March into Wonder: March Booklists are here!

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How is your winter going? Are we almost there yet? I am so ready for spring! March is right around the corner, and I am so excited about the picture book lineup for March! What a fascinating month, filled with incredible stories and inspiring figures. But before we dive into that, I want to take a moment to welcome our new readers and revisit what A Daily Picture Book is all about.

The idea

A long time ago, my homeschool needed a good refresher. We had hit the doll drums and were barely willing to get up in the morning to hit the books. We were BORED! All of us had fallen into a routine of academics for academics’ sake. Wonder and excitement had been sucked out of our learning. It was just a checklist, nothing more. And the faster we could finish it, the better. So we took a break, a short little bitty break of a couple of weeks. But during that break I took Sarah Mackenzie’s Focus and Align Master Class. It was the first time she was offering this class and it changed our lives! During the class Sarah encouraged us to write a Rule of Six. Sarah also mentioned that she had learned about the Rule of Six from the amazing Melissa Wiley. A Rule of Six  are the principles that we want our home education to revolve around. The Golden Rule, so to speak of my home education.

My Rule of Six

Here is what my (finished) Rule of Six says:
Everyday, as much as I am able, I will ensure that my children have time to:

• Create deep, meaningful relationships
• Wonder and excitement
• Encounter beaty
• Enjoy the outdoors
• Accomplish meaningful work
• Create memories

With a tagline of: Focus on the True, Good and Beautiful
And since that time it has sat on my desk, right next to my computer, so that I can stare at it when I am planning out school week. And everyday since, as much as I am able, I have stuck to that Rule of Six, thanks in no small way to what became A Daily Picture Book.

A Daily Picture Book

In order to bring my Rule of Six to life I had some work to do. For each point of my Rule of Six, I discerned which school subject would apply. And don’t you know it, this was a whole new vision for my school! From now on, anything we read, anything we studied, had to fit within this six sided frame. But I did not have the money for a brand new curriculum, especially mid-year! No, the one thing I could change was reading more living picture books! And not just keep them for bedtime but to make them a full and integral part of all of our subjects throughout the school day! And that’s how A Daily Picture Book was born in our home education. (For more details go to A Daily Picture Book is Born Part 1 and Part 2). And it worked! I’ve never looked back and we have had so much! It really was a game changer! Thank you Sarah!

The booklists

Slowly, slowly, I built up a wonder-igniting collection of living picture books and this collection became the booklists that I now make available to you. The booklists were built a little haphazard at first then slowly I organized it chronologically so that we could revisit each picture book once a year, at least. The picture books have become old friends. And the fun does not end there as we always find new ones as well. The memories have been created along with the relationships. So much beauty has been encountered and from each picture book has sprung meaningful work. I love this system, if you can call it that, dearly and I am hoping to be able to share it with many of you! This month of March is one of the richest yet, and I would love for you to join us on this adventure.

March goodness

Oh my stars! March is plump full of goodness! This is what I would call “an ideal month”. There is a little bit of everything in the booklist for March, from geography, to artists, from inventors to explorers, from musicians to historical events. I’m telling you, this is one booklist you do not want to miss! I am saying that it is ideal as it contains picture books touching on pretty much every subject that you would want your children to become familiar with. It is an opportunity to create deep meaningful relationships with the people that have come before us and have left their imprint upon the world. Or simply some that we know about but don’t know, such as Dr. Seuss. From getting to know these people, wonder and excitement are ignited to get to know more about them or their work. Which leads us right into meaningful work either going down an artistic rabbit hole or going on a field trip to follow in the footsteps of Anna Atkins. March provides us many occasions to encounter beauty through art and music as well as poetry. And from all this come the memories of an adventurous nature walk or of a misconceived experiment ending in disaster and laughter.

The exclusive memberships

Each membership is a little different. But all offer opportunities to grow, to ignite wonder and excitement and to turn your family’s learning experience into a most delightful feast.

Booklover

The Booklover membership is the premium membership with up to 31 picture book titles a month! This membership is so rich that it could easily replace a history curriculum. Every month I strive to bring you the most interesting, best written and most beautifully illustrated picture books that I can find for each day.

Bookworm

The Bookworm Membership is the middle of the road membership, with 10 picture book titles per month. I try to mix it up a bit and make sure to cover as many different subjects and individuals as possible. This usually averages to 2 picture book titles a week.

Bookling

The Bookling Membership is the littlest of them all, but very dearly loved, hence its cute name of Bookling. With 5 picture book titles per month, averaging one picture book a week this is a great way to get your toes wet and see if A Daily Picture Book’s booklists are right for your family.

How to

This is all very simple, pick a good comfy spot and read the picture book with your family. We usually read it during Morning Time. The picture book is the cornerstone, the foundation, it is the teaching. If you never tack any of the activities to the picture book, you have still given your children a meaningful means to discover someone or an event in such a way that they will remember it for a long time. My youngest (4 at the time of this writing) and I were looking at a book which contained a beautiful painting of Niagara Falls. When I mentioned to her the name of the Falls she immediately made the connection with Annie Edson Taylor, who went down the Falls in a barrel. We read the picture book about Miss Taylor in October! 4 months ago! This was such a sweet moment for me, proving once again that picture books create meaningful, long lasting relationships. And that from these relationships spring what Charlotte Mason called “a relationship of ideas”. “Thought breeds thought; children familiar with great thoughts take naturally to thinking for themselves as the well-nourished body takes to growing; and we must bear in mind that growth, physical, intellectual, moral, spiritual is the sole end of education.“ Mission accomplished!

So please come and join us, come enjoy a feast of ideas that will revolutionize your home education!
Love,
Mattie