Yesterday, our Georgia Governor announced that all Georgia students will complete their current grade levels at home for the remainder of the school year.  That's a tough one.  As a former public school and private school educator, my heart breaks for Kindergarten families who will miss their child's first year experiences for the rest of the school year.  My heart breaks for the families of high school seniors who will miss the last few months of their entire grade school careers at school with their friends and favorite teachers.  High school sports, prom dances, and other milestone events have come to a grinding halt.  Retiring teachers will not be spending their last few months in the classrooms with their last students.  All the 2020 school years "lasts" have unknowingly already happened.  Some parents are probably feeling overwhelmed with the tasks that have been assigned to them in order to help their children finish the school strong from home.  I can offer one small glimmer of relief.  Usborne Books has added a new category called Learning from Home.  The materials they offer are not complete curricula but they do offer some pretty impressive supplemental materials that will help enrich your child's learning from home experience.  The following list of books are intended for students in the 8th grade.

Learning from Home with Usborne - 8th Grade

Alice in Wonderland

When Alice follows a white rabbit into his burrow, she enters a fantastic world of weird and wonderful characters. Lewis Carroll’s classic fantasy story is faithfully retold in this gorgeously illustrated comic book adaptation.

Series: Graphic Stories
These Graphic Legends and Graphic Classics provide a great gateway to somewhat difficult stories for reluctant readers to learn to enjoy. These stories are entertaining, and the fun, action-packed illustrations are a great way to initiate reluctant readers, in particular boys, to the pleasure of sitting down and reading a book, plunging into an imaginary universe and be taken away by a story.

Amazing Women

Discover the achievements of over 100 brilliant women from around the world. Featuring scientists and politicians, artists and sports stars, the lives of these women will inspire and empower the amazing women of the future to follow their dreams.

This revised edition now includes the additions of Clara Barton, Nancy Reagan, Julia Child, Christa McAuliffe, Maria Tallchief and Condoleeza Rice. Additionally, the Find Out More section is not included in this edition.

Epic Climbs

Join the brave climbers – including Bear Grylls – who conquered some of the world’s most fearsome mountains while battling extreme weather, treacherous rocks, and other dangers found on the tallest, steepest, and most incredible peaks on the planet.

Series: Bear Grylls
Outdoor adventurer, Bear Grylls, shares fascinating facts about our remarkable planet, teaching you everything you need to know to venture through all of Earth’s many terrains and environments. 

Extreme Planet

 

Embark on a whirlwind tour of the globe with fearless adventurer, Bear Grylls, to explore the highest, deepest, wildest, thinnest, coolest, hottest, scariest, smelliest things on the planet. Bear will guide you through the coolest facts and the most perilous limits of our Extreme Planet!

Illustrated Dictionary of Math 

Everyone studying math needs this book, and it is an essential study guide when preparing for exams.

• Over 500 definitions of all the key terms and concepts
• More than 300 useful illustrations and diagrams
• Over 100 worked examples
• Comprehensive cross-referencing and detailed index
• Internet links to recommended websites

Series: Illustrated Math Dictionaries
Fantastic homework helpers! Each includes clear explanations of key terms and concepts and hundreds of examples and illustrations. 

 

Survival Camp - Bear Grylls

 

Let Bear Grylls teach you everything you need to know to cope in all weather and terrain and even through the air, over the seas, and under the waves. The wonderful world is out there just waiting to be discovered! The perfect gift for any young adventurers in training.

 

This is Not Another Math Book

 

Discover the clever craft behind the beautiful numbers and patterns of math with these fun drawing challenges based on math tricks and rules. Kids learn incredible math facts as they complete the beautiful designs. From perfect paper polygons and topological transformation flip books, from pizza cutting puzzles and loop-de-loop number spirals, they’ll discover the art in math, and the math in art. But remember, this is NOT another math book... or is it?

 

Understanding Politics and Government

 

Understanding politics is essential to understand the world around you. Learn about all types of government, how laws are decided upon and applied to countries, find out how the election process works, and who gets to decide who rules a country! Children and adults alike will find this book interesting and approachable thanks to its "dip-in and out" style.

