Enriching our homeschool, delighting in beauty

[KBadd]

I'm evaluating this school year as are 3 weeks in. What I'm seeing is I'm happy with our core subjects and our history (SOTW) is a favorite. But I'd like to find more resources we can just delight in. Things that will enrich our homeschool, where we can appreciate those things which are true, and beautiful, and good.

 

This year I'm homeschooling a 2nd grader and 1st grader. I also have a 3yo and 3 month old.

 

I use WTM recommendations for pretty much all our subjects, and academically things are great. Teaching these subjects comes naturally to me. Going on a nature walk does not. But I want to take time to refresh our home with poetry, nature study, music, drawing, literature, and other science studies. Morning Time has been key to our homeschool the last month, but I want to add to it.

 

Help. What are some good resources I can look to for direction in these areas?

 

For poetry, we have A Child's Book of Poems. I need to read it more consistently. Any other suggestions?

 

I want to teach my boys to draw (and learn myself!) What is a good resource? I believe I have Drawing with Children on my shelf. Is that easy to implement and teach, and is it beneficial? Or is there another good resource for beginners? We have Artistic Pursuits but I feel like we need more instruction in the basics. Or maybe I just need to dive into it.

 

We went through My First Classical Music Book and loved it. Where do I go from here in music and composer study?

 

We read lots of science books from the library, but my sons and I would prefer more structure and more hands-on projects.

 

How in the world do I do nature study?

 

Lastly, what do you use for booklists for literature and Bible? We do SOTW books and those are good, but I'd like more enriching literature. What resources would you use for 1st and 2nd graders?

 

I've heard a few friends mention Ambleside, and I know they have recommended resources that cover these areas. Would this be a good resource to look into for us?

 

Thanks for your input.

 

 

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

[Kiara.I]

Adding the really enriching things can be tough.  They're harder to quantify, they don't have an obvious sequence, and it can be tough to make them fit in.  It becomes a question of making them routine...

 

Your morning time is a great spot to add in a daily poem, or (and!) poem memorization.  You could read from some lovely nature books.  If you look for blogs about Morning Baskets they quite often list books they've used.  You can also just look through poems yourself, and pick ones you like and want to share with them.

 

No, Drawing with Children is not very easy to implement.  Fortunately, some people have done the work and posted it online.  ;)  http://www.donnayoung.org/art/draw-w-children-l1-lessons.htm

 

You can keep using Artistic Pursuits alongside.

 

I'm not familiar with the music book you mention.  You could get music by a particular composer out of the library and listen to it for 3 or 4 weeks in a row, to increase familiarity with music by that composer.

 

 

You might like either Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding or Science in the Beginning.  Both have a good deal of hands-on work.

 

THere are lots of book lists around.  Ambleside Online's book lists I believe are available online.  You could also look at the Mensa book lists.

[EmseB]

You might look at Memoria Press enrichment. It's designed for exactly what you're talking about. Art, music, nature, read alouds -- exposure to beauty and goodness. You can do as much with each subject that you want, or just look and listen and enjoy. It's labeled by K-2 grade level, but all the packages are basically interchangeable and even my older guy likes the selections.

 

ETA: it also incorporates poems from A Child's Book of Poems and Animals, Animals

Edited September 1, 2016 by JodiSue

[Amateur Actress]

Besides AmblesideOnline, which is great for book lists and actual schedules for each term, you could look at Simply Charlotte Mason. They have a scheduling book you can buy for all those Enrichment activities, only costs about $17. Someone above said these kinds of activities can be hard to implement and I totally agree, having failed at it in the past. This book has been great. SCM also sells Picture Study Portfolios on many different artists and similar items for composer study, hymn study, Shakespeare, scripture memory (free download from their website), poetry study, nature study, and handicrafts. But you don't need to buy their stuff. Get CDs from the library. Mike Venezia has great books for children about artists and composers which most libraries have. Get a children's Shakespeare book from the library, as well as children's poetry books. Robert Louis Stevenson is a great poet with which to start...lots of cool children's poems. For nature study, start small...Give each child a small sketchbook and walk around your yard seeing what insects, leaves, animals you can find and have them draw that. It is helpful to have field guides for identification and A Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock is popular. It is important to note that each of these "studies" only needs to be done once a week for 15-30 min. Short lessons are key to keep interest. Of course you can tweak things to fit your family.

