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!

Confession: once I moved past middle school, I either found Valentine's Day unnecessarily stressful or just downright cheesy. And while I don't want to give in to the sugar/chocolate marketing hype, I do think it's a fun day to remind those closest to us that we love them and to teach our kids what love looks like. As a family we try to do surprise love notes throughout the month of February to each other (this has gotten fun as my older two can now write on their own but stickers work great for little hands too), send handmade cards to friends and grandparents, read books about love that goes beyond romantic love (love is servant-hearted, courageous, thoughtful, etc) and love on our community (we've surprised firefighters with donuts and make & pass out blessings bags for the homeless as February can tend to dip into single digit temps here). Anyway, it's not to add any pressure or stress on the parent, just fun ways to model various acts of love to the littles. Here's a fun round-up of some Valentine's Day picture books that we are enjoying this month!