More YA literature and kids books on girl power for Women's History Month

Hello my friends of this blog on free printable lesson plans from the Omschool (Omi's homeschool)! Teacher Omi (grama) here with another list of YA literature and kids books on girl power for Women's History Month. When I was a kid and teen, literature was my lifeline, social media and therapy! There's a word for this: bibliotherapy. My role models came from strong female characters. The term "girl power" wasn't a thing yet, but I think it stems in part from many of the girl protagonists featured in these books. 

The most important thing about these girls and women is that they are 3D, realistic, relatable and fallible. They aren't cardboard Disney princesses, helpless handwringers or male dependents that peopled so many books of the time. They interact with men. But they are higher power or self-reliant. They break glass ceilings and defy expectations. I know that now, this may sound like dated ERA rhetoric, but believe me, it was crucial then and necessary now. Because expectations woman were hypocritical, shaming and punitive. 

We had to be beautiful but humble, work like mules and be paid about as much, achieve the impossible but not outshine men. We worked in factories to support families when our men couldn't or wouldn't, but were blamed for taking men's jobs. And then we couldn't vote or own property. We had to take care of our children but not have a say in their lives. The list and I, could go on all day. So here are YA and kids books featuring young women and girls, existing within these expectations but yet rising above them. This will be an ongoing series as I think of more books with strong female leads. 

Where the Lilies Bloom I'm known for crying over stories, even Pooh Bear and this YA book, was one of the tear-jerkiest. It explores the lives of an orphaned family of rural Appalachian children who find creative ways to avoid being separated. Second oldest, Mary Call Luther takes on the matriarch (and patriarch) role at just 14. 

The Boxcar Children You haven't lived till you've read the story of four also orphaned kids who make a home for themselves in an abandoned train boxcar. It's maybe a smidge idealized but the lessons learned on sticking together are worth it. Eldest sister Jessie is our featured she-ro, but little Violet gives a lot in her own way too. 

Me Too  (Bill and Vera Cleaver). A sister rails against having to basically parent her special needs sister. But she also fights hard for her. It's got a lot of mostly-recent negative reviews, but that's because many in younger generations can't wrap their minds around issues and situations that many of us in this time period lived every day: parentification, rabid cruelty, discrimination and anger with no channels. 

I'll be sharing more YA literature and kids books on girl power for Women's History Month as they surface in my memory! Love you all and a special hugs and kisses sent to my lovely daughters, Emma and Molly, daughter-in-law Samantha and grand-daughters Lola, Juno and Flora. You rock my world. 

10 Classic Kids Books with Realistic She-ro Girl Protagonists for Women's History Month

Hello my dear friends of this blog on free printable lesson plans! Teacher Omi here from the Omschool. Today, March 1, begins Women's History Month so we're going to look at 10 classic kids books with realistic girl protagonists. These young ladies will make you laugh, cry, cheer and most importantly resonate. 

First, a bit of back story. I'm 59 years old and I was lucky to be a kid during a great literary revolution in young adult literature. Beginning in the mid-ish 60s, youth, YA and teen literature was turning a corner away from the more cardboard hero/heroine characters to much  more realistic, identifiable, fallible 3D characters. And I, being so fully human, very awkward and out of step, embraced, this change with open arms. 

Because let's face it, the Disney princesses, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, Nurse Cherry Ames, Trixie Borden, Nancy Drew, even the March sisters of Little Women, are all much larger, and well, gooder, than life. They are poised and pretty.  They make mistakes but they never fail or fall. They are the toad-kissers but never the toad. This was difficult for a little girl who always felt fat, warty and klutzy. 

So the "heroines" in my book list are believable. Most of these works of classic children's literature date from my childhood and teen years. 

Sam, Bangs and Moonshine This book is an excellent resource for helping kids deal with grief. Sam has just lost her mother and she's developed the habit of making up stories to cope (denial). Her lies cause some real problems. But what makes her a she-ro, in my book, is the way she recognizes and works to fix the damage she's caused. 

The Pigman This one is definitely not for kids under about 13 (take this from someone who read it at 10). Lorraine and John both live in dysfunctional situations and find friendship in each other and an elderly man. What happens is very upsetting but it's real. What I like about Lorraine is that despite her cruel upbringing, she very maturely takes responsibility and doesn't blame anyone else. 

