Top Nonfiction Books for Kids

If you had told me a year and a half ago that I’d be writing a blog post about best bookish homeschool resources for families, I would have laughed! But here we are, and as we close out our homeschool year, I thought it would be fun to share the books that we turned to often, and that, shocker, we already owned! Background: when the writing was on the wall last summer that our local school would be virtual (at least for the fall), we as a family took a variety of things into account when deciding what to do: the ages of our children, how they learn best, my work schedule as well as my husband’s, etc. There are so many variables that factor into school choice, and this year, virtual was an unexpected twist. For reasons I won’t dwell on here (it’s all so personal for each family and I want to honor everyone’s choice), we landed on a homeschool year. I had 1st, 3rd and 5th graders and the beauty of these ages/stages are that there are some subjects you can do together (ie: history, read-alouds and natural sciences-we did the Oceans unit as well as the North American birds unit from Gather Round and later added on the Ideas and Inventions unit from them) and obviously things that need to be individual per their ability (math, language arts, music). We also wanted to prioritize as much as outdoor time as possible (ie: nature study/hikes) and our local county as well as Metroparks programs were amazing at providing hands-on naturalist programs for our homeschool pod.

But clearly we are here to chat books! It dawned on me in May as I reached for Nature Anatomy for the umpteenth time, that while yes, I had to purchase some specific curriculum, many of the books we used on a daily basis where ones that thankfully we already owned. With libraries operating a pretty limited capacity most of the year and my desire to be as screen-free as we could, I preferred the kids to do as much research using books. Here are some that I have collected over the year that basically become our extended curriculum. You may own one or two already, if not, I highly urge you to invest in them, homeschool or not! My kids have enjoyed them many times before this year, but they morphed into valuable resources as well if you are looking for supplemental resources, be it school inside or outside the home!

Amazing World Atlas by Lonely Planet Kids: It’s just good to know where one is right!? Whether we were discussing where historical events took place or current affairs, this is a fabulous atlas that works well for kids of all ages.

The 50 States: This is a trusted favorite of ours, aesthetically the fonts/graphics are amazing, but it’s also informative and very up to date so any kid will enjoy learning fun facts about their state, as well as others.

MAPS: I have a few geography lovers and this one combines informative facts with stellar art/graphics. Whether it’s a coffee table book, or you are using for formal geography, it’s one to own! We host quite a bit and it’s one that every adult has leafed through at some point when they’ve been with us!

Botanicum: I secretly bought this one for myself years ago but it came in handy this year as we joined a Flower of the Month club. And once your kids begin looking up one flower/plant, it’s hard to get this one away from them as they get immersed in all the other beautiful pages.

Animalium: Same as above, a visual feast of all animals. Our Bird and Ocean units had us looking up all manner of unique animals, be they up in the sky or down below!

Nature Anatomy, Farm Anatomy and Ocean Anatomy: The entire collection by Julia Rothman is amazing. We have used these over the years in so many ways, even before homeschool! We love them for nature sketching, for recipes, for pure browsing enjoyment. They are the perfect size for bigs and littles!

How Things Work: Our Ideas and Inventions unit had us turning to this one often! I had gifted it to my eldest years ago and it’s pretty dog eared at this point, but I myself was surprised to see how informative it was on all things physics and science. And who doesn’t love a good lift and flap!? Between that and David Macaulay’s The New Way Things Work, your resident scientist will be all set!

Timelines of World History: My husband and I both did our Master’s in Int’l Relations so history, anthropology and politics are our sweet spot! And so much of that is understanding context! This is a fabulous book that outlines major events from the Ancient World to the 20th century.

Sing a Song of Seasons: Dear friends gifted this one to us over Christmas and since January 1 we’ve started each day off with a poem. It’s a fabulous collection of well-known poets as well as new ones and the illustrations are gorgeous!

A note on several of these, I’ve used affiliate links here to Amazon (Prime Day is coming up so it’s a great chance to take advantage of these deals) but I’ve purchased them before at local bookstores, Costco (I saw recently that they have a Botanicum and Animalium paired deal), school book fairs and library used book sales (I’ve purchased all our Macaulay’s at these). And know that I didn’t purchase all of above myself, over the years when grandparents asked, I would mention ones we had our eyes on they were gifted for birthdays or holidays. So hope this list helps either add to your kids nonfiction shelf, or get it started!

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How We Hike: Nature Journaling Resources and more

As you may have noticed, we are in full nature hike swing over here with the arrival of spring in Michigan after a long winter! Yes, we do hike in the winter but it's harder to include some of the other aspects of our hikes during that time, namely nature journaling. Pencils aren't easy to grip in gloves, wink. But fall, summer and spring are glorious seasons in this part of the country for nature study so the moment it's warm enough to sit and pull out of sketchpads on various trails and parks, we do!  Part of what has been fun this year for my 7 and 8 year old has been the addition of a field microscope.  I'm noticing that my two sons, while only 18 months apart, are quite different in the way they approach nature study.  My eldest is more xtroverted so when we are on hikes, with friends or just us, it's a bit harder for him to settle down and sketch in the moment. He will do so, but does get a bit more distracted and is often ready to move onto the next part of the hike a bit quicker or wander around with his magnifying glass and binoculars talking about what he is seeing.  But when we get home, he loves to pull out the microscope and observe all that is going on in his specimen! (The addition of little specimen jars has been a huge hit this spring as well!).  He is much more excited about pulling out his journal and sketching his specimen as seen under the microscope versus in the field! He's my 'non-fiction at heart' kid so I love seeing this side of him emerge.  My second, by contrast, is much more introverted by nature and has zero problem zoning out his surroundings on a hike and focusing in on a tree, flower, bark or insect....studying it carefully and sketching it! He loves to look at it later under a microscope as well but feels no need to sketch that!  All this to say is that nature journaling will look different with each child, for some, fieldwork is immediate, in the moment...and for others, more of the learning and processing may take place more in the quiet of the home.  Either way, Ive loved how nature journaling has allowed us to be more intentional of our surroundings and notice all the 'treasures' as my four year old puts it, around us.  Linking some of our favorites below and know that we didn't invest in all this overnight. I'd say it's a culmination of the last two years of birthday gifts, Christmas presents, end of year gifts, etc...we started small, just with binoculars and a magnifying glass and slowly added from there.  Feel free to comment and add in anything else that makes your hikes more enjoyable! 

Our favorite hiking/nature study resources:

Binoculars

We do have a pair of kids one from the $3 bin at Target for my 4 year old but once they are ages 5 and up, I invest in the real deal and these are a great pair for a fabulous price. they come with a neat case as well:

Magnifying Glasses

For under $10 you get a set of six and it's fun to have a few pairs at home and keep a few in a backpack or car! Each of mine have their own in their backpack.

Colored Pencils

We've used a few different brands and you could just share one set, but it's been easier for each of mine to have their own set/case. And a hard case is a must given how tossed about they get on the hikes, smile. I've noticed they've taken much more ownership and pride over them than when they just shared one! Some ones we've used have included Eboo and Colore (which I can't find that set anymore as it was a few yeasr ago but this Diamond Driven  set is very similar). 

Field Microscope

This is exactly what we have and such a good deal! It's $9.99 and literally around the same size as the binoculars.  Right now we've used it mainly at home but now that they are comfortable with it, I can't wait to take it out in the field!

Backpack

My dad gifted the boys these Gregory Miwok 12L backpacks (around $40 each) from Sierra Trading Post last year for their birthdays. But know that for a few years we just used their school backpacks or whatever had our hand. They got very excited last spring about carrying all their own gear so we wanted to take advantage of that especially as I had my hands full at that point with a 2.5 year old!

Regarding nature journals, the boys and I are using one from Simply Charlotte Mason this year but really, you can use whatever you think is best: blank, lined, one with prompts, without.  One year we did these blank ones and I loved them (and the price, wink).  My four year old is using one from the Target dollar bin this year, smile. 

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