A library trip - expanding my mind and my babes

For something different last week, we visited a library in a local country town that has recently been renovated. Such a beautiful space to spend a morning! I went with the plan to read while we were there rather than borrow anything because I didn't feel we needed any new books (we still had some from our local library).

So we picked a few picture books, read them and then I had a wander around to see if they had anything cool that our library didn't have.

My girls are drawn to the colourful, princessey, (and quite trashy) books that haunt the junior fiction sections and I want to try to change that. I don't want to read them nothing, junky books. So I look for classics to try to expand their minds to appreciate good things.

As I was walking around, I had a brilliant idea... My girls love love love roses. So working with what they have demonstrated as an interest (I know, I know, I've heard that a million times around homeschool blogs - work with the child's interests), I took them to the gardening section and got them to pick out two books on roses. They were full adult, reference books, but my girls fully jumped at it. While we were there, Sunshine also spotted a travel book on Paris (another love for my children - Paris - I am really looking forward to taking them there one day!) so I let her borrow that too.

The girls have had so much enjoyment out of those books since we got them. I think they received more attention than any picture books or junior fiction books I would normally got them, and they were learning! and they were filling their treasure houses of brains with good, wholesome and lovely things. Total win!

Here are my learnings from the experience:

1. Work with the child's interests! Especially when you are trying to expand their minds with good things.
2. Illustrated reference books are not too old for a 4 and 6 year old (provided the content is pure of course!).