November’s Resource List

Our favourite things in one place

Dec 01, 2023

We have had lots of days out in November, which has reduced the number of books and activities we’ve used at home. I think like many of you we seem to be winding down towards the end of the year—will December’s Resource List be all Christmas movies and jigsaw puzzles?! I’d be interested to hear from readers in the Southern Hemisphere if they also experience this winding down in December, or if the sunshine acts as an antidote.

Homeschooling today consisted of Judo (I did my first ever backwards roll—how’s that for lifelong learning?), meeting home ed friends in the (freezing) park, and coming home to make pomanders as per How We Do Advent. I am thinking of ways to take the pedal off schoolwork in December without losing all the knowledge we’ve been building up over the past few months. Thoughts and suggestions welcome! As I’ve written this my daughter has written and addressed several Christmas cards, and now

Henry Oliver

is reading The Hobbit aloud to the children. I feel they are leading the way in joyful festive learning that doesn’t feel too much like hard work.

I may well slow down the posts in December. As always, if you’d like to write me a guest post, please get in touch. And if your child would like a pen pal, leave a comment or send me an e-mail with their age and home country, and the How We Homeschool Penpal Exchange will get to work!

On to the resources… (My children are just 6 and nearly 8.)

Music

Peter and the Wolf book

Peter and the Wolf narrated by David Bowie

Science

Curiosity Box subscription

National Geographic Ultimate Rock-opedia (geology)

Live Bird Feeder Cams: Ontario, Cornell, Panama.

History

Mysteries in Time (subscription, but you can also buy individual packs)

See Inside the Middle Ages book

You Wouldn’t Want to be in a Medieval Dungeon

You Wouldn’t Want to be a Viking Explorer

You Wouldn’t Want to Explore with Captain Cook (all three of these books have turned out to be pretty good)

Maths (all free)

Square Building investigation and Fill the Stairs, both from Math for Love

Tangram pictures and puzzles to print

Multiplication bingo to print

Reading

Lots of the Usborne Young Reading Series—as I type my son is reading War of the Worlds, my daughter has loved The Railway Children this month, and there are many, many more (I’ve linked to Series 3 which is for confident readers, but look at Series 1 and 2 for simpler books). Also lots of the Daisy books by Kes Gray, and some vintage Ladybirds, mostly history and children’s versions of classic fiction.