculum and asking for high school material? what about starting with upper elementary? you might want to look at more computer based, maybe? idk. brainpop is all cartoon. i agree with redwall books. and also maybe the dragonsinger series. there are a lot of cartoon-based books . . .i find a lot of them pretty dry. like cartoon guide to the constitution and such. check out super scratch adventure. we enjoyed this anime-style biography series and this human body series.

[Laura Corin]

Galore Park has cartoons up to middle school level.

 

Laura

[La Condessa]

Not curriculum, but would she like James Herriot's adult books? Those don't have cute pictures, but they are gentle, heartwarming stories about animals.

[Dmmetler]

She's pretty much already done the upper elementary stuff-she was going through about 3 grade levels or more in a year until this year when we mostly hit middle school content. She likes Brainpop, but complains that she rarely learns anything new from it-she prefers Khan academy, TED talks, and Spongelab. Her recent EXPLORE scores would qualify her to go to the PS STEM magnet high school (if they'd accept an 8 yr old), so it's really that she NEEDS the greater depth-but also needs cute. I'm not considering what she's doing high school yet because her output isn't high school level, so I'm expecting that we'll be using college level materials for high school classes.

[Nan in Mass]

Oh - poor lamb. I completely sympathize.

 

What about manga? You'd have to investigate carefully because some look cute and are cute and some look cute and have a powerful emotional impact. I know nothing about these but you might be able to investigate? http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_3_14?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=manga+guide+to+physics&sprefix=manga+guide+to%2Caps%2C522 Some of the stories (not the guides I listed - those are non-fiction) are ageless and beautiful. The Singapore middle school science is appealing. It looks the same as the PM books, as far as I remember. Cartoon kids. The Draw Squad stuff is appealing. She might like the Cat Wings series. She's probably still a little young but The Dark Lord of Derkholm and Year of the Griffin (preread to figure out when she will be ready - it isn't exactly cute but the main character, a magician, has made himself flying pigs and griffins and talking geese and ponies). We stuck with the folk tales section of the library about that age. It's in with the non-fiction. She might like the Dealing with Dragons series. I think mine like the Chresomancy novels soon after that age, and Dragon Song and Dragon Singer (Dragon Drums is more adult). Has she read Wind in the Willows and Winnie the Pooh? Pooh is hysterical to read and has lovely Kanga and Pooh in it. An illustrated version of Wind in the Willows is likely to appeal to her. Neither is really "cute" but they contain very appealing animals and unless she is super super sensitive, they are age appropriate. She might like A Secret Garden, too. The beginning of that is tough, so pre-read to make sure she can handle it. She might trip up over the Yorkshire dialect, too, and want to wait a bit.

 

Nan

[Arcadia]

Her recent EXPLORE scores would qualify her to go to the PS STEM magnet high school (if they'd accept an 8 yr old), so it's really that she NEEDS the greater depth-but also needs cute.

 

 

Read a news article and thought of this thread. Look at the MIT comic "This comic produced at MIT explains the basics of synthetic biology and programming cells:"

 

ETA:

The Manga Guide to Statistics is funny but has boy girl relationship content.

[Dmmetler]

She loves the Dealing with Dragons books, How to Train your Dragon, and similar books. She also likes the Myth Conceptions series and the earlier Xanth books (I won't let her read the later ones-too strange and too much innuendo). She's very into fantasy. I'll have to try Herriot. I have most of Diana Wynne Jones' books-maybe do one as a shared read-aloud. I haven't tried any of McCafferty because I know that they get into some rather adult situations at times, and I couldn't remember which were better for younger kids.

 

She loves Pooh, Paddington, Wind in the Willows, Cricket in Times Square and the other books by that author, Dick King-Smith, and similar books, plus almost anything with fantasy, fairies, unicorns, and dragons-as long as the animals are treated well and don't end up dead. Basically, she's been reading the same type of fiction since she was 5, and hasn't moved on much. She reads a TON of animal-related non-fiction, too, and is very hot under the collar about environmental issues. She's currently planning a "Save the Frogs" day co-op for our house, where she wants to teach the other kids about amphibians, amphibian habitats, and conservation issues (and fortunately, we have several families who are MORE than willing to let DD teach their younger DC-the hard part is getting her to keep the content level appropriate for 5-8 yr olds. She's done 3 of these on different topics so far this year). Her current goal in life is to be an exotic vet and researcher, preferably one that travels around the world, gets to learn languages, and does hard math problems :).

 

I'll have to look at Singapore middle school science. She did the old Singapore Science series through 6B and enjoyed them.

[Crimson Wife]

What about Singapore DM8? That is algebra 1 and looks very similar to the PM books.

[dbmamaz]

Other animal themed books like my friend flicka and whale rider? Bang the universe verse is Seuss like but goes in to great detail. Red wall is animals, but they do sometimes kill each other. Waters hip down also, they do kill a few rabbits. Cartoon guide to . . .those are all high school level. George's secret adventure is maybe too young, but again, good science. Lol please not animal farm, that scarred me lol. That is a tall order, to find things to match that gap in maturity and ability

[Nan in Mass]

You might ask somebody about the Galore Park stuff. The ones I've seen (very few) were rather like Singapore PM in their appealingness.

