How To Find Black Books for Black Children

June 23, 2015 2 Comments

We are book lovers, so we visit the library at least twice a week and we check out several books each time we go. As we walk around in the Children’s Department, I’m always looking for books with brown faces on the covers. And when I spy one, I always take a closer look at it.

This willy-nilly method of roaming the library in search of books featuring characters of color wastes time and often yields few results, so it’s not a technique I recommend. However, there is a resource you can use to find self-reflective Black books for children and I think it’s a resource you’ll want to own.

Black Books Galore: Guide to Great African American Children’s Books by Donna Rand, Toni Trent Parker, and Shelia Foster is a great title to have on your homeschool resource shelf. It is an A+ guide that can help Black homeschoolers find books with African or African-American themes. You no longer have to wonder how to find Black books for Black children!

The book is divided into four different sections: books for babies and preschoolers, books for early readers (grades K-3), books for middle readers (grades 4-6), and books for young adults (grades 7-9). Each section includes an alphabetical list of books titles, short summaries of each book, and an occasional accompanying book cover illustration. In addition, each book is numbered for easy reference.

If you’d like to search for Black children’s books which meet certain criteria, you can do so using Black Book Galore’s title index, author index, illustrator index, or topical index. In addition, a list of Reading Rainbow books is offered and books are also categorized according the literary awards they have won (Coretta Scott King, Newberry, and Caldecott Awards).

It’s important for African-American children to read stories with characters who look like them. Such books can build a child’s self-esteem and inspire him to do great things, all while encouraging a love of literature. And when you exhaust all of the titles in this book, you can enjoy subsequent titles by the same authors.

Summer is an excellent time to dive into great literature. Get a copy of Black Books Galore: Guide to African American Children’s Books and then head to the library to check out the suggested titles or buy your own copies to add to your family library. Once you have the books in hand, get reading right away and consider using the suggested titles to enhance your At Home Summer Reading Program. Enjoy!

Printable Father’s Day Coupons

June 10, 2015 Leave a Comment

Father’s Day is almost here! It’s time to show the fathers in our lives (including grandfathers, uncles, cousins, etc) how much we love them. And as we spread the love to these mighty men, we want our children to be a part of the Father’s Day celebration as well!

Help the kids surprise Dad by printing out these fun Father’s Day coupons. The Completed Father’s Day Coupons page features four different coupons that tell Dad what his coupons can be redeemed for. The Fill in the Blank Father’s Day Coupons allow children to create a set of four unique coupons just for Dad. Click on the red links to download the coupon pages.

Completed Father’s Day Coupons

Fill in the Blank Father’s Day Coupons

The Active Homeschool Father

June 4, 2015 2 Comments

For us, homeschooling is a family affair. If we wish to have a successful school year, all five of us need to work together. My husband is the breadwinner and works outside our home to ensure we have the money we need to pay for books, supplies, and activities. I do the vast majority of the teaching, while our children are responsible for paying attention, working cooperatively, and completing their assignments.

Though everyone has an important part to play in the homeschool family, there is one member of the homeschool family who may sometimes be left out of the loop: the father. Fathers are an important part of our homeschools, but because many are away at work during the day, it may take a bit of effort to actively involve fathers in the homeschool. Here are a few ideas we can use to help ensure fathers become active homeschool participants.

Talk to him.
The best way to help a father understand what’s going on in the family homeschool is to talk to him. Don’t assume he already knows and don’t assume he’s not interested in what’s going on. Each day, take time to talk to him about what’s happening in his homeschool and encourage your children to do the same. Let dad know what books his children are reading and make sure he’s aware of any new special interests his children develop. The active homeschool father can use this information to create meaningful conversations and connections with his children.

Set goals together.
Don’t plan the school year all by yourself. Invite your husband to join you as you sift through books, study curriculum, and consider activities. Tell him you value his opinion and seek it. Ask your husband his opinion on educational choices and see what he’d like his children to learn and do. As you work together to plan activities and opportunities for the coming year, assign tasks or set up checkpoints for both of you. This can help the homeschool father stay active all year long and his input may introduce opportunities and activities you’d not previously considered.

Attend a homeschool convention together. The spring homeschool convention season is one of my favorite times of the year. The homeschool convention’s workshops and shopping opportunities are great, but I find if my husband accompanies me, the experience is much better. We spend quality time together, enjoy encouraging workshops (some even designed just for homeschool fathers!), and have time to question curriculum providers together. The time we spend at the homeschool convention draws us closer together and keeps us stay on the same page.

Create special projects for fathers to do with their children.
Since many fathers are not able to teach daily, consider having Dad help his children with special projects outside the regular school day. This will become a special time of father/child bonding and will also provide a hands-on homeschooling opportunity the homeschool father can enjoy. Earlier this school year, as I taught a detailed study of the human body and all its systems, my husband worked with our children to create the amazing skeletal model that now hangs in our schooling area. All of us loved it (and our friend Skelly looks great too!).

Have him take children on field trips.
The homeschool father may not be available to partake in daily homeschool lessons, but he may be able to take on extension activities. If you’ve spent a month studying marine animals, plan a “Day Out with Dad” trip to the aquarium or to the beach. These experiences will allow the homeschool father to bond with his children while reinforcing what you have taught. Be sure to schedule activities well in advance so your husband has time to make room for them in his schedule.

