World Schooling

Our version of painted eggs like we’ll see in Prague

The girls won’t be attending traditional school while we’re abroad, so I’ve been thinking of their schooling as “world schooling.”  We’ll definitely work on some of the basics — math, language arts, science, and social studies — but the focus of our leaning will be tied to our geography.  We’ll learn about the places and people we visit as well as make the most of the learning experiences right in front of us (museums, parks, monuments).  And, of course, we’ll be reading lots of fiction to help us learn all these things.

It only made sense to start this summer by learning about the countries we’re visiting on our summer travels.  We’ve been learning a lot about European geography, World War II, the Iron Curtain, famous people, and traditions from the places we’ll visit.  We’re looking forward to continuing our learning when we’re there.

Here’s a list of some of the books we’ve read this summer:

Maps by Alexandra and Daniel Mizielinska (This is such fun geography book!)

The Enchantment of the World Series

Mike Venezia’s books about artists and composers (we read Bach, Rembrandt, Klee, Van Gogh)

Czech Republic

The Wall by Peter Sis

Three Golden Keys by Peter Sis

Golem by David Wisniewski

Germany

The Pied Piper of Hamelin by Michael Morpurgo

Mercedes and the Chocolate Pilot by Margot Theis Raven

Benno and the Night of Broken Glass by Meg Wiviott

Switzerland

The Apple and the Arrow by Conrad Buff (about the William Tell legend)

Berlioz the Bear by Jan Brett

Belgium

Mannekin Pis by Vladimir Radunsky

The Adventures of Tin Tin by Herge’

Netherlands

Hana in the Time of Tulips by Deborah Noyes

Boxes for Katje  by Candace Fleming