DIY Homeschooler

A.A. (Alan Alexander) Milne was born in London on January 18, 1882. He is best remembered for his series of children’s books featuring Winnie-the-Pooh.

Milne graduated from Cambridge with a degree in mathematics and thereafter began working for the magazine Punch as an assistant editor. His work was interrupted by his service in WWI as a signal officer. After the war he began writing plays and short stories.

When We Were Young, a book of children’s poems, was the first children’s book Milne published in 1924. His other books include Winnie-the-Pooh, Now We Are Six, and The House at Pooh Corner.

Originally illustrated by Ernest H. Shepard, whom Milne knew from his work at Punch, the stories of Winnie-the-Pooh were stories Milne made up about his son, Christopher Robin, and his teddy bear. Like many successful children’s books, Winnie-the-Pooh is enjoyed by children of all ages.

Suggestions

Have your students do one or more of the following:

• Copy a paragraph from Winnie-the-Pooh and illustrate it on Drawing and Writing paper.
• Read on the of the stories from Winnie-the-Pooh out loud. Stop before turning the page. Have your child tell you what happens next. What he right?
• Choose a favorite poem to put in your copybook.
• Older students can compare and contrast the stuffed animals in Winnie-the-Pooh and The Velveteen Rabbit.

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Further Investigation

A Short History of Winnie-the-Pooh
How Winnie-the-Pooh and friends were named and how the books were released.

History of Winnie-the-Pooh
More information at Just-Pooh.com.

About Winnie-the-Pooh and Friends (archived)
Meet the characters!

Activities

6 Winnie-the-Pooh Printables {Free}
Free downloads from Disney including a lantern, playset, paper bag puppets, activity book, and more!

“The Case of the Missing Tail”
Cute interactive where you help Pooh find Eeyore’s tail.

Winnie-the-Pooh MadLib
Rather silly, but a fun way to practice the parts of speech.

Draw Winnie-the-Pooh
Draw your own! Here’s how.

The House at Pooh Corner & Now We Are Six (archived)
Zipped MP3 audio files from the Riverside Wonderland children’s vinyl record series.

Winnie-the-Pooh Cake Pops (archived)
Not easy, but doable…and oh so cute!

Books

Pooh’s Library
Contains four books in slipcover. This is the version we have enjoyed for years.

Winnie-the-Pooh ~ Free eBook
This title is now in the public domain.

Now We Are Six ~ Free eBook
Also now in the public domain in the U.S. Free eBook

Winnie-the-Pooh and Some Bees
The text of our introduction to Winnie-the-Pooh.

Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear by Lindsay Mattick
The heart-warming story of the real bear Winnie-the-Pooh was named after. Read our full review!

Unit Studies & Lesson Plans

Classroom Activities (archived)
Celebrating 75 years of Winnie-the-Pooh!

Free Nature Studies: The Honey Bee
Learn about bees and honey with our free nature study!

Printables & Notebooking Pages

Winnie the Pooh Coloring Page (archived)
Free download at Disney.

100 Aker Wood
Map for notebook.

Author Notebooking Pages
Simple pages for recording information on A.A. Milne including room for copywork, narrations, an illustration, dates of birth/death, and books by the author.

These units have been created specifically with do-it-yourself (DIY) homeschoolers in mind: those that don’t want a lot of hand-holding. If this doesn’t describe your need, you might prefer a few of these pre-planned units. For those brave souls who enjoy pulling things together themselves, there are many ways to use these resources!