January Resources List
Our favourite things in one handy post
We eased in gently in January, and I thought I might not have enough to merit a monthly resources list. But looking through my notes it turns out we’ve done lots of lovely reading, so this is mostly a books post. If you’re new here, my children are 6 and 8. The non-fiction books I generally read aloud to them, the chapter books they read to themselves (but they’d also be good read-alouds).
Maths
Don’t forget the Math for Love discount, exclusively for How We Homeschool readers. Available on products and curriculum PDFs. Details in this post.
Science
Snow Leopard: Grey Ghost of the Mountains (Nature Storybooks, great for a wide range of ages. My 8 year old still enjoys them and they’d also be good for maybe 3 or 4+.)
The Pebble in my Pocket (geology, post here)
Curiosity Box (highlights in January included making chocolate from (almost) scratch, and making ‘rock’ from which we then excavated a fossil)
The Wondrous Workings of Planet Earth (My children are only just old enough for this. Recommended for 9-11.)
Amazing Earth (Incredible places around the world, blending science and geography.)
Ladybird Audio Adventures: Big Cats
Weird and Wonderful Nature (Short, digestible pages on a variety of natural phenomena.)
Tiny: The Invisible World of Microbes
You Wouldn’t Want to Live Without Antibiotics
Illuminoceans (Comes with a red/blue/green viewing lens which I find a bit gimmicky, but the information is good and, if I’m honest, the children love a gimmick.)
If you know someone who loves a good book list, please feel free to share!
History
Mysteries in Time (I can’t recommend this subscription highly enough. Individual packs available if you want to try one topic that’s relevant to your current studies.)
Who Was Joan of Arc? (watch out for the scary bits at the end)
Mythopedia (Not that myths are exactly history, but I don’t know where else to put this.)
Chapter books
Vile Visitors, Diana Wynne Jones
The Explorer, Katherine Rundell
The Hobbit, JRR Tolkein
Secret Explorers: Cave Crisis, SJ King (Educational fiction but very exciting. My children love this series. It’s a ‘first chapter book’, so my two can now read these books in one sitting, but they still enjoy them and I love how full of information the books are.)
Secret Explorers: Sunken Treasure, SJ King
Treasure Island (an abridged version with cartoon-style illustrations), RL Stevenson
Harriet the Spy, Louise Fitzhugh
A World Full of Nature Stories (Not a chapter book. I’ve been reading aloud a story at mealtimes. Nice, and short, from all around the world.)
Puzzles
Chess puzzles (free)
General knowledge crossword puzzles (we haven’t actually done this book, but I thought it was a clever idea. Age recommendation 7-10)
Thanks for reading. If you’re not subscribed, sign up for free and never miss a post.
Unrelated to this post (although I did grab A Pebble in my Pocket from the library and it's great), but I've been meaning to say how much I appreciate hearing from someone who homeschools without a car or a dishwasher and who lives in a small house with too many books. I know no one else in my community who fits this description so it's nice to know I'm not alone! I would love to fit a dishwasher into our tiny kitchen one day though.
This is so helpful. Thank you!