photo credit Sharyn Morrow, flickr
Dr. Seuss has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. My mom spent countless hours reading the same Seuss books to me over and over again. I did the same for my kids. In fact, The Cat in the Hat was the first book I purchased when I knew we were starting our family. I have incorporated Dr. Seuss in our homeschooling from the very beginning. It’s very easy and fun to homeschool with Dr. Seuss.
Homeschooling with Dr. Seuss: Subjects
Let’s start at the beginning. ABC: An Amazing Alphabet Book was one of our first books when we started “official school”. It was the perfect transition from the various Suess books that we read each night to naturally use Dr. Seuss in our home learning. The alphabet was just the beginning. We learned about the human body, the solar system, and even the weather. Who knew there were so many? He even did editorial cartoons during World War II. Want some more specific ways to learn with Dr. Seuss?
Introduction to Rhymes
It was fairly easy for my children to understand the phonic families when you add different consonants to an ending like “-at”. Bat. Cat. Hat. You get the idea. But when it came time for them to find a word on their own to finish “-at” without the lesson actually giving the consonant, they were stumped. I actually pulled out my trusted Seuss books again and while reading them, I would point out the words that had the same endings. It helped to show how phonic families exist in the real world.
Writing Poetry
Very soon after we learned phonic families, it was time to start teaching them about poetry. To say they were less than thrilled was an understatement. While I loved to share Robert Frost and Shel Silverstein, my kids had no desire to write poetry. Again, Seuss to the rescue. I knew they loved One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish. They just didn’t realize that it was poetry. There were rhyming words, a repeating rhythm, and a story was told. My children just needed permission to be silly. Dr. Seuss gave them that permission.
Speaking of poetry, I have to mention tongue twisters. Yes, many of the books include tongue twisters but did you know there is a book dedicated just to tongue twisters!! Give that challenge to a beginning reader.
Expanding Vocabulary
If it weren’t for Dr. Seuss’ Sleep Book, we might not even know what a Hinkle-Horn Honker is or that they honk themselves to sleep. Thanks to Dr. Seuss, we all have expanded our vocabulary a little. While many of the words might not be “real” words, they have given us all encouragement to learn new words. Isn’t it fun to sometimes use words that you know no one else knows what you are talking about? It’s like your very own secret language.
More Resources from Homeschool Moms
As Dr. Seuss is a favorite author of so many, I just have to share some favorite ways to incorporate Dr. Seuss in your homeschool:
- Are You My Mother? Unit Study by Susan Evans (She even shares how to make Crazy Dr Seuss Hats!)
- Ashley Fox shares her You Tube playlist of Dr. Seuss books
- Amy Milcic has an awesome list of printables and activities for specific books.
- Want to learn how to draw like the illustrations we all love? Tricia Hodges has you covered.
What are your favorite Dr. Seuss books and how do you incorporate them into your homeschool?