[Miss Tick]

Another boardie put together a year-long nature curriculum that would be great for the ages of your kids, Exploring Nature with Children.

 

https://payhip.com/b/vWOq

[ExcitedMama]

I completely get where you are coming from! I can follow the next thing in the different subjects that need teaching but I'm no good at all with coming up with artsy or CM type things at all. That's why we did MP K Enrichment last year and I bought the 1st grade one for this year. By having a plan to follow it guarantees that we do an artist study, music study and read poetry. ELTL 1 has also been great because it forces me to read poetry with each lesson, has occasional picture studies and classic literature to read. His science also has recommendations for outside nature stuff with most lessons, Elemental Science, so maybe you could find a way to incorporate nature studies with your science. I can't help with art, I have had Artistic Pursuits sitting on a shelf for about a year now without opening!

[Rosie_0801]

Nature study can be going outside, finding interesting things and drawing them into a journal. You can then get reference books or apply to Google to find out what the interesting things are called. We used to visit the same sites in the major terrain types of our state each season, and hopefully will again in the future. We also engage in citizen science when the opportunity is there and have been experimenting with edible weeds. We've got a batch of wild lettuce kvass brewing at the moment, since the wild lettuce is making it's yearly attempt to take over my world. Dd has got a lot of value out of the Herb Fairy books.

[2_girls_mommy]

Drawing with Children isn't easy as in the lessons are planned out for you. But it isn't hard. Just read the book. Look at that thread for ideas. And maybe google for lesson plans. There used to be some free ones online. I know Donna Young is now a site that charges. Hers was free and had lesson plans, but there may be others.  But it is worth it. We did it over 2 years, and still never even got to the last section on drawing people. And we did FANTASTIC art. We all did it together. Truly enriched our lives. I am such a better art teacher in general because of that book.

 

Keeping a Nature Journal is only $11 right now on Amazon, by Clare Walker Leslie. Its a good resource for you to guide you. Just do yours and encourage the kids at their levels. But there are tons of other books. My library has this book too. I just used it from there this summer.

 

I love the Arty facts Science and Art activities books. I don't think they make them anymore. There are a few on Amazon Prime, but mostly just used ones. I am thinking of picking up another one after looking them up just now. :) But our library has them. I would check yours. My 7th grader just did a project from the Earth one today to go along with our Earth Science unit study we are wrapping up. GREAT series for enriching science and art for all ages.

 

Usborne makes great art books. They have all kinds from crafty ones to ones for Christmas projects. There is one on art skills, but most give easy step by step multi media projects with some skills techniques in them that encourage creativity and that come out great. Hard to mess up. I can't even give just one title. All that we have used are good. I love the Christmas one which we do one to two from each December, but also the others that we have checked out from the library.

 

I also like the Usborne art appreciation books: Usborne Introduction to Art and Book of Famous Artists.

 

We love the Memoria Press Art Cards. I have never bought their enrichment program, but we have bought the Kindergarten art cards and used them for memorizing paintings and genres. We would memorize a painting with artist and style. Then we would read from the above Usborne books on the artist and period and look at other art from the time period. I rotate which painting is out from our stack constantly.

 

The What Your X Grader Needs to Know series has good poetry and common sayings that are good to know. Plus those books have art and music sections with some reading and how tos, along with book lists and a very few project ideas. But those would often lead to a good unit with library materials on the subjects and doing the projects that came up in them. For early elementary I would just pick one and do it with both girls.

 

We just do art, any kind constantly. We take art classes at the library and at craft stores and at co-op. When my kids were little a teacher supply store had free crafts on Sat. mornings we would go to. And I took them to library craft and story times. Anything I could think of. While at the library we would check out the art and craft shelf and check out plenty. We would check out the science shelves and find things. And then we would walk trails outside and look at the ducks or the fish and pick up feathers and rocks for some nature study. At home we would read some good books and poetry, and at some point while younger was napping I would have the school aged one do some math and writing and silent reading. At least once a week that was school through 2nd grade or so.

