Homeschooler’s Guide to Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin is one of America’s most intriguing early leaders. A man of unusual abilities, he became successful as a printer, librarian, writer, inventor, and statesman.
This collection of resources is designed to help homeschool families learn more about the life and times of Benjamin Franklin.
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Living Books About Benjamin Franklin
- The Story of Benjamin Franklin
–Board book for toddlers and up - A Picture Book of Benjamin Franklin (Grades K-3)
- Benjamin Franklin–Illustrated biography of the life of Benjamin Franklin by Ingri and Edgar d’Aulaire; includes quotes from Poor Richard’s Almanac (Grades Pre-K to 5)
- Benjamin Franklin (Rookie Biographies) (Grades 1 & up)
- What’s the Big Idea, Ben Franklin?–Illustrated biography of Benjamin Franklin by Jean Fritz (Grades 2-6)
- Ben and Me: An Astonishing Life of Benjamin Franklin by His Good Mouse Amos (Grades 3 & up)
- Benjamin Franklin (In Their Own Words)–Franklin’s story is told using his own newspaper articles and recollections (Grades 3 & up)
- Who Was Ben Franklin? (Grades 3-5)
- Benjamin Franklin: Young Printer (Childhood of Famous Americans)–Story of Benjamin Franklin as a child and young man (Grades 3-7)
- DK Biography: Benjamin Franklin(Grades 4 and up)
- Ben Franklin of Old Philadelphia (Landmark Books)–Overview of the life of Benjamin Franklin (Grades 4-9)
- Poor Richard–Biography of Benjamin Franklin; illustrated (Grades 5-12)
–Board book for toddlers and up
(Grades K-3)
(Grades 1 & up)
(Grades 3 & up)
–Franklin’s story is told using his own newspaper articles and recollections (Grades 3 & up)
(Grades 3-5)
(Grades 4 and up)Hands-On Learning
- The Ben Franklin Book of Easy and Incredible Experiments: A Franklin Institute Science Museum Book (Grades 3 and up)
- Amazing Ben Franklin Inventions You Can Build Yourself (Build It Yourself series) (Grades 4 and up)
(Grades 3 and up)
(Grades 4 and up)Notebooking, Lapbooking, and Copywork
- Benjamin Franklin Lapbook
- “Where liberty dwells…” by Benjamin Franklin (copywork)
- “Early to bed…” by Benjamin Franklin (copywork)
- Ben Franklin Notebooking Pages
- Inventor Notebooking Pages–Benjamin Franklin (bottom of list)
- Ben Franklin Notebooking Paper
Online Resources for Studying Benjamin Franklin
- Ben’s Guide: Benjamin Franklin–fun children’s website with information about Franklin’s life as a printer, librarian, inventor, and statesman
- The Biography of Benjamin Franklin–index page featuring Franklin’s complete biography in readable segments
- Franklin Firsts–index page featuring Franklin’s major inventions and lesser-known ideas and discoveries
- Interesting Facts–interesting facts about the life and times of Benjamin Franklin
- Life in Franklin’s Own Words–collection of Franklin’s quotations and maxims
- Wit and Humor–humorous anecdotes from Franklin’s life
- Benjamin Franklin (PBS)–informative site with several interactive features
- Benjamin Franklin: America’s First Great Man–biography of Franklin with link to a replica of Franklin’s virtue chart
- How to Draw Benjamin Franklin as he appears on the U.S. $100 bill
- Time Out for Benjamin Franklin–a 6-week unit study by Cindy Downes
- The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin–read the entire autobiography online
Awesome resource list!! Thank you! 🙂
Can I recommend Now And Ben by Gene Barretta? My boys enjoyed this picture book which shows how Ben’s inventions relate to the modern world. I thought it was great for a large family with kids of multiple ages studying Ben- it sparked a discussion with the older kids and the younger ones enjoyed the pictures and seeing examples of how the inventions are used.
I wish I’d found your list earlier! Thanks for the great resources!