Using Magic Tree House Books in your Homeschool

If you are a parent of elementry aged students, you have probably already heard about Mary Pope Osborne’s Magic Tree House Series so you can probably skip the next section (FYI Mary Pope Osborne has some other books that are ideal for classical homeschools but I’ll save that for a later post).

If you haven’t heard about the series, let me give you a brief introduction:

The Magic Tree House series is about a brother and sister who have magic adventures based on a particular subject, usually based in history, literature or science. These adventures are historically or scientifically accurate based on Osborne’s careful research about the subject. I would estimate they’re geared around the 3rd – 5th grade reading level. I also read them aloud to younger ages or use them as a read aloud to develop reading.

But, the Magic Tree House Series resources don’t end at the book. They have developed a free website that complements the series at http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/magictreehouse/series.html.

Each book has a list of additional reading and resources and a teacher’s guide.

The site also contains  a “passport” program which encourages children to read the series with the reward of printing out a stamp for their Magic Tree House Passport Book every time they complete the book and answer a small series of questions about the book correctly.

How do I use the Magic Tree House series in my homeschool?

Because the Magic Tree House series is topic oriented, I can pick one of the books to complement the science or history subject we are covering.  For example, my 4th grader and I have just studied the Vikings in history so she is reading Magic Tree House book #15, Viking Ships at Sunrise. By combining history and literature, I reinforce the subject we have studied with literature.

Below I have created a quick reference table that relates the subject of the Magic Tree House book to general science or history:

12/29 note: The Magic Tree House Site has been updated so I am in the process of updating the links to the research and teacher’s guides.

One really cool edition to the site in an interactive flash game for readers: http://www.magictreehouse.com/#game

Animals

Subject	Book #	Title	Research Guides	Student Resources	Teacher’s Guide	Purchase
Dinosaurs	1	Dinosaurs Before Dark	Dinosaurs	Passport Page	Dinosaurs	Amazon
Sabertooth Tigers	7	Sunset of the Sabertooth	n/a	Passport Page	Prehistoric Times	Amazon
Dolphins	9	Dolphins at Daybreak	Dolphins and Sharks	Passport Page	Water and Space	Amazon
Lions	11	Lions at Lunchtime	n/a	Passport Page	Natural Habitats	Amazon
Polar Bears	12	Polar Bears Past Bedtime	n/a	Passport Page	Natural Habitats	Amazon
Tigers	19	Tigers at Twilight	n/a	Passport Page	Natural Habitats	Amazon
Dingoes	20	Dingoes at Dinnertime	n/a	Passport Page	Natural Habitats	Amazon
Gorillas	26	Good Morning, Gorillas	n/a	Passport Page	Natural Habitats	Amazon

Places

Subject	Book #	Title	Research Guides	Student Resources	Teacher’s Guide	Purchase
Amazon River	6	Afternoon on the Amazon	Rain Forests	Passport Page	Natural Habitats	Amazon
Moon	8	Midnight on the Moon	Space	Passport Page	Water and Space	Amazon
Hawaii	28	High Tide in Hawaii	n/a	Passport Page	Exotic Lands	Amazon

History

Time Period	Subject	Book #	Title	Research Guides	Student Resources	Teacher’s Guide	Purchase
~1300BC	Ancient Egypt	3	Mummies in the Morning	Mummies and Pyramids	Passport page	Ancient Worlds	Amazon
~250BC	Ancient China	14	Day of the Dragon King	n/a	Passport Page	n/a	Amazon
776 BC-393AD	Ancient Greece	16	Hour of the Olympics	n/a	Passport Page	Ancient Worlds	Amazon
~80BC	Roman Empire	13	Vacation Under the Volcano	n/a	Passport Page	Ancient Worlds	Amazon
~1000AD	Vikings	15	Viking Ships at Sunrise	n/a	Passport Page	Warriors on the Sea and Land	Amazon
	Middle Ages	2	The Knight at Dawn	Knights and Castles	Passport page	Warriors on the Sea and Land	Amazon
1600-1700 AD/CE	Japanese Ninjas	5	Night of the Ninjas	n/a	Passport page	Warriors on the Sea and Land	Amazon
~1600	Shakespeare	25	Stage Fright on a Summer Night	n/a	Passport Page	World of William Shakespeare	Amazon
1621	Thanksgiving	27	Thanksgiving on Thursday	n/a	Passport Page	America’s Past	Amazon
1560-1720 AD/CE	Pirates	4	Pirates Past Noon	Pirates	Passport page	Warriors on the Sea and Land	Amazon
1775–1783	Revolutionary War	22	Revolutionary War on Wednesday	n/a	Passport Page	Fighting For Freedom	Amazon
1861–1865	Civil War	21	Civil War on Sunday	n/a	Passport Page	America’s Past	Amazon
~1870	The Prairie/Tornadoes	23	Twister on Tuesday	Twisters	Passport Page	Natural Disasters	Amazon
	The American West	18	Buffalo Before Breakfast	n/a	Passport Page	America’s Past	Amazon
	The American West	10	Ghost Town at Sundown	n/a	Passport Page	America’s Past	Amazon
1906	San Francisco Earthquake	24	Earthquake in the Early Morning	n/a	Passport Page	Natural Disasters	Amazon
1912	Titanic	17	Tonight on the Titanic	Titanic	Passport Page	America’s Past	Amazon