 

I am really trying to focus on skills and the beautiful this year too. Today my 7th grader did 3 projects to wrap up her first 5 weeks of school. She did the Arty Facts mountains painting with lots of different things in the layers of the earth like sand, painted bubble wrap, soil mixed with paint. She did a Matisse style cut out poster after our recent visit to an art museum and reading about him, and she did a travel poster about Egypt because of her history studies this past month. We are reading aloud daily from about three different books, and she is reading poetry at least once a week from What Your 7th Grader Needs to Know. She does Nature Journaling once a week.  I am very happy with how our first month of school has gone too. :)

 

 

[wintermom]

I love the idea of "delighting in beauty." I think you really need to look at this from your dc's eyes, though, and not your own adult eyes (as enthusiastic as they are!).

 

Keep things really simple.  Young kids like very simple colours, shapes, activities, games and themes.  Objects from nature are usually beautiful in children's eyes; a pinecone, a rock, sticks, different kinds and colours of leaves, dirt.   We used to have a collection of objects from nature on a little table. It would include seasonal things. You could do some simple art activities with them, as well. 

 

We loved, and still do, the Classical Kids CDs (Beethoven Lives Upstairs, Bach Come to Call, etc.). They include wonderful classical music, stories about the composers, and fictional story-lines. 

 

As for art programs, drawing is a very challenging, fine motor skill that most young children have difficulty with. Colouring can be easier for some, but even then some do not enjoy it.  When my gang was young, my dd did all her ARTistic Pursuits projects on cats, while the boys did all Star Wars themes. Our "Art Gallery" on the wall had 10 cat pictures and 20 Star Wars pictures with light sabres.  :laugh:

Edited September 2, 2016 by wintermom

[calihil]

My kids are similar ages. We do Morning Time (memorizing Psalms, Bible passages, catechism, poetry) and I love to read "living" science books, like Parables of Nature and the Among the ___ People books. We also love to go outside and just see what we can find. When my kids find something neat (like right now we have a butterfly garden that is swarming with little caterpillars and chrysalides), I ask them, "What does this tell us about God?" And we'll have a discussion about God's glory being found in these little creatures, how God is creative, how He cares for even the little caterpillars. We also like to do artist study (I like the resources on AmblesideOnline) and composer study and read poetry. For that age it really is enough!

[justme824]

My best advice is to peg enchanted education moments into your natural routines. This has helped us tremendously in making sure these types of things get done regularly. For us that is mealtimes, right after lunch (one more thing after lunch is one of the best tips I have every gotten - everyone is full and happy, toddlers and babies are typically napping, you can squeeze in those simple, yet enchanting, projects - then send everyone off to quiet time!), Friday afternoons when we are done with our regularly stuff, afternoon snack, etc. Things you are doing everyday anyway, so you spruce it up a bit by reading aloud excellent literature, or following up lunch with time for art. Popping in a Classical Kids CD while you eat breakfast. Enjoy poetry while you have an afternoon snack. I peg different types of read alouds to different days/meals. I love the short, simple lessons that are rich with beauty and enchantment. I'd take a look at your natural routine, peg in a couple things and see how it goes. Once you have a good routine you can add more, or maybe see that what you added is just perfect for right now.

 

Here are some things that I have pegged in our routines through the week. We aren't doing all of this now, but just highlighting things that have been successful to give you ideas.

 

*Poetry Tea - I pegged this to afternoon snack. we combine this with a baking day so we can cook up a treat, then we all pull off our favorite poetry book from the shelves, set a nice table, eat and enjoy poetry. We do this every single Wednesday. I don't have them memorize, but they definitely do and we have recently started off our time with reciting those we have memorized.

 

*Fairty Tale Tea - Also pegged to afternoon snack. we use our leftover baked goods a couple days later and we read a short (or sometimes tall!) stack of fairy tales. I try to select a tried and true favorite, something new to us (maybe a different version of one we have already read), and then I read a tale from the blue fairy book.

