Homeschool Resource

Home Learning: A World of Opportunities to Read & Think

By on September 9, 2020   /   COVID-19, Homeschool Resource  

by Aixa Perez-Prado

Last March schools across the world closed due the Covid-19 pandemic. Teachers, parents and students were unprepared. Many had difficulty with the online learning that was offered. Even under ideal circumstances, hours of daily screen time will not be feasible for many young learners. Therefore, some families have chosen to try their hand at home learning, otherwise known as homeschooling. If you are one of these families, or if you simply wish to augment the remote learning your child is receiving from school with books that will help you do it, this article is for you.

Out of school learning time can provide kids with a chance to acquire knowledge in a manner that is free and flexible. Allowing kids the freedom to explore topics of interest instills a love for learning and inspires curiosity. But this freedom is not always available in a highly structured school day. Thankfully, it can be available at home. Encouraging kids to nourish their personal passions is one way to help them thrive during this crisis. Giving them books that will help them discover those passions, is another. Does your kid love… Planets and Stars? Mysteries? Birds?  There are so many books to choose from!

Opening up the home learning experience to embrace problem solving and critical / creative thinking activities prepares kids for learning anywhere. Giving kids the power to direct some of their own learning will help them obtain the identified 21st century skills: critical thinking, creative thinking, communication and collaboration.

Parents need to provide guidance, resources, great books, and encouragement to kids learning at home. However, they don’t need to provide all of the answers. The best teachers encourage learners to ask interesting questions and discover the answers themselves. They give learners the freedom to fail and try again. Making interesting and informative books available to kids is a great place to start a critical and creative thinking home learning life.

Check out my homeschooling tips and accompanying books below. They will help you help your kids flourish as critical and creative thinkers while learning at home.

Learning at home tips, and books to go with them:

Tip 1: Do not set unrealistic learning goals. Start small and build rather than the other way around. It is better for encouraging learning to start with small successes than to overreach and start by experiencing failure. Short stories can deliver meaningful content and help kids feel a quick sense of accomplishment. They can also be springboards for inspiring kids to read longer texts.

The Hero Next Door Cover

The Hero Next Door by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich (ed)

All the heroes in these stories make the world a better place. They do it by using acts of kindness to help others. Published in partnership with We Need Diverse Books, this vibrant anthology features thirteen acclaimed authors. Stories celebrate the hero in all of us. Authors include: William Alexander, Joseph Bruchac, Lamar Giles, Mike Jung, Hena Khan, Juana Medina, Ellen Oh, R. J. Palacio, Linda Sue Park and Anna Dobbin, Cynthia Leitich Smith, Ronald L. Smith, Rita Williams-Garcia, and Suma Subramaniam

Stories to Solve: Folktales from Around the World Cover

Stories to Solve: Folktales from Around the World by George Shannon

This collection of fourteen illustrated mysteries from world folklore give readers a chance to figure out the solution to a problem by thinking critically, before the solution is given. Backmatter includes origins of the tales and more information for further research.

Tip 2: Be present. Put away cell phones and turn off the TV as much as you can. Listen with empathy and understanding to kid’s concerns and ideas without being dismissive. Use what is happening in the world as material for your home learning.

.Fault Lines in the Constitution: The Framers, Their Fights, and the Flaws That Affect Us Today Cover 

Fault Lines in the Constitution: The Framers, Their Fights and the Flaws that Affect us Today by Cynthia and Sanford Levinson.

For a nonfiction possibility, this book offers a fearless glimpse into the Constitution including its failures and flaws. The text can be used to inspire kids to think critically.

The Kid Who Ran for President Cover

The Kid Who Ran for President by Dan Gutman

A humorous and fast-paced account of a kid’s run for president as a third party candidate. A great book to inspire dialogue with kids about this election season. Kids learn how government works. and fails, while thinking critically and creatively about what makes a good president.

Tip 3: Answer questions while being honest with what you don’t know. Investigate unknowns together, encouraging kids to question and problem pose, exercising their critical thinking skills.

Song for a Whale Cover

Song for a Whale by Lynne Kelly

Iris is a creative and critical thinking tech wiz. She can fix computers and repair old radios. But she’s the only deaf person at her school. Sometimes treat her like she’s not very bright and she often feels unheard, even by her mom. Then she learns about Blue 55, a real whale who is unable to speak to other whales. Iris immediately feels a connection. She has an idea to invent a way to “sing” to him! But he’s three thousand miles away. What can she do?