The homeschool father is an important member of the homeschool family. If we fail to include him and neglect opportunities to involve him, our homeschools will not be as successful as they could be. Fathers can bring a fresh perspective and a new level of excitement to our homeschools. Let’s not miss this golden opportunity to solidify our family team, enhance our relationships, and improve our homeschools!

Creating a Summer Reading Program

May 26, 2015 4 Comments

We all know summer is the perfect time to dig into a good book! Local libraries and big name bookstores have already posted their lists of kids’ summer must reads and are actively promoting participation in their summer reading programs. Though such lists may contain good titles, don’t allow them to limit your child’s summer reading selections. And though sponsored summer reading programs are terrific, you can easily create your very own summer reading program to meet your child’s needs.

Creating your own summer reading program has several benefits. First, it gives you the opportunity to create reading lists full of the works of Black authors and Black illustrators you want your child to know. Next, it allows you to introduce your child to various genres of literature. Finally, creating your own summer reading program lets you create a rewards system based on your child’s specific interests.

Here are some steps you can take to plan a personalized summer reading program. I’ve also included a few free printables you can use to organize your program and make it fun!

1. Determine a time frame.
Our Summer Reading Program begins on June 1 and ends on August 31, but you should set a time frame that works best for your family.

2. Choose books from a variety of genres.
Popular genres of literature include biography, poetry, historical fiction, myths, realistic fiction, comedy, science fiction, and mystery. Don’t allow your child to fall into the habit of reading the same type of books all the time. Instead, select titles from various genres. For example, if you have a science fiction buff, cross genres by encouraging her to read the biography of a scientist as well.

3. Add titles to the Summer Reading Planning Sheet.
Determine the genre and type of books (picture books, graphic novels, chapter books, novels, etc) you’d like your child to read. Then, talk to your child about the types of books he’d like to read. If you wish, ask friends or relatives to recommend selections as well. Compile a list of books and write the titles, authors, and genres on the Summer Reading Planning Sheet.

4. Read and keep track of books.
Have your child read daily for at least thirty minutes. More is better! Each time your child completes a book, have him or her write the title of the book on the Been There, Read That Log Sheet. At the end of August, it’ll be fun for you and your child to look back and see how much was read during the summer.

5. Encourage your child to read in a variety of places.
You don’t want summer reading to become boring, so encourage your child to read in a variety of different places. My free Reading Everywhere Challenge Sheet gives children a selection of 46 different places for them to read. That’s a different reading place for every other day from June 1 to August 31!

6. Offer a reward.
You know what makes your child happy. Reward your child’s accomplishments with a Summer Reading Success Coupon. You can base rewards on how much time your child reads, but also consider giving rewards for every book finished, listening to an audio book, or reading a book to a younger sibling. Just print it out the Summer Reading Success Coupons and write your special reward side the box.

Now that you know what to do, get started! You can download your Summer Reading Program pages using these links. But before you do, please be mindful of my downloading guidelines:

I am happy to offer these free printables to you. However, I expect you to be respectful of my work by downloading my files for personal use only. Do not steal my work by claiming my files as your own. Do not sell my files. Do not edit my files or share them with anyone else. (This includes posting my files on websites, in groups, and in forums.) Do not link directly to my PDF files, but instead direct people to this post, so they too may download these free files. I thank you for your honesty and cooperation.

Homeschool Hack: Inexpensive Poster Holder

May 25, 2015 4 Comments

Don’t you just love it when you can find an inexpensive fix for one of your dilemmas? This recently happened to me and I’m excited to tell you all about it because this homeschool hack may help you too. But before I dish all the details, let me give you a bit of the backstory.

A few months ago, the lovely ladies in the African-American Homeschool Moms Facebook group were having a discussion about the educational resources they were finding in Dollar Tree. Now, I always knew I could buy crayons and paper there, but the moms were talking about other fun and colorful school goodies like books, glue, stickers, folders, scissors, dividers, and clipboards. I guess I’d been living under a rock for quite some time, because I had no idea there were such goodies to be found there!

Then, one mom posted a picture of the educational posters she’d purchased at Dollar Tree and within a few minutes, many other moms were chiming in and talking about all the wonderful educational posters they’d purchased there as well. And that, dear sisters, is when my Dollar Tree poster addiction began!

From that moment on, each time I went into Dollar Tree (no matter what I’d come in for), I’d immediately head over to the educational aisle. I accumulated a couple dozen fabulous posters, but found I no longer had available wall space on which to mount them. I realized I’d need a poster holder, but the ones I found on Amazon were too costly for me. Some moms shared directions for creating poster holders using PVC pipes, but I wasn’t ready to use a hacksaw.

Then recently while searching a for a laundry basket at Walmart, I found the Mainstay Adjustable 2-Tier Garment Rack and knew it would be the perfect solution to my poster problem! Instead of hanging clothes, I could hang posters both horizontally AND vertically! My husband purchased it for only $14.88 and put it together in about five minutes (no tools required!).

I punched two holes in the top of each poster and secured each hole with a ring clip. I then hung the wide posters from the top section of rack and hung the long posters from the bottom of the rack. It was an inexpensive and practical fix that solved my poster problem!

Isn’t that just awesome? Now I have a way to store and use all of my educational posters. You know what that means? I’m heading off to Dollar Tree…again!