 

*Nature Study - Every single Tuesday no matter (unless we are super sick) what we head out and explore our area, trying to go to different locations, but also returning to favorites so we can watch the change with the seasons. For us we prefer to explore, look in detail with a magnifying glass, take pictures, collect if we can, etc. The day after we will choose one thing we saw, photographed, collected, etc. and do a bit of research. This is done right after lunch. Then we will sketch it in a journal. My oldest will do a short written narration. I'll scribe for my 5-year-old whatever he wants me to write. This year we are trying to focus on a topic each month and reading a few books along the way. But honestly, we've been doing nature study for years without any extras and it has been perfect. Oh, you can also check out Harmony Art Mom - she's has excellent info on nature study. This year we are also loving Nature Anatomy and Farm Anatomy. We have also loved naturexplorers by shining dawn books.

 

*Art - we love art very, very much. We do this every day after lunch and different days are pegged with different types of art. It is the perfect time for us because I usually read aloud at lunch as long as the toddler lets me, then I have to finish up once she's napping. They'll do art while I read. I read plenty of literature about famous artists Wednesday over breakfast. My favorite are picture books, but there are several books that have a collection of artists that we also use - try Usborne or 13 famous paintings every child should know (this is a great series). We also enjoy the books by Mike Venezia. I did artistic pursuits with my oldest and just used time and practice to get him drawing. The more they draw the more comfortable they get. The key is just giving them plenty of opportunities. I find random art projects online to do and we just do them. One book we have really enjoyed working through is 52 art project for kids - I highly recommend this. We work through one project a week. We have also enjoyed Hodgpodge chalk pastels, working with sculpey clay, projects from Deep Space Sparkle, Harmony Art Mom, and just simply working with excellent art supplies. Maybe you don't want to do this much art, so just peg Artistic Pursuits to every Monday (or a day that works) after lunch - read it at the beginning of lunch, then have the supplies ready for them to create when they finish eating while you are still reading aloud from a chapter book.

 

*Science - we have been loving the science kits from Steve Spangler Science. We subscribe and they come once a month. These have been excellent for us and we have never had to add more than water! We also read plenty from the library and do any experiments we can mentioned in the book. My oldest loved the Magic School Bus videos, books, and science kits. I am hoping to get my 5-year-old some of the science kits soon because he loves the show. We have also started using Mystery Science and give it two thumbs up.

 

*Music - love Classical Kids cds! We also love reading picture books from the library. I don't really do much more than that. I'd love to check out SQUILT at some point.

 

*Literature - picture books are our love language here, with a healthy dose of good literature read aloud. We are working through the FIAR booklist, some titles on the Homeschool Share list. We love picture book biographies and fairy tales. Oh my, I could give you a list of excellent picture books that are worth taking the time to read that would last you a couple years at least. If you'd like me to I am more than happy to share! I love the color fairy books by Lang (The Blue Fairy Book, The Red Fairy Book, etc.). Thorton Burgess is amazing! Bruce Coville has excellent picture books for Shakespeare for a nice introduction. Little House, Charlotte's Web, Roald Dahl, Winnie the Pooh, Pippi Longstocking, Cricket in Times Square, Little Britches, Narnia. I could keep going and I am happy to if it will help. Oh, and check out Read Aloud Revival - she has an excellent list.

[KBadd]

My best advice is to peg enchanted education moments into your natural routines. This has helped us tremendously in making sure these types of things get done regularly. For us that is mealtimes, right after lunch (one more thing after lunch is one of the best tips I have every gotten - everyone is full and happy, toddlers and babies are typically napping, you can squeeze in those simple, yet enchanting, projects - then send everyone off to quiet time!), Friday afternoons when we are done with our regularly stuff, afternoon snack, etc. Things you are doing everyday anyway, so you spruce it up a bit by reading aloud excellent literature, or following up lunch with time for art. Popping in a Classical Kids CD while you eat breakfast. Enjoy poetry while you have an afternoon snack. I peg different types of read alouds to different days/meals. I love the short, simple lessons that are rich with beauty and enchantment. I'd take a look at your natural routine, peg in a couple things and see how it goes. Once you have a good routine you can add more, or maybe see that what you added is just perfect for right now.

 

Here are some things that I have pegged in our routines through the week. We aren't doing all of this now, but just highlighting things that have been successful to give you ideas.

