You know I love to study history primarily textbook-free. But what about science? Don’t we need worksheets and tests, even for our elementary students?
Spoiler alert: my answer is NO!
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I do use science textbooks often as our core read-aloud. This year, for example, we will be studying birds (and other flying creatures) using an Apologia textbook I already owned.
While I will read chapters aloud each week to my girls (in 1st, 3rd, and 6th grade), our science exploration will be fully fleshed out through lots of reading, bird watching, and nature journaling. (We gave my husband a new bird feeder for Christmas, and now we all love to take our field guide to the window and watch for new birds.)
But if you know me at all, you know my real love language is a book list! I found so many wonderful resources on our own shelves and at the library’s, and I have 2 huge stacks tumbling over ready for us to enjoy!
If you like to study subjects in multi-faceted ways – through poetry, fiction, art, biography, and non-fiction – you’ll love the more than 50 resources I list below! With this much variety, you’re sure to find something for every learning style and personality!
50+ Textbook-free Bird Resources for your Homeschool
- The official Great Backyard Bird Count (February 17-20, 2023) details can be found here.
- Cornell University’s Feeder Birds student workbook and coloring book (free pdf)
- He clasps the crag with crooked hands: Simple Science Unit Study of Eagles and Other Birds of Prey, inspired by Tennyson’s “The Eagle” (free printable)
- Geography Quest: Bird Migration Edition: study more about how birds migrate during the year and map some migrations.
- All About Robins free unit study from Kristin Moon Science
- 10 pieces of Classical Music inspired by birds
- Nature Journaling: Birds course
- Bird nature study guide from Our Journey Westward!
- Bird chalk pastel art video course (you can check out a free sample lesson here)
- Free bird flashcards and nature study printables
- 15 minute music lesson on bird songs and calls
- Winter Birds Morning Time plans from Everyday Graces
- How to attract birds to your yard from Nature Study Homeschool
Birds in Poetry
Song for the Whooping Crane by Eileen Spinelli
Fine Feathered Friends by Jane Yolen
Feathers by Eileen Spinelli
The Beauty of the Beast: Poems from the Animal Kingdom by Jack Prelutsky
On the Wing by David Elliot
Wings on the Wind by Kate Keisler
Wild Wings by Jane Yolen
Birds and Beasts by William Jay Smith
I am Phoenix: Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleischman
Birds of a Feather by Jane Yolen
Birds in Fiction and Fable
When Birds Could Talk and Bats Could Sing by Virginia Hamilton
The Conference of the Birds retold by Alexis York Lumbard
Gay-Neck: The Story of a Pidgeon by Dhan Gopal Mukerji
Birds in Early Readers
A to Z Mysteries: The Falcon’s Feathers by Ron Roy
Mouse and Mole: Fine Feathered Friends by Wong Herbert Yee
Birds in Non-Fiction
Weird Birds by Chris Earley
Sparrow, Eagle, Penguin, and Seagull: What Is a Bird? by Brian P. Cleary
The Long, Long Journey by Sandra Markle
Thunder Birds by Jim Arnosky
An Egg is Quiet by Dianna Hutts Aston
The Birds of America by John James Audubon
On the Wing: American Birds in Migration by Carol Lerner
My Baby Blue Jays by John Berendt
Mama Built a Little Nest by Jennifer Ward
Feathers: Not Just for Flying by Melissa Stewart
Pale Male: Citizen Hawk of New York City by Janet Schulman
Zoology for Kids by Josh and Bethanie Hestermann
Crow Smarts: Inside the Brain of the World’s Brightest Bird by Pamela S. Turner
The Burgess Bird Book by Thornton Burgess
Bird Builds a Nest: A First Science Storybook by Martin Jenkins
Ravens in Winter by Bernd Heinrich
When Birds Get Flu and Cows Go Mad: How Safe are We? by John DiConsiglio
State Birds by Elaine Landau
Watching Water Birds by Jim Arnosky
Birds: Nature’s Magnificent Flying Machines by Caroline Arnold
Be sure to check out this mini unit study all about robins!
Birds in Art Projects
I love the resources from Hodgepodge and Chalkpastel.com! You can try their free video tutorial demonstrating how to draw a bird’s nest with chalk pastels, or you can experience their entire bird chalk pastel art video course!
Origami Birds and Butterflies by Lisa Miles
Birds in Biography
Into the Woods: John James Audubon Lives His Dream by Robert Burleigh
For the Birds The Life of Roger Tory Peterson by Peggy Thomas
The Iridescence of Birds: A Book About Henri Matisse by Patricia MacLachlan
The Boy Who Drew Birds: A Story of John James Audubon by Jacqueline Davies
The Sky Painter: Louis Fuertes, Bird Artist by Margarita Engle
Audubon: Painter of Birds in the Wild Frontier by Jennifer Armstrong
Bird-Watching
Bird Watcher by David Burnie
Look UP! Bird-Watching in Your Own Backyard by Annette LeBlanc Cate
The Robin Makes a Laughing Sound by Sallie Wolf
Bateman’s Backyard Birds by Robert Bateman
Birds in Film
Bird-Adjacent: Flight and Flying Creature books
A Butterfly is Patient by Dianna Hutts Aston
Animalium: Welcom to the Museum by Jenny Broom
Cleared for Takeoff: The Ultimate Book of Flight by Rowland White
Birdnotes Podcast: https://www.npr.org/podcasts/381443986/bird-notes
Fun, thanks!
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