Written for middle and high school students, this short Thomas Edison biography for kids also includes
•A vocabulary builder
•Ten thought-provoking review questions
This Thomas Edison history for kids is an ideal resource for
•Book reports
•Homeschooling
More than just presenting the life story of Thomas Edison, teachers and parents will also find the subject matter and easy-to-read and understand style appropriate for
•Literacy programs
•Reading comprehension
Unlike many biographies of Thomas Edison, this book on Thomas Edison focuses on the childhood experiences that shaped the great inventor he would become.
Thomas Alva Edison was born February 11, 1847 in Milan, Ohio. His father worked in the timber business, and his mother was a school teacher before she was married.
The childhood of Thomas Edison was not like many boys his age. Al, as everyone called him, spent a lot of his time alone. He created his own games, played with machines, mixed different wires and parts together, and liked to play with his father’s tools. He also liked to play with fire.
One time he even set the family barn on fire!
Thomas was also very sickly. After moving to Michigan, he came down with scarlet fever. The illness forced him to stay in bed for a long time. He finally recovered at age eight. His parents decided to send him to school.
But school and Thomas did not get along. He could not sit still and his mind often wandered. His teacher was very strict, and when Thomas didn’t know an answer or got caught horsing around, he called Thomas stupid.
One day school became too much for Thomas. He ran home and told his mother about his problems as school. She made the decision to keep her son at home and teach him herself.
She encouraged him to read stories, history, science and religious books. Thomas learned the magic of reading, and his nose seemed to always be between the pages of a book.
Reading was Thomas’ first great discovery, and science was his favorite subject.
Thomas Edison was born into the Industrial Revolution. This was a period when people began leaving farms for cities, where factories produced and manufactured materials for the rest of the world. And both people and products were transported all across America by trains.
Thomas loved the trains. At age 12, he talked his parents into letting him work on the trains, but he also promised to continue studying. He started by selling newspapers and candy. But when he got the idea to sell vegetables from the family garden, his business grew so much that he had to hire other boys.
Then something bad happened. Thomas thought he just had an earache. He found that he missed a word here and there in conversation. By the time he was a teenager, Thomas had lost most of his hearing.
But that didn’t stop him. His attention no longer wandered. He listened closely to every word. And reading became his real power.
The telegraph interested Thomas, and he began learning the special language of the telegraph, called Morse Code. Telegraphers were in great demand at that time. Thomas got a job with the Western Union Telegraph. He sent and received messages at work all night and then studied and experimented during the day.
In 1868, at the age of 21, Thomas quit his safe job at Western Union and went into business for himself. Some of his early inventions were failures. But when he invented a new way of repairing stock machines, he went from a poor inventor to a rich one.
Moving to New Jersey, he opened his first invention factory, hiring several other young inventors to work with him. Their mission was simple. They were going to invent the future.
And they did!
Purchase this e-book about the life of Thomas Alva Edison to learn more about how America’s greatest inventor discovered the light bulb, phonograph and many other inventions.
•A vocabulary builder
•Ten thought-provoking review questions
This Thomas Edison history for kids is an ideal resource for
•Book reports
•Homeschooling
More than just presenting the life story of Thomas Edison, teachers and parents will also find the subject matter and easy-to-read and understand style appropriate for
•Literacy programs
•Reading comprehension
Unlike many biographies of Thomas Edison, this book on Thomas Edison focuses on the childhood experiences that shaped the great inventor he would become.
Thomas Alva Edison was born February 11, 1847 in Milan, Ohio. His father worked in the timber business, and his mother was a school teacher before she was married.
The childhood of Thomas Edison was not like many boys his age. Al, as everyone called him, spent a lot of his time alone. He created his own games, played with machines, mixed different wires and parts together, and liked to play with his father’s tools. He also liked to play with fire.
One time he even set the family barn on fire!
Thomas was also very sickly. After moving to Michigan, he came down with scarlet fever. The illness forced him to stay in bed for a long time. He finally recovered at age eight. His parents decided to send him to school.
But school and Thomas did not get along. He could not sit still and his mind often wandered. His teacher was very strict, and when Thomas didn’t know an answer or got caught horsing around, he called Thomas stupid.
One day school became too much for Thomas. He ran home and told his mother about his problems as school. She made the decision to keep her son at home and teach him herself.
She encouraged him to read stories, history, science and religious books. Thomas learned the magic of reading, and his nose seemed to always be between the pages of a book.
Reading was Thomas’ first great discovery, and science was his favorite subject.
Thomas Edison was born into the Industrial Revolution. This was a period when people began leaving farms for cities, where factories produced and manufactured materials for the rest of the world. And both people and products were transported all across America by trains.
Thomas loved the trains. At age 12, he talked his parents into letting him work on the trains, but he also promised to continue studying. He started by selling newspapers and candy. But when he got the idea to sell vegetables from the family garden, his business grew so much that he had to hire other boys.
Then something bad happened. Thomas thought he just had an earache. He found that he missed a word here and there in conversation. By the time he was a teenager, Thomas had lost most of his hearing.
But that didn’t stop him. His attention no longer wandered. He listened closely to every word. And reading became his real power.
The telegraph interested Thomas, and he began learning the special language of the telegraph, called Morse Code. Telegraphers were in great demand at that time. Thomas got a job with the Western Union Telegraph. He sent and received messages at work all night and then studied and experimented during the day.
In 1868, at the age of 21, Thomas quit his safe job at Western Union and went into business for himself. Some of his early inventions were failures. But when he invented a new way of repairing stock machines, he went from a poor inventor to a rich one.
Moving to New Jersey, he opened his first invention factory, hiring several other young inventors to work with him. Their mission was simple. They were going to invent the future.
And they did!
Purchase this e-book about the life of Thomas Alva Edison to learn more about how America’s greatest inventor discovered the light bulb, phonograph and many other inventions.
