I am drawn to learning more and more about the world we live in – about the vastly creative world and people God made. And to be able to pass this gift onto my children as we learn together is truly a gift! I LOVE sitting with living books snuggled up on on the couch, learning about people from all over the world. We read books, watch videos and movies, create together, eat and explore the globe. If able, we will visit places that show us more about the people and culture we are studying.

I am having a blast doing this and “On Mission” quarterly magazines are a huge part of making this process as rich as it is!  While we are not a “classical” homeschool family, I find that I am consistently drawn to beautiful things and the Charlotte Mason styled approach.

I spent the last half of the school year using “On Mission” and cannot speak more highly of them!  We finished up with India, Ireland, Guatamala and are getting ready to do Nigeria with our new co-op (very casual) this fall.  

For my own little family, I would like to share what we did each month of study.  I took the opportunity to use this “curriculum” as the base and then ammended based upon the books I used and what my own kiddos needed/wanted.  I will share how I went through the process.  But really, I would love to hear from you. 

What are you hoping to know more specifically?

What do you want to hear more about?

What books/resources have you loved studying a particular country?

How I Began/Books

I began by perusing the “On Mission” magazine, making mental note of what I wanted to make sure we did and what my youngest two would be interested in and understand (5 and 7 this past year).  Then, I went through the book list.  One of my greatest joys in homeschooling is reading good books with my kids.  I did it with my older two (both in public school now, grade 11 and college) and I am excited to be in this sweet space again. 

I took the book list, make note of anything I actually already owned and ones that I thought made sufficient substitutes for their recommendations.  Then, I checked to see what my public library owned (put those on hold and hoped they would be ready in time for our unit study) and then read books reviews for the ones they didn’t have, deciding which ones (if any) that I would buy.  [Click here to see how I go about making for a rich library in my house without breaking the bank.]  I then looked to see what the library had on [insert country name] and put on hold a bunch that might be interesting.

I do review most everything.  I have found a few books in each “Living Library” list that I was not comfortable reading with my kids and would quickly put those aside.  I also put aside those that I didn’t feel added to the discussion I wanted to have with my kids.

My children LOVE learning through story and I LOVE teaching through story – so the bent of using and teaching from quality books is one I lean heavily into.  My lists are always FULL of books – but only with the ones I loved or had something specific I wanted to share/communicate. I detail that in each book descripition.

Additions

We used “On Misson” as our spine, doing MANY of the activities, projects and readings listed out. We would supplement with videos, movies, other art/crafts and map work.

I have outlined the three countries I have done thus far. Click below to go to the post all about that country:

India

Ireland

Guatamala