Something I have wanted to be better at doing is incorporating holidays and other extras into our school learning. I don’t feel like I do great at this but this last week The Good and the Beautiful made it pretty hard to not do anything!
I have never seen them do these before {but I hope they do more of it in the future!} but they released a super simple “lesson” and some PDFs with coloring pages, word searches, and other activities.
My favorite thing about it:
It is so simply put together that you could add or remove things incredibly easy. Make it however simple or elaborate you want. It’s a great starting point.
Black History Month
February is Black History Month and I loved being able to put a spotlight on the history and accomplishments of black Americans. I was thrilled when I learned that The Good and the Beautiful was focusing on Benjamin Banneker because my kiddos already knew who he was!
We were able to pull out this great book – Benjamin Banneker: Pioneering Scientist by Ginger Wadsworth. Sarah and I read this as a read aloud earlier this year and it is a great independent reader for Jacob. So we spent some time talking about Benjamin Banneker, reading our book, and then doing some of the PDFs. We kept is simple! Find all of the goodness on this blog post.
I was also so grateful for our ever-growing library. I was able to pull up one of my “tags” on my favorite app {how I organize all our books here} and immediately had a list of books to pull from our shelves to share with the kiddos. Each of these books are great and I would highly recommend them. The kiddos have been looking and reading through them all week!
Book List
- Benjamin Banneker: Pioneering Scientist by Ginger Wadsworth – 1st to 3rd Grade – Great biography, he helped survey Washington, D.C., wrote an almanac, and helped the cause for equality for African Americans
- The Amazing Mind of Granville Woods by Maggie Felsch – Picture Book – Used electricity to to create inventions
- Freedom at the Falls by Marianne Hering and Sheila Seifert – 1st to 3rd Grade – Fictional story about two children that travel back in time to the Civil War and help with the Underground Railroad
- New Boy in School by May Justus – 1st to 3rd Grade – This is a FANTASTIC story about a young boy who moved to a new school and finds out he is the only black child in his classroom. This is during a time when racial integration was new in schools. This story is packed full of great messages and discussions to have with your kiddos.
- Booker T. Washington by Thomas Amper – 1st to 3rd Grade – This is in the same series as the Benjamin Bannker book. It’s a great beginning biographing about this man who worked hard to learn and move past the restraints put on him.
- Ladycake Farm by Mabel Leigh Hunt – 5th to 7th Grade – Another great book to have important discussions. This is about an African American family in the mid-1900s who moves to a rural area and face several challenges.
- The Story of Mae Jemison by Amy Drorbaugh – Picture Book – A wonderful story about the first African American woman to become an astronaut.
- Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by Doreen Rappaport – Picture Book – A simple biography that uses words from Dr. King’s speeches to tell his stories.
President’s Day
It was the same type of set-up with The Good and the Beautiful’s post for President’s Day. There were some fun facts and then several PDF files – all FREE by the way! We talked about President’s Day, some of our history heroes, and then the kiddos did some of the PDFs.
I didn’t have nearly as much luck with books about our Presidents from our home library. However, we did have Abe Lincoln and the Muddy Pig by Stephen Krensky. This is a really great beginner biography for kiddos. I would say it is a little on the young side for Jacob but worked out great for both him and Sarah.
Final Thoughts
So if you are anything like me and maybe struggle in the adding of these types of things into your learning – these make a great resource. Or if you are just a parent or caretaker that wants to add something to inspire your kiddos – this might be for you! Have fun!
