Story Time for May

…mind appeals to mind and thought begets thought and that is how we become educated. For this reason we owe it to every child to put him in communication with great minds that he may get at great thoughts; with the minds, that is, of those who have left us great works; and the only vital method of education appears to be that children should read worthy books, many worthy books. ~Charlotte Mason, Volume 6~

I plan my little kid’s morning basket by the month in order to keep them grounded to seasonal rhythms and also put together a story time basket for each month for the same purpose. The books are selected to correspond with things that are going on in nature around us or that fit with holidays that occur during the month. I’ve had a lot of fun doing this with my littles this year. We read from this basket during the day after morning basket and any other lessons, usually after lunch. I’ve included science books in this basket and those combined with nature walks and journaling have made up our science studies for the year.

For the month of May we are reading,

This book by Gail Gibbons tells us all about chickens. It includes information about popular breeds as well as how eggs are made and laid. The book also takes us through the life cycle of a chicken. May is chick month here and we are expecting new arrivals next week!

The frog books will supplement the vernal pool study we are currently working on.

We love all of Paul Galdone’s fairy/folktale retellings. They are a great gentle introduction to fairy tales for little ones.

We will read these gardening books later this month when we get started planting our own garden.

Wonderful story about Little Sal of Blueberries for Sal. In this story she is a bit older and loses her first tooth. This book paints a vivid and comforting picture of what it was like to live on the Maine coast in years past.

Follow a baby loon living with its mother on a lake in the Maine woods. This book introduces little ones to all of the many animals that visit and live on the lakes in our northern forests.

A little boy wants to bring a salamander home and change his room into salamander habitat. A fun story that will also go well with our study of vernal pools.

May seems like the perfect month for another visit with the charming mice of Brambly Hedge.

This one is a carry over from our April basket. We didn’t get to it this month so will read it in May instead. The root children are waking up and bringing spring to the land. The story follows them through a summer and into the autumn when they must return to the ground to sleep.

This is our Story Time Basket for May.