Series: Understanding…
Understanding politics and business is essential to understand the world around you. Learn how laws are decided upon and applied to countries and the ins and outs of business with these approachable, quirky books.  

White Fang (Illustrated Originals)

This special edition of Jack London’s timeless classic – complete and unabridged – is beautifully illustrated by James Madsen. Follow the adventures of White Fang, half-wolf, half-dog, as he struggles for survival in the harsh, frozen wilds of northern Canada.

Series: Illustrated Originals
Beautifully illustrated, complete, and unabridged stories in paperback version. 

 

The World Wars

 

The two world wars of 1914-1918 and 1939-1945 cast a malevolent shadow over the entire 20th century. This book takes you through the story of both conflicts - from the soldiers' terrifying experiences in the trenches in the First War, to the huge battles and bombings of cities in the Second. Stunningly illustrated with dramatic contemporary photographs, paintings, posters and maps, this is an accessible and thought-provoking introduction to the two most devastating wars the world has ever known. 

 

Writing Box Set

 

In this box you will find everything you need to start your writing career: two books loaded with tips and prompts for writing stories, poems and essays, and a handy journal to write down your notes, observations and chapters. Includes Creative Writing Book, Write Your Own Storybook, and Writing Journal.  

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Learning From Home With Usborne - 9th Grade and Up

I didn't start teaching my youngest daughter at home until she was a sophomore in highschool.  I was terrified.  I'm an early childhood educator.  How in the world was I going to teach my daughter through highschool effectively?  I had a fearsome task ahead of me, but it was what she wanted and needed so I jumped in and got it done.  If you are feeling a little overwhelmed (or a lot overwhelmed), Usborne Books can help.  They have recently released a whole new category called Learning from Home.  It is not a complete curriculum but they do have several good supplemental resources to enrich your child's home education.  The following resources are intended for highschool students in the 9th Grade and Up.

Learning From Home:  9th Grade and Up

The Adventures of King Arthur

With the Kingdom of Britain facing chaos, the mysterious Merlin takes the infant Prince Arthur into hiding. Many years later, the young boy is shocked to discover that he is the country’s rightful ruler. Alongside his brave Knights of the Round Table, the newly-crowned King Arthur must fight many battles to keep his kingdom intact. Swords and epic quests come together in this action-packed graphic adventure. Graphic novels are more popular than ever thanks to popular culture and the amount of exposure they get. These new Graphic Stories from Usborne provide a great gateway to somewhat difficult stories for reluctant readers to learn to enjoy. Specifically designed to be easily readable, with familiar vocabulary and sentence structures, these stories are entertaining, and the fun, action-packed illustrations are a great way to initiate reluctant readers to the pleasure of sitting down and being swept into an imaginary universe and be taken away by a story.

Series: Graphic Stories
These Graphic Legends and Graphic Classics provide a great gateway to somewhat difficult stories for reluctant readers to learn to enjoy. These stories are entertaining, and the fun, action-packed illustrations are a great way to initiate reluctant readers to the pleasure of sitting down and reading a book, plunging into an imaginary universe and be taken away by a story.

Butterflies

I know there are miracles. The Professor said there are miracles. I’ll have soft skin and pretty hair one day. One day, I’ll wear my hair up.

Katherine is almost eighteen. Severely burned when she was three, she dreams that one day she will look like everyone else. Be like everyone else. Achieve her dreams.

But Katherine won’t be seen as a victim. Her life is filled with fun and humor and friendship, as she faces her first “real” date, arguments with her mum, and decisions about her future.

An extraordinary story of a journey where pain and trauma become triumph and a passion for living, Butterflies is a coming of age story that celebrates the fighter in all of us.

Complete Dickens:  All The Novels Retold

A comprehensive and remarkable collection of retellings of all the major novels and some novellas too! Complete list of stories: The Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby, The Old Curiosity Shop, Barnaby Rudge, A Christmas Carol, Martin Chuzzlewit, Dombey and Son, David Copperfield, Bleak House, Hard Times, Little Dorrit, A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations, and Our Mutual Friend. 