 

*Poetry Tea - I pegged this to afternoon snack. we combine this with a baking day so we can cook up a treat, then we all pull off our favorite poetry book from the shelves, set a nice table, eat and enjoy poetry. We do this every single Wednesday. I don't have them memorize, but they definitely do and we have recently started off our time with reciting those we have memorized.

 

*Fairty Tale Tea - Also pegged to afternoon snack. we use our leftover baked goods a couple days later and we read a short (or sometimes tall!) stack of fairy tales. I try to select a tried and true favorite, something new to us (maybe a different version of one we have already read), and then I read a tale from the blue fairy book.

 

*Nature Study - Every single Tuesday no matter (unless we are super sick) what we head out and explore our area, trying to go to different locations, but also returning to favorites so we can watch the change with the seasons. For us we prefer to explore, look in detail with a magnifying glass, take pictures, collect if we can, etc. The day after we will choose one thing we saw, photographed, collected, etc. and do a bit of research. This is done right after lunch. Then we will sketch it in a journal. My oldest will do a short written narration. I'll scribe for my 5-year-old whatever he wants me to write. This year we are trying to focus on a topic each month and reading a few books along the way. But honestly, we've been doing nature study for years without any extras and it has been perfect. Oh, you can also check out Harmony Art Mom - she's has excellent info on nature study. This year we are also loving Nature Anatomy and Farm Anatomy. We have also loved naturexplorers by shining dawn books.

 

*Art - we love art very, very much. We do this every day after lunch and different days are pegged with different types of art. It is the perfect time for us because I usually read aloud at lunch as long as the toddler lets me, then I have to finish up once she's napping. They'll do art while I read. I read plenty of literature about famous artists Wednesday over breakfast. My favorite are picture books, but there are several books that have a collection of artists that we also use - try Usborne or 13 famous paintings every child should know (this is a great series). We also enjoy the books by Mike Venezia. I did artistic pursuits with my oldest and just used time and practice to get him drawing. The more they draw the more comfortable they get. The key is just giving them plenty of opportunities. I find random art projects online to do and we just do them. One book we have really enjoyed working through is 52 art project for kids - I highly recommend this. We work through one project a week. We have also enjoyed Hodgpodge chalk pastels, working with sculpey clay, projects from Deep Space Sparkle, Harmony Art Mom, and just simply working with excellent art supplies. Maybe you don't want to do this much art, so just peg Artistic Pursuits to every Monday (or a day that works) after lunch - read it at the beginning of lunch, then have the supplies ready for them to create when they finish eating while you are still reading aloud from a chapter book.

 

*Science - we have been loving the science kits from Steve Spangler Science. We subscribe and they come once a month. These have been excellent for us and we have never had to add more than water! We also read plenty from the library and do any experiments we can mentioned in the book. My oldest loved the Magic School Bus videos, books, and science kits. I am hoping to get my 5-year-old some of the science kits soon because he loves the show. We have also started using Mystery Science and give it two thumbs up.

 

*Music - love Classical Kids cds! We also love reading picture books from the library. I don't really do much more than that. I'd love to check out SQUILT at some point.

 

*Literature - picture books are our love language here, with a healthy dose of good literature read aloud. We are working through the FIAR booklist, some titles on the Homeschool Share list. We love picture book biographies and fairy tales. Oh my, I could give you a list of excellent picture books that are worth taking the time to read that would last you a couple years at least. If you'd like me to I am more than happy to share! I love the color fairy books by Lang (The Blue Fairy Book, The Red Fairy Book, etc.). Thorton Burgess is amazing! Bruce Coville has excellent picture books for Shakespeare for a nice introduction. Little House, Charlotte's Web, Roald Dahl, Winnie the Pooh, Pippi Longstocking, Cricket in Times Square, Little Britches, Narnia. I could keep going and I am happy to if it will help. Oh, and check out Read Aloud Revival - she has an excellent list.

Thank you for the great suggestions! I'd love it if you shared your booklist with me 😊

 

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

[justme824]

Thank you for the great suggestions! I'd love it if you shared your booklist with me 😊

 

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

 

Will do once everyone goes to bed this evening :)

[Guest]

Ok, here's the thing.

