Hello, everyone! It's been a few days since my last post, I know, but it's all been for good reasons. Sewing orders to fill, trip planning, anniversary (five years married!) and county fair entries... which, I would like to add, were my first entries ever, and I did quite well...
First place!! My chocolate cherry cookies won third. Not bad for my first time.
Anyway, enough bragging. I have so many things to blog about now, mostly about homeschooling items. I'm starting off with this one, because I kinda owe this one, and because I have to share how much I love these items.
So, real quick, I will say that I was gifted these books for my totally honest review.
These particular books are coloring books by Dover. I have to say, I squeaked when I first opened them up. They are beautiful. I actually have not let my kids even use them yet because, honestly, they need supervision or they will destroy everything and these cannot be destroyed. They are too nice for that! I kinda want to just keep them for myself, but I know I shouldn't... especially the human body one, that one is for kids. I have no excuse.
Dover has many different coloring books of educational topics. The ones I was gifted are National Parks, Historic American Landmarks, My First Human Body Book, and Medicinal Plants.
Pay no mind to the camera strap in the corner there, but these are the ones I was sent. They are just lovely.
This one above is the National Parks one. The images are very clear and detailed, and the text underneath is all facts regarding which National Park is pictured. It's certainly no full on text book, but it is valuable knowledge paired with fun. Many of the pictures are far more detailed than that, since they include images of places like The Grand Canyon and Big Bend. Lots of little lines and details are to be colored in, and that can be tedious for young kids. I would say use this one for ages 12 and up.
The one above is from the Historic Landmarks book. It, too, has lots of details to work with, although a bit less than the National Parks one, I would say. It has facts on the bottom as well. I would say this book is good for ages 10 and up.
This is from the Medicinal Plants book. The pages are all basically like this. No big backgrounds to color, just the actual plant, which makes this far easier for younger kids to color. The text describes the colors of the plants as well as a basic summary on how they are used medicinally. Being a natural healer myself, this book pleases my hippie heart. This book can be used for any age.
Finally, we have this one. This one is definitely meant for younger kids. It is called, My First Human Body Book, after all. This book is easy to color and gives basic information on topics like the digestive system, DNA, your senses, and your bloodstream. Its large text is very easy to read and understand.
As you can see, these book are not full-on school books. They can't really be used for a full lesson on a particular subject. However, they are still educational, plus they have the benefits of creativity and relaxation. Dover has books for all topics and ages, and each one is excellent quality. This allows coloring to be a fun addition to your lesson plan. These books are also inexpensive and available on Amazon.
How can we use these books to learn?
•Do one page at a time and study the topic on the page. Seriously, their topics cover everything from Egypt to pirates to mythical creatures and gods and goddesses... and so much more. You can find books to make any topic more fun. Spending all day reading and researching can get tiring, and coloring is super popular for all ages right now. These pages are basically an art and history or science project all in one. If your child is having a hard time focusing, allow them to take a break and offer a coordinating page to color instead. Let them collect themselves.
•Save them for yourself; allow them to inspire your next lesson. Lets face it, teaching can be tiring. You may wind up stumped or just not feeling the lesson you are trying to get them excited about. That's okay. Maybe you are just feeling overwhelmed. That's okay, too. Get some of the more scenic ones, like the National Park one, and just relax and color them yourself. Look at photos for reference and enjoy nature from afar (since obviously, we can't just get to all the places we want to travel to). Color some flowers, you may find some new plants you want to grow. There is a reason coloring is so popular, even with adults. It's a creative outlet that is cheap and stress-free. Choose a book about something you love to learn about and brainstorm teaching ideas while you relax.
Now, remember, these age guidelines are loose. It all depends on your kid. Some kids stress out over having too many spaces to color in (I did as a kid), some are too young to really gain much from the information given on the page, etc. It all depends on your family, so you guys make that call. These coloring books are all gorgeous with beautiful images, excellent information, and plenty of pages to color in. I would recommend this brand to anyone.
Here are links to the ones I have, but you can find many more through their website, where they even break down the sections by 3D coloring, adult coloring books, and children's coloring books.
Here are some Amazon links here:
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