Beatrix Potter
Her Life and Her Little Books is Calvert School's second foray into literature units. This program comes with the following:
The Reading Guide covers the biography chapter by chapter, then has a lesson apiece on each little book. This amounts to 20 lessons in all-perfect for a summer unit study of one to two lessons per week. At the back of the Guide is a glossary of words from each little book. This comes in handy, since unless you are British, you probably are a bit confused by words such as bolster and pipkin.
Each lesson has tons of activities and discussion questions. You get to do many cute little literature-related crafts, such as making your own little book, making papier mache foods (as in The Story of Two Bad Mice), hosting a tea party (like Mrs. Tiggy Winkle) or a dinner party (like Mr. Jeremy Fisher), making a vest for a stuffed animal (like the Tailor of Gloucester), and making a lavender sack (as in The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies). Paper and pen activities include crosswords, decoding messages, word searches, drawing pictures, writing an adventure story, and putting sheep- shearing pictures in order.
These are just a few of the craft and non-craft activities. You'll also learn about Beatrix Potter's life, the period of history in which she lived, the English Lake District, watercolors, nature study, and a lot more. Plus, of course, you get to read and re-read some of the most beloved children's books in the English language.
If you've ever wondered what unit studies are really like, this is a cute way to start!
--Mary Pride