Our Best Life Learning/Homeschooling Story Collections
Here at Sparkle, we love homeschooling. Homeschooling can come in many forms — I prefer to call it life learning because more often than not, our learning doesn't happen just at home. Learning occurs out in the world too — at the library, grocery store, park, gymnastics, while taking a hike or going to a museum, even at the dentist office.
Life learning takes place in stories too, which is what we do best! The following story collections are ones that are the best of our homeschooling stories. These stories not only model what homeschooling can look like, but they often hold lessons — from how to make a certain craft, to history lessons, to more conceptual ideas on how to build strong relationships with your siblings.
We want to offer these to all of you as a resource to add to your curriculum. From our favorite homeschoolers Martin & Sylvia, to their adventures at Nature School, and our FIFTY series, there is a lot to learn here! Join us for learning in many different ways.
Log into your Sparkle Account to listen.
At Home with Martin & Sylvia
This collection is wonderful for exploring the different and creative ways to do homeschooling or rather life learning! Ages 3+
Description The playhouse is a spaceship. The garden is a jungle. And the brook is a home to fairies and other magical creatures. Join Martin and Sylvia — two delightful and all-too-familiar children — as they explore the infinite possibilities of their sweet home in the woods. These stories follow the rhythms of family life through the four seasons, delighting in the creative endeavors and sweet adventures of the much-loved brother and sister.
Martin & Sylvia Nature School
Nature School was inspired by a love of the natural world and an alternative way of learning. This collection has crafts to accompany every story. You can find them HERE. Ages 3+
Description Every Thursday Martin goes to the Goose-eye Wilderness School, while Sylvia and her friend Sophia create a Nature Home-school. From wild craft cooking to outdoor games to building projects to tree identification, Nature School will be a year of unfolding learning and fun.
FIFTY: The Stars, the States, and the Stories
This collection of stories is fantastic for helping your children learn the 50 states. Ages 8+
Description The United States of America is a magnificent experiment. It is a nation built on a dream of a better future, on equality, and on true freedom. But what does that really look like?
In this collection of stories, we learn about the American Experiment through the experience of “regular folk” – one from each state, plus every district and territory. Rebels, Industrialists, Foresters, Farmers, Immigrants from every corner of the planet and Native Folk who have been here for a very long time – we will meet them all in a moment of true citizenship: when they make the American Experiment their own.
These stories are all historical fiction – pulling from real historical and biographical facts – but “sparkled” into a narrative that engages and inspires.
Martin & Sylvia Dress Up A huge part of homeschooling is creative play, and a huge part of that is dress up. Dress up is great for learning about different proffessions and about different jobs that adults and children alike can take on. Ages 3+
Description Can a little dress-up transform worried and shy children into confident, courageous kids? What about a nervous Momma or an overwhelmed Daddy? It turns out that colorful socks, ballerina skirts, curly wigs, and royal crowns CAN help Martin, Sylvia, Momma, and Daddy meet the day’s challenges with confidence and delight!
Martin & Sylvia's Knitting from the Beginning
Knitting is a quintessential handcraft skill and one that many homeschoolers learn. Ages 3+
Description This Collection is an hour-long "Martin & Sylvia" story divided into three parts! The story includes lots of wool craft projects, including knitting, working with wool, spinning yarn and finger knitting, and centers on a class brother and sister take with a magical woman named Miss Melinda.
The Willowbee Tree
The Willowbee Tree is all about inspiring a love of geography and exploring the world though different enviroments. Take a trip with the Willowbee Tree and further your learning by cooking a meal from that country and maybe reading some folk tales. Ages 3+
Description In the backyard of an ordinary house on an ordinary street in an ordinary town, there was once a most extraordinary tree. It was an enormous Willow tree. In the middle of its trunk there was a hole. And if you found yourself near that willow tree with a certain wonder stirring in your heart, you might notice a colorful sparkle coming from that hole. And what was that sparkle? An invitation to go somewhere long ago and far far away. Follow the stories of Willowbee children – ordinary children who take some not-so-ordinary adventures through powers of their extraordinary Willow tree.
Not yet a subscriber? Try a free trial HERE.
About the Author
KC Pagano
KC is a full-time radical homemaker and mama to two spunky little girls. She writes about all kinds of radical goodness, from gardening and cooking with whole foods to crafting, sewing, homeschooling, and mama musings. Read more on her blog The Nettlesome Life.