 

Dragon Song has a scene in it where the girl is trying to rescue some baby dragons from worms falling from the sky and eating them. Only some of the dragons make it. You better pre-read that scene. Other than that, I think Dragon Song and Dragon Singer are the ONLY two that don't have adult situations in them. Be aware that there are references to kittens being drowned (which I myself found upsetting as a teenager, even though of course I knew this was done) in some of the L. M. Montgomery books. Dark Lord of Derkholm has some creepy soldiers bothering one of the daughters so make sure you wait on that. Just remembered that scene. It sounds like she discovered most of what I found for my children. I hope she likes rereading. Sigh. When she's just a bit older and more interested in people, there will be lots of older books that she can read, but until then, it is rather difficult. I waited a bit on books like Redwall, which had lots of violence, and the Herriot ones, which have people losing beloved pets. We had the same problem. It is difficult. Perhaps we should write some lol.

 

Nan

[Nan in Mass]

You might want to pre-read My Friend Flicka. The gelding scene is pretty horrific and it contains lots of normal ranch life.

 

Nan

[freerange]

Galore park warning: SYRWTL English 2 (I think) had a rather gory except from The Machine Gunners and some of the books suggested in the reading lists are imho a couple of years too old for the target age range. Other than that, we like them a lot.

[SarahW]

She loves the Dealing with Dragons books, How to Train your Dragon, and similar books. She also likes the Myth Conceptions series and the earlier Xanth books (I won't let her read the later ones-too strange and too much innuendo). She's very into fantasy. I'll have to try Herriot. I have most of Diana Wynne Jones' books-maybe do one as a shared read-aloud. I haven't tried any of McCafferty because I know that they get into some rather adult situations at times, and I couldn't remember which were better for younger kids.

 

I was an advanced reader at an early age who loved fantasy and read a lot of Stephen Lawhead's books. He's Christian, so his books are pretty clean. But iirc there are a few scenes of marauding Celts and the like doing violent things, so you will have to select carefully (I think the Pendragon books had the most violence, the Song of Albion books not so much, but there were some allusions to mature themes, but not in a lewd way). I see now that he's released children's books with talking animals: http://stephenlawhead.com/riverbank-stories.html. From glancing at the preview on Amazon it looks like the reading level is at least Middle School.

 

Has she read George MacDonald's children fantasy books yet?

 

I understand the dilemma. I find it funny when people act all shocked about Game of Thrones. If you've ever read a mainstream fantasy book, most of that stuff is just the usual normal plot points. :o

[Greenmama2]

Not sure how sensitive she is but Watership Down traumatized me.

[dbmamaz]

i read watership down in . . . 5th grade? i LOVED it, even tho there were a few scary scenes. 2 years later the yearling traumatized me. watership down is the single book i've read more times than any other book! i went through a serious animal books phase later in grade school, most dog books, but i dont seem to remember many right now.

[Barbara H]

Have you already used the Ellen McHenry curriculum? They aren't colorful but they are kid-like and feature a lot of fun kiddish activities (plays, hands on craft activites, songs) but they have some pretty high level content included. There's some college level stuff in the chemistry curriculum but it is mixed in with making trading cards and other very elementary school friendly kind of activities.

 

I'm also wondering if she might like some of the kid's Shakespeare materials. She might appreciate the colorful versions and it might transition into helping her feel more comfortable with slightly more mature themes - eventually transitioning to watching and reading full length versions. We too had a kid who wasd very committed to and clinged to animal stories (it sounds like the exact same ones too) and Shakespeare and mythology were the things that helped with broadening interests and comfort level a bit. Of course start with the gentlest stories first.

[quark]

Maybe not cuddly, but there are some cute illustrations and such (e.g. Ellen McHenry style) in:

The Martin Gardner Aha! Gotcha and Aha! Insight math books (B/W cartoon style)

The Number Devil (colorful illustrations)

Murderous Maths and Horrible Science/ Histories but not sure if the humor will appeal to her (B/W cartoon style)

Thinking Physics by Epstein, Instant Physicist by Muller and Get a Grip on Physics by Gribbin ((B/W cartoon style)

[kiwik]

I had watership down read to me at about 7 and I dindn't find it scary and I don't even remember the gelding scene in my friend flicka. That would be completely meaningless if it wasn't for the fact that I was terrified of the lion, the witch and the wardrobe and still can't watch anything scary. Perhaps it was growing up on a farm. You know your child best. Has she tried Rosemary Sutcliff? Alan Gardner? The black cauldron etc? I loved rosemary Harris' the moon in the cloud etc.

[Nan in Mass]

Not sure how sensitive she is but Watership Down traumatized me.

 

 

I was ok with it but I read it when I was 14. It starts out pretty horrendously - bloody dreams forewarning the plowing up of a field with rabbit warrens, if I remember it correctly. Definately pre-read. The writing is vivid so the fear and horror are very real, unlike some books which are written in a more removed style, making them easier to read if you are sensitive. There were also other bad happenings in the book. Throughout it (again - IF I remember it correctly), the rabbits are looking for a safe place to live, so there is a strong sense of danger and fear and sadness until the end, when they find someplace to settle. What is attractive about the book is the friendships, the real-seeming-ness, and the rabbit-ness of the rabbits. I think, at least. It's been awhile since I have read it.

 

Lots of good books begin with something horrible. A Little Princess. The Secret Garden. Watership Down. Dragon Song. And then there are the ones that don't, like Dragon Singer (girl with dragons goes to school).

 

I second the George McDonald fantasies. Mine liked The Secret of Platform 13, also, although it made it a bit disconcerting to read Harry Potter later lol.

 

Nan