Monday
Jun112012
The Number One Ingredient In Our Homeschool
Monday, June 11, 2012 at 9:00PM
Not a day passes that I do not read aloud to my children. It is the one constant in our homeschool... in our lives, really. A good book seems to be the spine of our days.
Books are shared experiences we can all look back on and remember. They can tame the worst of moods and transport us to another place and time.
As we were sitting at the dinner table last week, I asked my children what their favorite read-alouds had been over the past few years. I love the list they developed, and I must say that I agree.
Keep in mind, these books were read when my children were anywhere from Kindergarten - Fifth Grade. My children listened to long books from an early age. It took a while to train this habit of attention, and of course there were always plenty of things to keep their little hands busy.
Keep in mind, these books were read when my children were anywhere from Kindergarten - Fifth Grade. My children listened to long books from an early age. It took a while to train this habit of attention, and of course there were always plenty of things to keep their little hands busy.
It was very hard to come up with a list of just our 10 favorite books. We are lovers of the Five in a Row curriculum and those books are beloved stories in our family. Tomorrow there will be a guest post right HERE all about Five in a Row, so I encourage you to visit again then!
Drum roll, please.....
Anna and Grant's Top Ten Read-Alouds
1. The Wadjet Eye ~ set in 45 BC, this coincided with our Story of the World History - an intriguing story that takes you into Caesar's army.
2. Johnny Tremain ~ takes place in Revolutionary Boston... a great read for American history.
3. The Adventures of Robin Hood ~ our most recent read-aloud. My children have LOVED this... did you read the post about our Robin Hood Unit Study?
4. The Bronze Bow ~ probably MY favorite... this story takes you back to the time of Jesus and puts you in the shoes of a young boy who has a hatred of the Romans. Jesus changes everything for him. It is a very powerful book.
5. A Wrinkle in Time ~ I never understood the all the fuss about this book, until we read it aloud. It is going to remain in my children's memories and hearts for years to come.
6. 26 Fairmount Avenue Series ~ this is a series of books by Tomie dePaola about his own life growing up during WWII. They gave my children a wonderful sense of what life was like in middle America during that point in our history. We flew through the series in just a couple of weeks - they are THAT good.
7. Half Magic ~ the first in a series of four books by Edward Eager. They are whimsical, comical, and very clever. My daughter has read the second (Knight's Castle) and claims it is just as good as the first!
8. Walt Disney: Young Movie Maker ~ We love all of these books in the Childhood of Famous Americans series. For some reason the Disney biography stuck with my children the most.
9. Calico Bush ~ My oldest devoted an entire literature fair project to this book, which takes place in Maine in the 1700s. It was a beautiful story of survival and friendship.
10. The Wheel on the School ~ This book was also chosen by my daughter for a literature fair project. I have never read a book with such extensive character development.
Do you read aloud in your homeschool?
What are your favorites?
*image credit
Reader Comments (14)
Love this! Always looking for great books to read to the kids!
Wonderful! I actually just posted a bit about continuing the reading aloud practice all the way through high school. Reading aloud is great for all ages!
Love this list, Mary! Some are favorites of mine and some I have never read...I'll have to remedy that:)
Aww, thanks for the spotlight, Mary! I'm actually participating in the Top Ten this week, and my post will go live at 5 a.m. CST on Tuesday. :-) I have to save that I've only read two of your top ten to my children, so I'm definitely making mental notes for future read alouds. I can't wait to read all the other posts!
fun... we haven't done robin hood yet!!
Great listing! Some of these titles are near and dear in our household as well. A few are new to me, and I will be checking them out. I, too, love the Read Aloud Thursday link-up, it is a fabulous place to find books that people are reading because they want to and what they thought of them for their families.
I love all of those books. Our kids love the childhood of famous Americans series. I just wanted to let you know I never got that package. I guess it was lost in the mail. Thanks so much for thinking of me. I just didn't want you to think I had never thanked you. I hope you have a blessed week.
Blessings, Dawn
Wow - that's a lot of read aloud posts!!
A Wrinkle In Time is on my list of books to check out for the 12 year old.. =)
Fantastic list. Lots of new titles for us to explore. Thanks so much for your recommendations.
A Wrinkle in Time is our absolute favorite! We have the audiobook read by the author- swoon!
Johnny Tremain- not so much. Why does everyone love that book? This is like the 4th list I've seen it on! ;-) I found it to be less than appealing myself. But, I think I was overstuffed with Early American History in school and so the whole topic leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Great list! Some of these are new to me, I'll have to check them out.
Aadel, I wasn't crazy about JT either! His attitude bugged me. I felt depressed around him, not excited about the events going on. Maybe kids can relate, but at times I just wanted to slap him and remind him to be thankful for his opportunities and the people around him.
Maybe that's a good lesson for the book right there - I can see the forest from the trees; he couldn't since he was in the midst of it all. That might be a good discussion topic for some kids.
Wonderful list. It's so cool to see how many families have similar favs. Some on your list we read individually so I didn't include those.
We love FIAR books and unit studies. Can't wait to read some of your read aloud suggestions this summer!