Great Books for Farm Kids
First up, let me just say this: this is not an exclusive list of great books for farm kids. I'm sure there are a thousand others. This is the list that we've built over the years of classics and personal favorites that we enjoy sharing with our own little farm kids.
Second up, let me just say this too: I'm probably not the best homeschool parent for anyone to try and copy. I'm Charlotte Mason-esque, lifestyle focused, life skill focused, nature focused, and character focused. I'm not into worksheets. I don't have a classroom set up at the house. I don't know what grades my kids are in. I just do what I do and that's what I'm sharing. For what it's worth.
We are an incredibly book centered family. Much of our home education revolves around reading, exploring, and discussing good literature. Turns out, a lot of what we try to teach them in various subjects (ex: history, geography, etc.) they can easily pick up through stories. Therefore, a lot of subject matter isn't forced but rather absorbed through the telling of a tale.
I hear parents say all the time: I can't teach my kid 'all the things' because I don't know 'all the things'. Here's a tip: No one does. Go to books that do!
As kids go, they love to read stories about things they can identify with. We've read through this list by utilizing Audible (one of my very favorite homeschooling tools), reading out-loud as a family, or having the older kids read on their own (even if they can't "read" yet, they spend lots of time looking).
Great Books for Farm Kids
My Side of The Mountain, On The Far Side of the Mountain, Frightful's Mountain
The Secret Garden (the one illustrated by Tasha Tudor, of course)
After reading, we often practice "Written Narrations" or "Oral Narrations". These are fancy words for the children being given an opportunity to share what it is we just heard or read. The older children will write down what happened in the story (Georgia in cursive), we correct spelling, and they rewrite it correctly. Other times, we just ask them to verbally tell us what happened in the story.
With practice, they can get really great at retention and they start to listen to the story with different ears knowing they'll be asked to retell it. We don't do this every time we read, but we do it intentionally with certain stories and at certain times of day. The fables are great for the really young children because they're often short and memorable.
I love hearing their little voices retell an age-old story.
Currently, we're reading up on fairies and dragons. There may even be a salami-baited dragon snare somewhere up in our oak tree. A certain six year old is quite excited at the prospect of capturing a real one.
I'm ever thankful for the world that books create in their mind.
Also, I tell my kids dragons are real. Because they are.
Over and out.