 

Do you think the pictures in the scm or the memoria press collections are BEAUTIFUL AND GEEZ JUST FANTASTIC ?

 

cause if you don't, don't bother.

 

WHAT do you think is beautiful? Find a picture. Just sit there, either in a museum or with your laptop open and say something along the lines of "oh, I love this. Check out the purple! ....see how her mouth is smiling but her brow is worried looking... Look how many triangles!

 

Just WHATEVER you see.

 

Same with music. It does not HAVE to be 300 years old to be beautiful. It can be poetic. It can make you feel like dancing around the house. It can include a touching phrase. It might remind you of that one day you did that one thing when you were seventeen....

 

When someone does something admirable or touching in a story you read, take a second to sign, stop and tell your kids "geez, that was amazing/brave/etc, and I love it!"

 

Say, out loud, the care your Gran puts into the pies she makes on Sundays is so inspiring!"

 

Or, "your dad just fixed your aunt Sally's car. He is a GREAT brother.,"

 

 

My point is before you to to make your kids see beautiful things, SHOW THEM WHAT YOU THINK IS BEAUTIFUL, already.

 

Imo, art study or poetry appreciation or whatever is completely separate, and completely secondary to, actually just understanding the beautiful, Wonderful sights, sounds, and feelings you __ or the people you love the best __ experience day to day.

[Guest]

And as far as nature study goes, do this:

 

Go outside

Look around

Talk to your kids about what you see

Listen to them tell you what they see

 

 

Honestly, nature study so so doesn't need to be even remotely complicated! Once you do the above if you want some books or programs, then go for it!!

[Sahamamama]

With 1st & 2nd graders, and two younger children, I would keep things simple. Having said that, I do know what you mean about adding in things of beauty and enriching your days. We felt the need of that here, too, especially when the "basics" were going along nicely. So here are some ideas for young children:

 

Bible

Egermeier's Bible Story Book (no planning, just put this in your Morning Basket and move the bookmark along)

 

Science

What are you studying this year for Science? What kind of materials do you want to use? When my kids were younger, we did what you are doing -- we read books from the library (about animals, one group at a time), went to the zoo, the aquarium, the nature center, the parks, and so on. We had a few fish, raised a spider :), and visited a farm. That was enough at that age, IMO. Since that time, we have enjoyed using these resources, along with the audiobooks (but not the kits or journals):

https://www.rainbowresource.com/product/Exploring+Creation+with+Zoology+1%3A+Flying+Creatures+of+the+Fifth+Day/010470

https://www.rainbowresource.com/proddtl.php?id=000176&subject=Science/11&category=Exploring+Creation+with+Zoology+1/8815

https://www.rainbowresource.com/proddtl.php?id=013236&subject=Science/11&category=Exploring+Creation+with+Zoology+2/9271

http://www.rainbowresource.com/proddtl.php?id=058357

http://www.rainbowresource.com/proddtl.php?id=005555&subject=Science/11&category=Exploring+Creation+with+Zoology+3/9272

http://www.rainbowresource.com/proddtl.php?id=058358

 

Nature Study

I used to wonder this, too, and so many people recommended Handbook of Nature Study. Other than reading it myself (it does have good content), I never could figure out how to actually use that bulky book with outdated, grainy black and white photographs. So... we simply started to collect field guides (books) and small field guides as brochures. We found these at Cabela's, but they might be available online. We have small, laminated field brochures for all sorts of things -- Eastern Birds, Forest, Pond & Stream, Coastline, Reptiles, and so on. TODAY, the girls found a Fall Webworm Moth caterpillar, and were able to identify it using the Pocket Naturalist Guide: Pennsylvania Butterflies & Moths (we are in NJ). I would begin with up-to-date, laminated, portable guides (that you keep in a certain spot in your Science Center ;)), and then when you come across something, you can at least try to learn what it is.

 

Abeka has lovely flash cards for learning the names of birds, flowers, and insects. They also have posters for trees, planets, parts of a flower, parts of insects.

 

My children enjoyed Christian Liberty Nature Readers at those ages (but not anything else from that publisher!).