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate Cover

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kennedy

Calpurnia Virginia Tate is a critical thinker. She wonders about what she sees in nature. Calpurnia’s grumpy grandfather, a naturalist, helps her figure out why green grasshoppers get eaten more often than yellow ones. But Callie’s curiosity is not always rewarded by society. She struggles with society’s expectations of girls at a time when a girl interested in science is not well viewed.

Tip 4: Be flexible thinkers. Every family is different and diverse, you do not have to follow what any other family is doing. Kids learn in different ways. Families work together in different ways. Do what works for YOUR family.

.Millicent Min, Girl Genius Cover

Millicent Min Girl Genius by Lisa Yee

Millicent Min’s family is different from most of the families in her community. And so is the way she learns. Her classmates hate her for going to high school at such a young age. But Emily doesn’t know her IQ and actually thinks she’s cool. Millie decides to hide who she is and how her family works to finally make a real friend.

Music for Tigers Cover

Music for Tigers by Michelle Kadarusman

Violinist Louisa ships off to Tasmania to spend the summer with her mother’s eccentric Australian relatives. And she’s not too happy about it. Life at the family’s remote camp in the Tasmanian rainforest is very different. There’s a quirky boy, a strange uncle, old journals and a Tasmanian tiger problem. Louisa has her work cut out for her! Can her music save the day?

Books that make kids think are one of the hallmarks of great learning at home, and at school. Check the books you already have at home and can use in a new way, or try a few of these great books to add to your home learning library.

 

 

 

 

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Diversity in MG lit #19 August 2020 Mysteries

By on August 15, 2020   /   Book Lists, Diversity, Fiction, For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers, Homeschool Resource  
If there’s one thing I get asked for constantly in the bookstore it’s mysteries for MG readers. Grandparents have warm memories of The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew and they want something just as fun for their grandchildren. A satisfying mystery is hard to write though so, I’m thrilled when I find any MG mystery to recommend. I’m especially happy to have found these mysteries with a cast of diverse characters.
Ikenga by Nnedi OkoroforIkenga by Nnedi Okorafor
This one is set in contemporary Nigeria follows Nnamdi, the son of a murdered police chief as he searches for the people responsible for his father’s death. It has a supernatural element based in Nigerian mythology which served the story well without making it seem cartoonish. What a terrific way to introduce young writers to a writer with such strong body of work for adults. It goes on sale Aug 18th.
The Gemini Mysteries by Kat Shepherd
Twin Black detectives Evie and Zach Mamuya are seventh grade sleuths who along with their friends, affable Vishal and wealthy Sophia, solve crimes, inspired in part by their single mom, a crime reporter in an unspecified American city. Each chapter has an illustration at the end which contains clues to the mystery. The first book in the series  The North Star is already in paperback and the next, The Cat’s Paw, will go on sale in December or January.
Kudo Kids: The Mystery of the masked medalist by Maia & Alex Shibutani with Michelle Schusterman
Here’s another pair of sibling detectives, 11 and 12 year old Mika and Andy who travel to the Summer Olympics in Tokyo with their parents, one a sports writer and the other a food critic. The puzzle loving Kudos are keen to play a Pokemon Go type game which has them finding clues and learning about Japanese culture all over town. Their game leads to a deeper mystery. The book is illustrated and if the authors names sound familiar its because they are Olympic bronze medalists in Ice Dancing. This book, on sale last May, was obviously meant to coincide with the postponed Tokyo Olympics, but it’s a quick and fun read, even in a non-olympic year.
Muse Squad The Cassandra Curse by Chantel Acevedo
Here’s a mystery that will appeal to fans of Rick Riorden. Cuban American girl Clio discovers she’s actually a muse, a legacy in her family handed down from the ancient Greeks to the present. Her mission is to inspire others who will go on to do great things for humanity. I liked the concept and the core of the story which holds inspiration as a superpower. So refreshing. This one is not illustrated and it’s a bit longer than the other books I’ve reviewed here. The Cassandra Curse came out in July and a second title will follow.
Goldie Vance The Hotel Whodunit by Lilliam Rivera
Also featuring a Cuban American main character, this book is a novelization of a comic book, it’s set in Florida of the 1950s and features 16 year old Goldie Vance who dreams of becoming a hotel detective in a family immersed in the hospitality industry. When a movie shoot comes to her family’s hotel and jewels go missing, Goldie’s mother is suspect number one. This one is a little more leisurely in pace than the others but it evokes an era well and portrays Florida vacation culture with warmth and wit. There is a graphic novel insert in full color but it was not in the ARC that I reviewed.
ATTY At Law by Tim Lockette
And finally here’s a book that celebrates speaking up for those without a voice. It features multi-racial family in the contemporary south and is a legal thriller in the vain of the Theodore Boone series by Grisham, but with considerably more heart. Our advocate Atticus Peale who goes by Atty is an animal lover and uses the law to save a shelter dog. She then tries to advocate for a considerably less sympathetic animal and her efforts intersect with her father’s. He is an attorney defending an illiterate man facing a murder charges.
If you have a favorite mystery, either a stand alone or a series. please mention it in the comments.
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Maps

By on July 13, 2020   /   Articles, For Kids, For Parents, For Teachers, For Writers, Homeschool Resource, Writing  

When I was a wee lad (5’ 11”, 210 lb.), back in my junior year of high school, we took one of those classic tests designed to magically deduce one’s most likely path to career and life success. My 55-year-old self can’t recall a single question from the test now. In fact, most of the memory from this event consists of filling in the ovals (completely) on the answer sheet (in #2 pencil) and the resultant career of choice subsequently handed down by the gods of career aptitude.

First, I do recall that, as a kid who liked to draw, I took great pride in filling out my answer sheet ovals. They were always impeccable, even if the answers were dead wrong. Second, in the haze of time passed, I recall meeting with my guidance counselor to go over my now clarified path to a well-lived life. The result?

Cartographer.

Yes, that is what the computer algorithm decided my career should be. A quick check of the dictionary told me I should be a maker of maps. The gods of career aptitude must have a sense of humor, right?

When I broke the cartographer news to the family at the dinner table that night, my brothers and sister rolled to the kitchen floor in uncontrollable laughter. My ever-supportive mother gave an enthusiastic “How nice.”, while my civil engineer dad responded,  “A mapmaker? Hmmm…that’s different. So how are you going to make a living then?”

Even though I love maps, I did not become a cartographer. My collection of National Geographic maps handed down from my dad is one of my favorite treasures. Books with maps, both fiction, and nonfiction, line my bookshelves. Eventually, I became a molecular microbiologist, a writer, and a sports coach, not a cartographer. For years, I’ve always wondered about that career aptitude test and how it could have been so wrong.

A few years ago, though, I realized the computer wasn’t wrong at all. The testing algorithm rocked it. Maps are an integral part of everything I am and do. From mapping molecular processes in infectious diseases to mapping stories and illustrations to mapping out sports practices and gameplans. Turns out, I’m a cartographer through and through.

Maps, at their very core function, are tools to give us direction. A map can be a tool to help a hiker get from the parking lot to the mountain vista and safely back to the parking lot. Maps can help a writer build the foundation of the story they want to tell. They can also be tools to help worldbuilding (think J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth) or be used as a plot device (think HP’s Marauder’s Map).

In short, don’t short the value of maps in any aspect of your life. They are especially valuable tools to have in your writing toolbox to help turn those story ideas wandering aimlessly in the desert into an actual fully-fleshed oasis of stories. 

Below are some of my favorite maps I use in my life as a scientist, a writer, and a coach.

Science Maps

Writing Maps

Sports Coaching Maps

  • Football scouting and game planning – A coach scouts the opponent by mapping out what the opponent has done previously. It takes a lot of work and most colleges and professional organizations dedicate many manhours toward this endeavor.
  • Baseball spray chart maps – I love to keep baseball hitter spray charts. First, like scoring a game, it keeps one mentally sharp during the course of a baseball game. Second, it allows a coach the data to better position his defenders in the field. 

Your MUF July 2020 Aptitude Test questions are below. Please use a #2 pencil and fill out any oval shapes or other doodles completely. The gods of middle grade thank you.

  1. What are your favorite middle grade books which contain maps? 
  2. What are some middle grade books you wish would have had maps?
  3. How do you use maps as tools in your own life? 
  4. How do you use maps as a writer or a reader?

Have a great summer! No matter how crazy 2020 is going for you, here’s hoping you have a reliable map to help navigate your way to the other side.

Stay safe. Be kind. Make good things.

 

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