Harriet the Spy So Harriet isn't your average kid detective. She's a snoop and a bit of a stalker. But she's just so darn clever about how she does it, with all the little gadgets she invents. I couldn't help but admire her, especially being weaned on Nancy Drew, who if I'm honest, is incredibly annoying. Nancy is a busybody snoop too. But it never backfires like it does with Harriet and usually in real life. 

Honestly, Katie John! (Mary Calhoun, author of lots of good kids books) I seriously love this series! Just look at her facial expression! Katie John gets into so many mishaps all with the best of intentions. She's not beautiful or a star pupil,  just a plain old kid and so relatable. Her ways of shirking work, and not helping her parents ready their new boarding house is hilarious. 

Katie Kittenheart (Miriam Mason) Hands-down, my favorite book from around age 6. From forgetting to dress up for picture day, to nearly incinerating her kitten, to single-handedly getting 40 kids through a flood, Katie is a delight. 

Velma (Scooby-Doo) Can we just agree that without brains-behind-the-outfit Velma, Mystery Inc. kids would have been gunned down, drowned or eaten alive in every episode? Velma shows that you can be smart and cute even without red hair and a scarf! 

Laura Ingalls Little House on the Prairie series I identified so with Laura. She is always the one in trouble. She can never match up to perfect little blonde Mary. She hates her brown hair, Sunday clothes and having to sit still and quiet. She's a little mouthy. But when push comes to shove, like in The Long Winter, Laura proves that she is the bravest of all! 

The Cat Who Went to Heaven The she-ro in this story is a sweet, self-sacrificing little cat who gives everything to help her friends. I cried my eyes out at 8, reading this story under the covers one night. 

I Was A 98 pound Duckling What resonates in this story is the challenge of those bumpy tween years. So I was "too chubby" and this character is "too thin" we struggled with the same issues, feeling (and sometimes being made to feel) ugly. 

The Doll of Lilac Valley Another one I cried myself to sleep over, what got me is how sensitive and empathetic Laurie is. When  she loses her favorite doll, her kindly (but non-child-aware) caregivers present her with one the complete antithesis of the other.  But the universe rewards her gentleness. 

Are You There God, It's Me Margaret? The great thing about this book and Margaret the main character is that they talk about the unmentionable...getting your period. Regardless, of time or age, all girls have to deal. Most of us felt like freaks. We hated it. Thank God for Judy Blume who at least normalized it. 

These girl protagonists may read like just kids but that's what makes them she-ros. Every girl is in my book! Most of these kids books are available on Thriftbooks or Amazon. Happy reading and HappyyWomen's History Month! 

Hands-On Preschool math and science lesson plans with play food, with free printables

Hello teacher Omi here with more free printable lesson plans from the Omschool! Today we are going to talk about how to use children's toys and common household objects to create interactive, Hands-On lesson plans for preschool, in your classroom or homeschool. Here's an idea to use play food to teach early math skills like sorting, symmetry and matching. These activities build fine motor and STEM skills as well. 

I recently bought some play food for the grandchildren to play with at their kitchen set at our house. Most play food now comes pre-cut. Children can use a knife to "cut" food into pieces and then reassemble by attaching velcro pieces. The bananas corn on the cob are "peelable" too. Use these as an easy matching game. This can be adapted for children ages 18 months through preschool and kindergarten. It's perfect for children with special needs, too.

For the youngest learners, (Omi is looking at you, Remus and Emmett! And Flora you'll be there soon too) simply have them separate the pieces or separate them for children. Then they match up the two halves. For older children (hello Juno and Ezra), put all the pieces in a basket and have them sort to find matching pieces. You can also play a memory game with kids of all ages (that's you, Lucian, Lola, Milo, Moses, Silas and Henry!) by placing food halves randomly on a grid you've made on a board. Cover each and have students uncover two at a time till they find the matching pieces. 

Students can also sort food by food group, color or plant part (in the case of fruits and vegetables. So this activity does does double duty as science lesson plans. 

Here are some more free printable matching activities (Education.com) and Memory games to print (Busy Bee Kids) for your classroom or homeschool. And check out Enchanted Learning which has 1000s of free printables with banner ads. You can also subscribe for the  nominal fee of $29 a year to print banner-free. If you subscribe for three years, it's only $69 which is almost a full free year. They offer school district pricing too. 