 

Literature

At your kids' ages, I would honestly stick with mostly picture books. Bring home a laundry basket full from the library. Read, read, read, return and start over, LOL. Add in some chapter books you think you would like to read and that your children would love to hear. For poetry, a children's poetry anthology is good, along with "When We Were Very Young," "Now We Are Six," and "A Child's Garden of Verses." You might enjoy looking at the "1000 Good Books List."

 

Biography, Geography & Civics

Often overlooked, biographies are a great way of learning about people and the world. If your library has them, the D'Aulaire biographies are fun at this age: Leif the Lucky, Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin, Buffalo Bill, Christopher Columbus, Pocahontas. Also, you might like David Adler's series, "A Picture Book of ______________." There are many of these. As your children get a bit older, you might like the "Childhood of Famous Americans" series (COFA). Guest Hollow has a free Geography course, along with many other resources. For Civics, my girls read through a basket of these and these and these books, along with a few others. This year, they will read portions of this book. For little kids, I'd stick with the biographies first.

 

History

What are you studying this year for History? While I didn't do ancient history in the younger years (we did World Geography, then US History), we are doing ancients now. I read aloud the SOTW chapter, we discuss it, we do the quiz, rarely an activity, and then we have a History Book Basket (with books on that week's topics) that the girls are free to read from. When they were younger, I did a lot more of the History Book Basket reading, but now they do this primarily on their own. The "If You Lived...." series is fun for 1st & 2nd graders. The "You Wouldn't Want to..." series is another fun one. The Maestros have some lovely American history books, for a slightly older audience. A Book in Time is a website with ideas for books by time period.

 

Composer Study & Classical Music

We have enjoyed composer study materials from Zeezok Publishing (but I think I purchased them from Rainbow Resource?). We also simply listen to classical music (from that quarter's composer) from time to time. It does add beauty to our days, and it's not that time-consuming! I've been teaching all three to play the recorder for a few years, and recently my mother started all three girls on the piano. They also all sing in a children's choir. Maybe some of these ideas will work for you where you are.

 

Artist Study & Art

We have enjoyed using artist study portfolios from Simply Charlotte Mason. For art, we purchased the complete set of Draw-Write-Now books, along with plenty of paper, colored pencils, crayons, markers, watercolors, and sketchbooks. :) I have three girls, they are always drawing! They have drawn for hours using the DWN books and basic art supplies. I'd like to get See the Light Art Class DVDs someday, when the money is in the bank.
 

Starting in about 3rd grade (with my oldest), I assigned independent reading across the subjects. I organized the readings in an "Ambleside-like" grid, but with my own selections of reading materials. If you'd like me to email you a sample, I'd be glad to. HTH.

 

Edited to add links!

Edited September 3, 2016 by Sahamamama

[KBadd]

This is so helpful, inspiring and encouraging to me to hear how you all bring beauty into your homeschool routines. It's like getting a snapshot of a part of your family's learning. Some of these ideas we are beginning to do, some I've heard of or we tried in the past but I want to try again, and there are many resources and ideas I haven't heard of but I'm going to think about. Keep the ideas coming 😊 And thank you, thank you!

 

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[regentrude]

Nature study is very easy.

Simply get in the habit of going outside, daily or at least every weekend.

Get books about the birds and wildflowers of your state. Get in the habit of looking up one of two if you see any that intrigue you.

Visit state parks, conservation areas, wilderness areas.

Visit the visitor centers and nature museums. See if they have programs for children.

Allow the kids to collect nature materials they find: acorns, turtle shells, feathers, rocks. 

Give them sketch books and let them draw or journal if they so choose. Don't make it mandatory.

Let the kids play in nature. Din't bring toys - just have them use what they find. that will teach them to observe.

 

We incorporated nature study as a central pillar of our homeschool informally: we did family hikes every weekend. It was the best thing, and completely effortless.

 

ETA: We also brought beauty by going to museums, exhibitions, visiting architectural landmarks, attending live theatre performances and concerts. We did all these since the kids were very little and even while they were attending public school, because for us, this is lifestyle, not just a homeschool activity.

Edited September 4, 2016 by regentrude