How to use Give Your Child the World in your homeschool

Written by Jamie C. Martin of Simple Homeschool 

What a beautiful ride it’s been since Give Your Child the World came out a few months ago!

Thank you, thank you for all the support. I can’t tell you how much it’s meant to hear that so many of you find the book useful and inspiring, exactly what I hoped for during the five years I worked on it.

Some of you have written with another question as well:

What’s the best way to use Give Your Child the World in our homeschool?

Glad you asked! I purposely made the book so it could be used several different ways, and I’d love to describe those for you here. (And for anyone wondering: Yes – the print above is THE Eiffel Tower I mention about in Chapter 2 that meant so much!)

What’s this all about?

Photo by Luke Price

Give Your Child the World: Raising Globally Minded Kids One Book at a Time is a reading treasury that guides you to the best global children’s literature (over 600 hand-picked titles!), allowing your family to read your way around the world. Perfect for the book and travel lovers among us.

All the hard work has been done for you, so you can get right to the fun part! I organized the reading lists by region, country, and age range (ages 4-12). Each listing includes a brief description of the book, its themes, and any content you might want to have a heads up about.

For the cost of a single paperback, the book gives you a geography/history/literature resource you can use for up to 8 YEARS with multiple kids. Read an excerpt here.

Check out the three main ways I imagine families putting it to good use:

Option 1. The Informal/Unschooling Method

I wanted both homeschooling and non-homeschooling families to be able to use Give Your Child the World, and I wrote it with that intent. If you decide to use the book informally, just follow your heart in choosing titles that interest your family most.

Does your child find China fascinating? Flip straight to the Asia chapter, look up your child’s age range, and dive in.

Are you heading on a road trip soon? The North America chapter has you covered!

Did a global topic arise in current events? Head to the country index in the back of my book and find all the titles to help you learn more about that part of the world.

I even heard of one family who flipped the book open at random to decide where they were going to study and “visit” next–so fun!

Option 2. The History Method

Did you know that Give Your Child the World has four indexes: Author, Country, Historical, and Title?

And in case you think a publisher has someone assigned to make indexes (like I once did), think again: I made all of them! When I came up with the idea of creating a historical index, I knew it would be worth the extra work. It opens up an entirely new way for readers to easily use the book.

I painstakingly went through every title included in the reading lists to figure out which time period in history they come from, then organized it all for you in this index. So if you have a history curriculum, you can use my book to enhance your studies with other living literature picks.

This means Give Your Child the World isn’t another thing to fit in, but instead adds extra value to what you’re already doing. Love that!

Option 3. The Geography/Social Studies Curriculum Method

You can also use my book as your full geography/social studies this year in a more formal/structured way!

I didn’t realize this until after I finished the book, but check out how it covers the school year so perfectly:

October – Africa, Chapter 6 of GYCW

November – Europe, Chapter 7

December – Do a Christmas Around the World study, take the month off for the holidays, or choose from the Multicultural Chapter 5 (which could also be used in September for an earlier start!)

January – Asia, Chapter 8

February – Middle East, Chapter 9

March – North America, Chapter 10

April – Latin America, Chapter 11

May – Australia, Oceania, and Polar Regions, Chapter 12

This is the method I plan to follow this year in our own homeschool. Depending on how much time you have in any given month you can dive in deep or shallow with this idea.

Still need to get a copy?

If you don’t own Give Your Child the World yet, order yours today for less than $10!

Then head here with your order number to get your FREE bonus Give Your Child the World Adult Coloring Book (a $10 value). 

I’m so proud of what an affordable resource this is for you and yours–definitely the cheapest around the world trip you’ll ever plan! Enjoy your family’s travels this year, and I hope you’ll share on Instagram all about the journey.

How have you decided to use Give Your Child the World in your homeschool?