Because my daughter and I have been working our way through Beautiful Feet Books Around the World Part 1 (Asia, Australia, and Africa) as I
mentioned a year ago, we were delighted to continue our literature-rich world travels with
Around the World with Picture Books Part 2, which includes Europe and South America. Learning about world cultures with picture books is a gentle way to approach a broad subject with an early elementary student.
Note: I was compensated for my time reviewing this product/service, writing this review, and hosting the giveaway.
Why I Love Literature-Based Curriculum
My first grader is still resistant to worksheet-based curriculum, just as she was last year. Continuing on with the
Beautiful Feet Books series of great books and enjoyable hands-on activities has been a perfect way to grow together and learn about the world. There is something great about cuddling together after breakfast to do "school" by reading together on the couch and then attacking a painting or cooking project together.
Rereading our collection of
Around the World Part 2 books is certain to follow. Now that these lovely books are in our family library, she is certain to remember the small details we noticed about the various places around the world. Here's a simple story to illustrate that: after we read the Scandinavian books (two of which are
Wings for Per and
Karl, Get Out of the Garden!), she saw a word on an address she misread as "Norway" and was really excited. It was
not Norway, but since she had misread, she was
very excited that my friends lived there since we'd just read about it. She will forever be making these connections now!
An Overview of Around the World with Picture Books
Beautiful Feet Books' Around the World with Picture Books (
Part 1 and
Part 2) is firstly an amazing collection of living books. By living books, I mean books that make a subject matter seem real and alive.
For example, in the book
Wings for Per, we get a first hand look at what life during World War II may have been like living in Scandinavia. Reading the gorgeously illustrated
The Boy Who Held Back the Sea, my daughter got a glimpse of the art style of the masters but also a simple story of a boy coming of age . . . by taking responsibility and holding in the water at the dyke! My daughter loves learning about different cultures, so these stories have been so much fun for her.
When the books first arrived, she was so excited. She immediately started flipping through books and the manual. She stopped on the page about Dutch pancakes and declared: "Let's start here!"
That's another huge benefit to the
Beautiful Feet Books products. Their full-color teacher's guides included numerous activities and discussion points to accompany the living books. Without much effort (but yes, with whipped cream and strawberries), we put together a European treat. I may not be able to pronounce
Pannekoek but we certainly enjoyed them!
Because Europe is such a historic location for western art, we also delighted in the
Art Masterpieces to Color coloring book. The teacher's guide includes lots of guidance on how to introduce and discuss art masterpieces, and my kids loved coloring themselves.
Even my three-year-old daughter appreciated the art lessons.
"What is her name?" she asked as we stared at the picture of the
Girl with the Pearl Earring.
"I don't know," I responded, explaining that it was painted a long time ago.
"But what is her name?" my daughter repeated. She loved that picture, and loved painting it herself.
Part 2 of Around the World deals with Europe and South America. Here are the countries it covers in detail.
- France
- Spain
- Netherlands
- Denmark
- Italy
- Sweden
- Great Britain
- Ecuador
- Peru
- Chile
- Brazil
My daughter wants to read more and more about the countries we've studied and the others in Europe and now in South America (especially since we've been learning Spanish). The books included and additional books recommended by the Around the World study guide are a great start.
Where to Buy Around the World with Picture Books Part 2
The Around the World with Picture Books sets are great for gentle social studies, art, and geography studies for kindergarten through third grade children. Get
Around the World Part 2 directly from Beautiful Feet Books. (Are you also looking for
Part 1?)
Want to win a literature pack? Join the
giveaway below!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
EMAILS OF ALL ENTRANTS WILL BE SUBMITTED TO BEAUTIFUL FEET FOR THE PURPOSE OF FOLLOW UP PROMOTIONAL EMAILS. You may opt out at any time and still be entered to win. Make sure you enter by May 22, 2019!
Related Articles:
If there is one thing that I truly love studying, it is American History, especially early American history. Everything about it is so much fun for me. The early colonial settlements and how the settlers got by. The growing of the nation. And of course the American Revolution! I was so delighted to get a chance
Read More
“Can we go look for another history video?” my second grader asked me this morning. This was a bit unexpected. My daughter has not make it a secret that she is not interested in history. But since we found the Homeschool History website (created by the team at Notgrass history), I’ve found her more interested
Read More
I am so excited about this year’s plan because we are starting out with STEAM the center of our minds! At our co-op, I’m teaching an upper elementary-level STEAM Challenge class. Besides that, I’m super excited about the ideas in the book STEAM Kids, a fantastic book full of gorgeous and creative ways to implement
Read More
A few weeks ago, I overheard my kindergartner talking to his baby sister. “Are you an i, u, v, or j?” he was saying in his sweetest voice. “Because if you are, you cannot come at the end of an English word!” This he repeated a few times over the next few minutes as he
Read More
We had so much fun playing with apples in STEAM class yesterday. We learned about the scientific method and then we created towers (or modern art) with apple chunks. Our apple STEAM projects were a lot of fun.
Read More
My son had some difficulty comprehending the values of fractions without seeing them visually. Comparing and contrasting fractions is difficult! So I spruced up my Pizza Fractions activity pack to give him some more review that he needed. We also found some other activities to be helpful.
Read More