Bibliotherapy with Vintage Children's Literature: Lesson Plans Using Old Kids' Books

Greetings from the Omschool! Teacher Omi (grama) here with lesson plans using vintage children's literature. I was an avid reader pretty much from day 1. I grew up being read to, reading and and then reading to others, as a parent, teacher and grandparent. I have a huge memory bank and now library of old kids' books from my childhood and earlier.  Here are ways to use vintage children's literature as bibliotherapy. 

First, think back to favorite books from your childhood. If you can't remember the title or author, ask a librarian. This is how I unearthed "Mr. Miacca: An English Folktale (Evaline Ness, 1967). A librarian was able to do a Google search and found it because I vaguely remembered that it was written by the same author as another favorite "Sam, Bangs and Moonshine." Another librarian helped me find my beloved book "The Doll of Lilac Valley." I knew the name but not the author and since it was withdrawn from circulation, it seemed lost in time. Which brought me to the next step. 

I do my own searches with Advanced Google Book Search, or Google Books  or just Google, using details I recalled from other works of children's literature I'd loved. This is how I found "Walter the Lazy Mouse" (Marjorie Flack, 1937). I'd been read this story at around age 4 and could only remember that it was about a mouse who moves to an island and makes furniture. 

Use picture memories. Many of my earliest books memories are of the illustrations. Before discovering Walter, anyone I'd ask would suggest "Stuart Little." I knew that wasn't the one because I recall the image of Walter making a stick bed and table. My mental image was a little blurred with Stuart Little but when I saw Walter's furniture, the illustrations fit my memory image perfectly. 

Begin (or continue) collecting old kids' books. Through garage sales, library book sales, thrift stores and now Thriftbooks and Amazon, I've amassed over 1,000 kids books, most written in the 1960s or before. Some were from the Little Lending Libraries. I rarely pay more than a buck or two per volume. I've had to pay more for a few of them because of age and the fact that they're collectibles. "Mr. Bear Squash-You-All-Flat" a classic my dad and I both loved, was going for about $50 but finally, I was able to purchase it for $8 at Thriftbooks. 

Find old kids books at Thriftbooks and Amazon. These sources have the best pricing for purchasing used and vintage children's literature.  I just recently purchased a volume of Childcraft, trying to hunt up a story I'd read as a kid and only just recalled as an adult. As part of our travel quest, my husband and I rediscovered Uzbekistan, specifically Tashkent and Samarkand. He'd not heard of these cities but I remembered reading of them at about age 5, in my grandmother's Childcraft series. 

Try to recall as many details as possible. The Childcraft books were a children's encyclopedia set. My husband had not heard of these so I thought maybe I'd gotten the name wrong. All I remembered was that they were white or silver books with a dark red banner. I searched and found that the Children of Many Lands was volume 5 (with the Uzbekistan stories) but the cover didn't look familiar. I kept searching and found that Grandma Langerak had the 1961 collection with the covers exactly as I had remembered. I was able to locate and purchase volume 5. I've not received it yet so I don't know for sure if the stories of Tashkent and Samarkand are in it but I will update you! (update: The one I found turned out not to discuss Samarkand or Tashkent, so I have to keep searching and to do that, I...

Keep digging. My husband had a favorite book called "The Big Book of Real Trains" that was lost. It took us awhile to locate, first because he forgot the "real" trains part. Then we discovered it had about 6 editions as trains changed over the years. We finally located one based on his memory of the cover. The illustrations were close but not exact. So we'll keep pursuing till we get the correct volume. 

Be prepared for some culture shock. I'll talk more about this is upcoming posts. Just to summarize, your beloved kids books will likely contain some things that might be uncomfortable or even offensive to you now.  Depending on time period, many kids books contained racial profiling, cultural appropriation (or misappropriation) and inappropriate depictions. I recently found a recording of one of my favorite albums "Aunt Theresa Please Tell Me a Story."  I cringed at how missionaries were portrayed as so superior and condescending white saviours to those they were missioning to. The racism, bigotry, inaccuracies and Messiah Complex in "The Stick of Wood That Talked" was rampant. 

But that was then and that's who I was then.  I can't do anything to change the past. I can change the future, which I'm trying to do by understanding what was wrong about the missionary attitude. It's also helped me learn more about myself as a child of would-be missionaries. I've relooked at some of the wrong ways they went about "missioning" and how it impacted me. And it doesn't have to prevent me enjoying my memories.