A is For Alice in Wonderland - Cut and Paste

Free Alice in Wonderland vintage printables here. We made the Cheshire cat today.

Young Children's Autumn Picture Study: The Gleaners by Millet

Free and in public domain here, 1907 Teacher's Curriculum Planner. Right click on the image of the pages at the link to print/save.

Teacher's background notes.

The Good Rain: Free Printable Vintage Children's Stories and Poems

All are in public domain and free to print and/or save. To print or save, right click on the images of the pages at the links.

Fourth Grade Reader: Spring Rain Poem(Christian)
Primer Teacher Plan: The Good Rain 

Independent Fourth Reader: Summer Rain(Advanced by contemporary standards, and could be used for older readers as well.)
"A good summer storm is a rain of riches. If gold and silver rattled down from
the clouds, they would hardly enrich the land so much as soft, long rains. ... "

All theYear Round: A Nature Reader(early elementary)

"See it rain! Where does the rain come from? It comes from the clouds. ... The
cold air changes the water-dust or clouds into drops of rain. ... "

New Geographies(middle school)
"Briefly, — when air rises, it expands and cools ; and then rain usually follows. " 

The Children's Hour, Watering His Garden with Rain(early elementary)

High School Geography: Moisture in the Air

Primary Education: Rain Lesson Plan

The Blodgett Sixth Grade Reader: Before the Rain(poetry)

The Poetical Works of William Cullen Bryant: To a Cloud(poetry)

Choice Literature, Book 4: The Signs of Rain(poetry)

The Rain(poetry) by Caroline Mason.

Literature and Life, Book 1: The Cloud, Percy B. Shelley

Merrill Third Grade Reader: The Story of the Water Drops

Henry Longfellow, Summer Rain

Second reader, Rain and Hail

Many more(600) children's texts in my Google Books library that reference "rain" here. It may be a little tricky to print pages from this link. If you can't get to an HTML page, go to "Plain Text", then change the last word in the link address from "text" to "html", and reload. Google books used to have an HTML button, but it has disappeared. I've emailed them about this, but haven't heard back yet. You can still download the books and print in plain text, but the address must be changed to right click on the pages to print and/or save. I've preset the above links, but don't know how to do it from this main search page.

Free Homeschool Curriculum: Vintage Fall/Autumn Nature Study, Literature, and Poetry

Repost from last year:


All are in public domain and are free to read, print, and download.

In the Child's World, K-First, various lessons

Graded Literature Readers, First Grade(Apples)

The Finch First Reader, first quarter of the book covers fall(beautiful illustrations).

Nature Study in Elementary Schools, First Grade Reader

Nature Study in Elementary Schools, Second Grade Reader

The Haliburton Second Grade Reader , poem

The Art-literature Readers, Third Grade, poem and art

The Goose Quill Third Grade, poetry lesson

Good English, Oral and Written Third Grade, see Chapter 3 and 4 for fall themes.

Stepping Stones to Literature Third Reader, How The Oak Tree Became King.

The Children's Friend(LDS) Apple story

The Goose Quill, third grade, entire section on autumn.

Language Through Nature, Literature, and Art(Third grade), nature study and writing assignment

The Story of a Caterpillar (mid-elementary school)

The Cambridge Book of Poetry for Children, Keats - To Autumn; Allingham - Robin Red Breast for younger children.

Farm Arithmetic, Apple word problem (about fifth grade)

The Farmer and His Friends - apples and corn, about fifth grade, very factual

Insect Life, upper elementary

The Stars and Their Stories - The Winged Horse(Autumn constellation), elementary

Poetry of the Seasons, middle elementary and up.

Poems by Grades, middle elementary and up

Independent Fifth Reader , poem

Nature Study Made Easy, ages 10-11, fifth grade. Select Autumn plant chapters.

The American Normal Readers Fifth Grade, October poem

Sixth Grade Nature Study

Nature Study Lessons for Primary Grades

The Outdoor Handy Book, Autumn ( Classic Boy's Outdoors Book)

Nature in Verse, elementary

A Child's Book of Saints, Golden Apples and Roses Red(Patroness of Gardeners)

Nature Study, by Grades - see fall work for fourth and fifth grades

Sharp Eyes, A day-by-day nature study(fall), middle school

Eighth Reader, poem

The Fun of Cooking, Jams and Jellies

Peter and Polly in Autumn(late second-third grade reader)
An Evening in Autumn(fourth-fifth grade reader)

All the year round: a nature reader, Autumn(late elementary)


Teacher Helps, Lesson Plans:

How Nature Study Should be Taught(Autumn, elementary)

Nature Study by Months, elementary.

Type Lessons for Primary Teachers in the Study of Nature, Literature and Art for grades One through Four. Fall nature study.

Trees that Every Child Should Know

Home Games and Parties: A Corn Husking and An Apple-Paring Bee


School Arts: Autumn.

Also see Free Thanksgiving Printable Stories.

The Armchair Traveler

"Now that it’s early September and we’re officially in the dog days of summer, what better way to spend this hot, sultry period than to take a refresher and travel to exotic lands afar? Even if you’re working through the summer or are more of a staycationer, you can take a trip around the world by exploring different countries through Google Books!

Courtesy of books scanned via our library project, anyone can stroll through China, experience ninety days' worth of Europe or get to know South America.

With the plethora of travel-related books available in full view on Google Books, you can explore the world and be visually enlightened with sights from afar from the comfort of your couch and a frosty glass of lemonade!" Read more here.

And it's free. So many books, so little time!

Free Beginning Cursive Penmanship Book

The New Vertical Script Primer.

Free lined paper. More here.

Vintage Children's Character Education Resources

We are to be fulfilled and satisfied in the abundance of Christ's life, putting our love and trust in God above all else, neither material nor person coming before God.

Most of these resources deal with greed and the consequences of greed in one form or another. All are in public domain and are downloadable and printable:

The Punishment of Greed from the Chinese Fairy Book, 1921.

Proverbs By John H. Bechtel, 1910

Which is Best?, The Wonder Clock by Howard Pyle, Katharine Pyle, 1887.

Greed in Marlowe's Tragedies, English Literature by Alphonso Gerald Newcomer, 1905.

Decline of the Republic, A History of the Ancient World, by George Stephen Goodspeed, 1912.

Service, Junior High School Literature by William Harris Elson, Christine M. Keck, 1920.

The Son of Columbus, Great Men's Sons by Elbridge Streeter Brooks, 1895.

The Last Voyages of Christopher Columbus, Harper's Fourth Reader, 1888.

Malchus the Monk, The Book of Saints and Heroes, by Andrew Lang.

The Wolf and the Crane,  The Folk-lore Readers, by Eulalie Osgood Grover, Margaret Ely Webb, 1914.

The Lion's Share, The Story Hour Readers, 1920

The Magic Well, The American School Readers, 1911

The Greedy Geese, Good Stories for Great Holidays, 1914

More later.....

Homeschool Elementary Freebies: Printable Flag Day Stories

Vintage Flag Day stories(1914) for elementary school students. Betsy Ross(pages 137-138)  and The Star Spangled Banner(Pages 138-141).

In order to print pages, right click on images of pages at link. Entire book can be downloaded as well.

A book of the flag, The Little Book of the Flag By Eva March Tappan, 1917.

Free vintage clip art and more about Flag Day here.

Free Homeschool Printables: Vintage Mother's Day Literature

Mother's Day is celebrated in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand (and a good number of other countries) on the second Sunday of May.

Flower of Mother's Day: White carnation, poem here


The following are readable, downloadable, and printable. To print pages at links, right click on the image of the page:


Good Stories for Great Holidays(Mother's Day Stories), 1914 :

• The Lark And Its Young Ones: P. V. Ramaswami Raju, Indian Fables 121
• Cornelia's Jewels: James Baldwin, Fifty Famous Stories Retold 122
• Queen Margaret And The Robbers: Albert F. Blaisdell, Stories from English History 124
• The Revenge Of Coriolanus: Charles Morris, Historical Tales 127
• The Widow And Her Three Sons 132 

Mother's Day entertainment ideas: history, recipes, entertainments - The Mary Dawson Game Book, Mother's Day,  1916.

Fifth grade reader, Bolenius Course in Reading, 1919,An Order for a Picture.
 Sixth grade reader:  The Knight's Toast, Sir Walter Scott

Story hour readings: eighth year(includes comprehension questions):
An Order for a Picture, 423
The Shrine, 427

More later....

Homeschool Freebie: Vintage Butterfly Study

Common Butterflies( elementary school) - Teacher notes, reading suggestions, and student stories. Free and in public domain, published in 1893. To print, simply right click on the image of the page at the link, and save. Entire book is downloadable:

The first butterflies of the spring are those which have hibernated in their winged state—Vanessa Antiopa, Comma, Semicolon, and Atlanta. They are sometimes tempted out by warm days in March, and in April are quite common.

Here are some hints from Wm. H. Gibson, that sharp-eyed observer and charming chronicler:—

" The butterflies are now frequenting the tender foliage of the willows by the brook, and in a few weeks the first brood of their black, spiny caterpillars will literally weigh down the slender branches as they strip the leaves and leave their cast-off skins fringing the twigs. Hundreds of the caterpillars may be gathered in a few moments, and the walls of your collecting box will soon be hung closely with chrysalids, nearly all of which will have been transformed into butterflies within a period of a fortnight. Read more here, pages 302-312. A section about caterpillars follows.

More:

The Story-book of Science, Butterflies(young children)

For older children - adults, A History of the Earth, by Washington Irving, butterflies.

Many more here in my Google Books Library.

I saw this vintage cut-out pantin butterfly over at The Paper Collector. Free to download.

Old Fashioned Reading Lists : Grades Four - Eight

Wholesome classics. From Everyday English, Book One and Two published in 1912:

Seventh - eighth, pages 327-330.

Fourth - sixth, pages 234-236. 

Printable by right clicking on the image of the page at links, "save image" or "view image" and print.

Vintage St. Valentine's Day Children's Stories, Cards, and Lesson Plans

Click here. Free to download or print.

Printing tips: Make sure that the pages are set to HTML mode. Look to the bottom of the sidebar at the page(s) you want to print. Also make sure you right click on the actual page you have selected, otherwise you'll get a print of the entire Google page.

Bumped up from 2008.

Homeschool Freebie: Rimbles: a Book of Children's Classic Games

Games and the history of those games written for children. I had no idea Hopscotch had Greek origins.

Rimbles: a book of children's classic games, rhymes, songs, and sayings
Author Patricia Evans
Publisher Doubleday, 1961
Length 157 pages

Free and in public domain. Available to read online or download.

Making No Pectin Jelly/Jam

This is so easy, and you can use frozen fruit if need be. See here for recipe. If you add water, you'll end up with syrup which is great for adding to plain yogurt or over desserts, pancakes, etc.

Also see here, vintage recipes(1883) for jellies.

See more at the Make-it-from-Scratch Carnival.

Housekeeping workbook--how to do it--house care and cleaning

Housekeeping workbook--how to do it--house care and cleaning
Author Lydia Ray Balderston
Publisher J.B. Lippincott company, 1935
Length 98 pages

To Make Dustless Dusters
cheesecloth to size of dusters. Prepare mixture:
One pt. hot water (very hot).
1/4 c. lemon-oil.
Stir oil in hot water.
Press in 4 or 5 pieces of cheesecloth.
Work oil and water into cloth.
Squeeze dry.
Hang to dry.

Read more tips here(Table of Contents). In public domain, and free to read online or download.

Homeschool Freebies: Saint Sebastian(multi-grade)

Sadlier's excelsior fifth reader, 1877, Saint Sebastian: " Speak!" growled Maximian, with an impatient gesture, " what skulking Christian hast thou tracked to his hole ?"— " Most gracious emperor," began the cringing informer.—" Be brief, I tell thee!"—"Is the emperor aware that in his own household, close to his very throne even, stands a Christian ? "— " Speak out, sirrah! I will have no mysteries."—" Then, at your imperial command," said the wily courtier, in a bland voice, " I accuse as a Christian the captain of your first cohort, Sebastian."
Story on pages 90-94.

Sacred and Legendary Art, 1870(high school and up): But Sebastian felt that this was not a time to hide himself, but to stand forth boldly and openly for the faith he professed; and he went to the palace and stood before the gate, on the steps which he knew the emperor must descend on his way to the Capitol; and he raised his voice, pleading for those who were condemned to suffer, and reproaching the emperor with his intolerance and cruelty; and the emperor, looking on him with amazement, said, ' Art thou not Sebastian ?' And he replied, ' I am Sebastian, whom God hath delivered from thy hand, that I might testify to the faith of Jesus Christ and plead for his servants.' Then Diocletian in his fury commanded that they should seize Sebastian and carry him to the Circus, and beat him to death with clubs ; and, that his body might be for ever hidden from his friends, it was thrown into the Cloaca Maxima. But these precautions were in vain, for a Christian lady, named Lucina, found means to recover the body of the saint, and interred it secretly in the catacombs, at the feet of St. Peter and St. Paul.
Pages 412-424.

Both are free and in public domain - free to download or read online. To print pages simply right click on the image of the page at the links, save or "view page", and print. 

Natural American Indian Dyes

From The Book of Woodcraft(free and in public domain), 1921:

INDIAN DYES

The dyes used to stain porcupine quills, spruce roots, and other strong material, of which they made ornaments and utensils, were very numerous, and some of them very beautiful.

Red. Soak the roots in the juice of the Squaw-berry — Blitum or Mis-caw-wa. Many other berries give red or purple.

Black. Boil the roots, etc., with the bark, branches, and berries of sumac, or the bark and chips of oak and soft maple, with some iron in the pot.

Yellow. A beautiful yellow is made by boiling the inner bark of golden or black oak. Or the root of yellowroot or hydrastis. In the Rocky Mountains the yellow moss off pine trees serves.

Orange. By boiling with the inner bark of alder or sassafras.

Scarlet. Dye yellow first then dip in red.

Most berries and barks yield a dye, and experiments with them often result in delightful discoveries.

Homeschool Freebie: Multi-grade Vintage Winter Homeschool Lessons

Click here. Multi-grade stories and children's educational books of winter nature, winter birds and sports, stories, poetry, etc. I will be adding to this list over the next few days.

To print, simply click on the image of the page at the links, save or view image, and print. Books are free and in public domain, downloadable, and readable online.

Free Vintage ebook: Winter Camping

Brrrr, you won't catch me doing this. That "soulless and deceitful regulator of modern life" is a good indicator of me staying inside. lol....but for the hardier souls:

  Winter Camping, by Warwick Stevens Carpenter, Macmillan, 1920:

"THE NEW SPORT

IF cold were quite the absolute condition which a materialistic thermometer would have us believe, we should hardly camp in winter. As it is, that soulless and deceitful regulator of modern life has all but subordinated our independence and enthusiasm to its despotic rule. We have become as bats, which are said to retire at a certain temperature to their caverns and hollow trees, there to slumber until a rise of mercury brings them forth, willy nilly, or, like the automatons of the barometer, that can stay in through no fair weather and out in no foul.

Contrary to such unimaginative dictates, cold is quite a relative matter, not to any fixed degree as a standard of comparison, but rather, first, to humidity, a fact of common knowledge, and, second, to whether we are oscillating all day between a super-heated building and out of doors. This second relativity is a chief element in that trans-Stygian conception which holds that as soon as the inhabitants have become inured to extreme heat, the climate forthwith changes to one of extreme cold, and vice versa.

During the last fourteen years I have camped in winter at every available opportunity, in cabins, tents, and lean-tos, and now between black flies, midgets, and all the pests of summer and the problem of warmth in winter, I would quickly choose the latter if I could have but one. Yet companions who were caught out with me on our way to a cabin fourteen years ago expressed gratification at the incident, because, they said, they had learned that it is really possible to stay out all night in the woods in winter without freezing! And we had with us blankets galore, an axe, and plenty of food!

Such ideas regarding the feasibility of camping in the open in winter were far more current ten or fifteen years ago than they are today. Since then winter vacations have become increasingly common and camping in winter no longer excites the wondering comments which our own little expedition into the frozen woods brought forth. In fact, nearly every summer vacation resort is now livened from time to time during the winter months by the more fortunate of its summer frequenters, who return for a taste of that appeal which Jack Frost throws over vacation land."

Downloadable book here. This book is in public domain and is readable online.

Great Masters Art History Freebie for Elementary School Students: Fra Angelico

Fra Giovanni da Fiesole (1387-1455) (surnamed because of his saintly character " Angelico ") was an Italian Dominican monk. He is said always to have said a prayer before beginning to paint. "The life of this really angelic father," says Vasari, "was devoted to the service of God, the benefit of the world, and duty toward his neighbor. He shunned the worldly in all things, and during his pure and simple life was such a friend to the poor that I think his soul must now be in Heaven. He painted incessantly, but would never lay his hand to any but a sacred subject; he might have had wealth, but he scorned it, saying that true riches were to be found in content. He might have ruled over many, but he would not, saying that obedience was easier and less liable to error. He might have enjoyed dignities, but disdained them, affirming that the only dignity he sought was to avoid hell and gain Heaven. He was wont to say that the practice of art required repose and holy thoughts, and that he who would depict the acts of Christ must learn to live with Christ."


Method. — Show the children as many of the angels as is possible, and allow them to choose their favorites. Tell them the story of his life, giving to them some idea of monastic life. Read to them portions, at least, of Vasari's account given above, and perhaps even bits from Ruskin. (See pp. xvii, 7, 8, 9.)  Read entire lesson here, pages 69-72.

From:
Picture study in elementary schools: a manual for teachers
Author Williams Wilson
Publisher The Macmillan company, 1909
Book free and in public domain - downloadable, printable, and readable online. To print, simply right click on image of page at the link, save or view image, and print.

January studies also include:

Mona Lisa , Leonardo De Vinci
Delphic Sibyl, Michelangelo
Sistine Madonna, Raphael