Complete Jane Austen:  All The Novels Retold

From teenage girls waiting to dance at their very first ball, to mothers hunting for rich husbands for their daughters, Jane Austen's love stories are famous throughout the world. This collection of adaptations of all six novels — and one shorter tale — with beautiful illustrations and summaries of the characters, is the perfect introduction to Jane Austen. Novels included are: Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion and Lady Susan. 

Complete Shakespeare:  Stories From All The Plays

Discover or rediscover the fantastic stories from Shakespeare plays with this complete book! In this beautifully-illustrated book you will find the thirty-seven plays that Shakespeare wrote, retold for children from 8 to 88! You will be pleased with re-reading the all-time favorites (Romeo and Juliet, Midsummer Night's Dream or Hamlet) but also with discovering the less well-known stories.

Forensic Science

Great detectives can use logic and intuition to solve crimes, but often that’s not enough. That’s when they turn to scientists for help. Forensic scientists use an astonishing variety of techniques on the smallest clues to reveal exactly who committed a crime. This book describes how different evidence - from blood to blowflies - is used to catch even the smartest crooks. And you can read exciting true–crime comic strips that show how scientists have foiled criminals time and time again. 

Hamlet

Shakespeare’s classic tragedy retold as a graphic novel. When Prince Hamlet learns that his uncle murdered his father, he sets on a path of bloody revenge.

Illustrated Dictionary of Math

Everyone studying math needs this book, and it is an essential study guide when preparing for exams.

• Over 500 definitions of all the key terms and concepts
• More than 300 useful illustrations and diagrams
• Over 100 worked examples
• Comprehensive cross-referencing and detailed index
• Internet links to recommended websites

Series: Illustrated Math Dictionaries
Fantastic homework helpers! Each includes clear explanations of key terms and concepts and hundreds of examples and illustrations.

Illustrated Dictionary of Science

This great study aid has topics arranged thematically so that words are explained in context, with a fully integrated system of cross-referencing plus a comprehensive index.

Series: Illustrated Science Dictionaries
These great study aids contain topics arranged thematically so that words are explained in context and include a fully integrated system of cross referencing plus a comprehensive index. 

Little Women (Illustrated Originals)

This special edition of Louisa May Alcott’s heart-warming story - complete and unabridged - is delightfully illustrated by Sophie Allsopp. Follow a year in the life of four very different sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, as they grow up in New England during the American Civil War, and despite hardship and illness, find new experiences and loves. 

*This book is a complete and unabridged copy of the original English story, Little Women; it does not contain the subsequent volumes, Good Wives or Little Men.

Series: Illustrated Originals
Beautifully illustrated, complete, and unabridged stories in paperback version.

Managing Your Money

This down-to-earth guide is designed to take the mystery out of managing your money. Filled with practical advice on topics such as how to be a smart shopper, how to budget, and how to earn money, it will equip you with the skills needed to manage your money — now and in the future. 

Nature Journal

Whether you’re in a bustling city or the depths of a forest, this journal will help you make the most of the nature around you. With inspiration for things to do and see in nature, including cloud formations, moon phases, leaf identification, and interesting facts about nature, all great starting off points for your own poems, stories, sketches, or wildlife spotting.

Series: Activity Journals
Behold the antidote to boredom at last! Whether it’s a rainy afternoon or a long summer’s day, whether you’re at home or with friends, you’ll never get bored with these books. Includes an elastic bookmark so you won’t lose your place! 

Understanding Business

Understand the ins and outs of business with this approachable, quirky book. The diagrams and cartoons will explain in terms people can understand how the global market works, what businesses and companies do, what they need, and what purpose they serve. From a small market stall to the biggest worldwide companies, no business will hold any secret for readers of this book.

Series: Understanding…
Understanding politics and business is essential to understand the world around you. Learn how laws are decided upon and applied to countries and the ins and outs of business with these approachable, quirky books. 

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