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Happy Thursday friends!
If you missed my two previous posts this week about my most used homeschool supplies and planning/prepping items check them out here:
Most Used Homeschool Supplies for Planning & Prep
I buy books as we go and start with which ones will be most helpful in our upcoming school year. For example, next year we are studying “Around the World,” so I made sure to purchase Maps by Aleksandra Mizielinska and the DK Countries of the World. These will be very useful in future homeschool years too.
When purchasing books, I try to check my favorite second hand book store websites first. (Thriftbooks, AbeBooks, DiscoverBooks) I have gotten many books for a great price, saving money to buy even more from my wish list. For all other books we use throughout the school year (chapter books, picture books, specific reference books) I use the library as often as possible.
These reference books are the ones I like to purchase to have on my shelves so we can pull them out any time, any year, when we come across a particular topic. My kids love looking at them, and they have led to great interest-led learning. Only purchasing useful reference books helps me save money and space!
(I put a ** by my children’s favorite books from this list.)
Merriam-Webster Children’s Dictionary
Maps by Aleksandra Mizielinksa
The 50 States by Gabrielle Balkan
History Timeline– This is a blank timeline notebook that you fill in yourself. Anytime the kids and I learn about an event or person in history we add it to our timeline and are able to refer back to it anytime.
DK & Smithsonian Encyclopedias
I love DK & Smithsonian Encyclopedias! We have slowly been collecting lots of them and they are so great to pull out for lessons. They have beautiful photos and explanatory text that isn’t too hard to understand. These are the ones we already own and love!
Encyclopedia of Animals (**FAVORITE)
Children Just Like Me (**FAVORITE)
The New Children’s Encyclopedia (Visual Encyclopedia)
Trees Leaves Flowers and Seeds
Bible, Reading, and Handwriting
Draw Write Now Books (**FAVORITE)
These books are the best for drawing and copywork. Each page gives a certain topic, how to draw it, and facts to use as copy work. These are really helpful when we are notebooking and we can pull out one with a topic we are learning to help draw and write. I get THIS primary journal for my kids to use with them as well.
Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones
The Gospel Story Bible by Marty Machowski
These below aren’t reference books, but are early reader series that we have on hand because they get read through often.
Dash Into Learning- Early Reading Books (use code SMITH20 for 20% off)
Elephant & Piggie Series by Mo Willems
Usborne My First Reading Library
Usborne Books
I love Usborne books! Their books are so colorful, engaging, and fun. They have lots of great ones that are great for kids in all different subjects.
The Usborne Big Book of… series are so cool! Each of the books have huge fold out pages to see and learn about things on a bigger scale. They have great facts for kids and are super engaging and colorful.
Usborne Encyclopedia of World History
Usborne First Hundred Words in Spanish
My Wish List:
These are some great books that I will be purchasing over time to have on our homeschool shelves. I usually will get them when we are going to start a specific subject or for holiday gifts.
Slow Down: 50 Mindful Moments in Nature
The Big Book of series by Yuval Zommer
I know this was a long list and I hope it didn’t overwhelm you. Hopefully it was helpful on what reference books would be great to add to your homeschool shelves. We love to use these for facts, beautiful photos, art, copy work, deep dives, and interest-led learning.
Comment below with any of your favorites!
Have a great rest of your week!
Lindsay
If you want to read more about great books here are some other posts of mine:
