Whether you're an unschooler, homeschooler, schooler or none of the above, there's a series of books that you should add to your reading list. It's Kenneth C. Davis's Don't Know Much About series. I'm reading Don't Know Much About the Universe at the moment and I've just finished Don't Know Much About Mythology and Don't Know Much About the Bible, of all things. Kind of an odd choice for an atheist, but I thought I'd give it another go to see how Davis's interpretation compares to the hard-shelled Baptist view that I grew up with.
Not surprisingly, he differs with them on many points, as he does with the Catholic and Hebrew bibles, although he doesn't voice an opinion on the spiritual truth of any of the bibles. He merely presents facts and backs them up with archeological and historical evidence from Bible scholars and secular sources. He neither attacks nor defends, but simply illuminates the bible's content.
In addition to the three I've mentioned, he's written books on Geography, The Civil War, and History. (I've read the first and third, but the Civil War is still a closed book to me.) If this doesn't cover everything you don't know, which I have to confess is true for me, there's Don't Know Much About Anything and Don’t Know Much About Anything Else which cover people, places, and events you ought to know about, but don't.
Davis's website, (www.dontknowmuch.com) is a good place to go for ideas if you're contemplating a unit study on the Pilgrims for November or you're unschooling the history of the pioneers with your six-year-old. It’s also fine for older kids, for instance if you have a Middle Schooler, who needs to know the real story of Rosa Parks for that book report that's due next Tuesday. He has picture books on mummies, dinosaurs, the 50 states, the presidents and the solar system for kids from 6-9 or for grownups like me who love picture books still. For older children, there are books on Martin Luther King Jr, World Myths, and much more. Even if you don't read the books, there's a lot of interesting information on the site and he presents it with his usual humor and just the right words to get his point across without being dry or boring.
Actually, whenever I want to learn something new, I go to the children's section of our libraries and take out several books on the subject. Because children's books are usually written to convey information more simply than adult books, I find it an excellent way to learn the basics of something. Then, after I've gotten the gist of whatever it is, I can go on to the more complicated adult books and not feel like an eejit.
Earlier this year, I developed a burning desire to get the birds-eye lowdown on Non-Newtonian Fluids, liquids that don't behave according to Newton's laws. (No, I don't know why I wanted to know. I just did, okay? I'm like that.) Three of the ones I know about are ketchup, quicksand, and gelatin. I went to the library and found a nifty little book called Potato Radio and Dizzy Dice, a book in the Mad Scientist series by Joey Green. You can find it on Amazon.
It says it's for Mad Scientists age 13 and up, so I definitely fit the reader profile. In it, there's a recipe for Green Slime that demonstrates Non-Newtonian Fluids better than anything I could have read about them. (Not to mention that it's perfect for Halloween, as is the Fake Blood recipe and the ones for a Homemade UFO, a Smoke Bomb, and the Human Light Bulb.)
Oh, and there's also a recipe for Quicksand if the Green Slime doesn't do it for you, although I don't see how it wouldn't. Green has also written several other books on using ordinary household things in unusual ways such as using dental floss for sewing a tent or using Jello to grow seeds in so that kids can watch them grow. There's a list of his books on his Wacky Uses website. (If you’re not reading this in the Kindle version, it’s www.wackyuses.com.) There are also good scientific explanations for each of the experiments and tangential information sprinkled throughout the pages.
Oh yes, I just remembered why I was interested in Non-Newtonian Liquids. People are actually working on using them as body armor. They'd flex when the wearer moved, but when hit by a projectile, they'd act like a solid and repel the bullet or whatever. I read about it in a newspaper, realized I had forgotten what an NNL was and intended to look it up, but forgot about it again. Later that same week, I was at the library waiting for Daughter to pick out books when I leafed through the Mad Scientist book and the phrase Non-Newtonian Liquids caught my eye.
Apparently, Serendipity was smiling on me that day. Hmm. Serendipity. Strange word. I wonder where it comes from. Maybe I'll look it up tomorrow in a book about word origins. I'm sure they have several in the children's room at the library.