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Another Reading Question
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I know this may seem a redundant theme on this forum, but compared to the AO lists, Higher Up and Further In lists, and even the Well-Trained Mind book suggestions, SCM seems a little scant in the book suggestions department. I know that there are some books in these other lists that I would not use anyway, but I am still wondering if my children should be reading more than what is planned on the SCM curriculum guide…….I love the SCM guide and am completely happy with everything listed, but I’m just curious as to why there is such a big difference.
We read together for History, Bible, Science, and Literature (I read it aloud). Then they have “reading time” during the week and we use things like: McGuffey Readers, Pathway Readers, library books, etc. However, I have no real “plan” for this reading time. So what I am wondering is should I be concerned about the “extra” reading??? I don’t want them to miss out on some of the great children’s books like the ones by the d’Aulaire’s, Thornton Burgess, Holling C. Holling, etc. Should these be scheduled into our curriculum or will that just confuse the kids with the time period we are in for history or the subject we are studying for science or geography?
I did not like using Winter Promise curriculum because it jumped around too much in too many different books. That is why I really like SCM’s plan. So does anyone else add in extra books? If so, please share 🙂
We read our Burgess books and others like that (we have lots of classics and older books that may or may not be classics ie: Whitey Ropes and Rides lol ) whenever the boys want me to read to them. Or I just put them in throughout our Literature reading. For Literature though we change our books around and we are reading 3-4 books at a time. Each day I’ll read a chapter or two from each book. My older ds (8) will also work on his reading aloud from some of those books. He’ll read a page or two per day, sometimes more. He also reads from The Boxcar Children. I know not classic literature, but he loves them! lol
Hope that helps!
Carrie
This discussion may help you:
For us, the bottom line is schedule. One can only read so many books. When I read aloud, I do try to address each age range. I have come to the conclusion that as long as we are redeeming the time that God has given us, and using it to give our children the best we are able, it will be more profitable even if it’s a ‘little’ rather than scrambling to give them the ‘most.’ There are so many good books that my guys will just have to wait to enjoy many of them once they are homeschooling their own children.
Blessings,
Cindy
Some D’Aulaires books are scheduled in Modules 5 and 6, and also the Holling books are listed for Geography in module 6. For Literature, we have already read most of the books scheduled for my kids so we are picking our own. I am reading Thornton Burgess with my 5 year old and Roald Dahl with my 9 year old, but my 5 year old is also really liking his books so he listens too. On his own my 9 year old is reading the Misty series. I just started having my 9 year old also read his own History books, but it is only about 5 pages.
I think the tendency is to do way too much, I have seen how well the boys learn with less work. I keep reminding myself to cut back and not try to do so much.
So I guess I could mix up some of our literature readings……I think they would like the variety with literature readings, but it was confusing with history and science when we read from 5 or 6 books a day.
Also my kids will be in the 5th – 7th grades when we get to modules 5 & 6 so the D’Aulaires and Holling books will not be scheduled for them, right???? Is it okay to read these biography type “history” books for American history if we are studying Ancient Greece?? Would there be anything wrong with using the D’Aulaire books in the literature mix or even as their “readers”? Or should I just forget the American history right now and stick with the history and literature modules as they are?
Amanda,
You know I’ve been looking at the lists on AO as well as Sonlight to compare here. While there are a few books I would like my girls to read that aren’t on the SCM list, I don’t think it’s scant. If you look at AO, what they do on their “schedule” isn’t very heavy, it’s the additional readers that really beef it up. If you find that your kids need more, I would pull from AO or another list you like to supplement; but I don’t believe you *have* to. I’ve compared the curriculum guide here with the local Charlotte Mason school (about 3 hours away from me) and it’s extremely similar; in fact, SCM is a little more, if you implement it completely as listed.
Also, you can use the D’Aulaires books with older kids if you want. My oldest still enjoys the preschool books I read to her sister and she still gets something new out of them when I read them to her. It can also work well as a read aloud for them to practice their reading. I am planning on using the younger books for my kids to read out loud. You can never practice this skill enough when they are young. It really helps with their confidence and for future public speaking.
HTH!
I don’t think all the books you read have to be from the same time period. If you have a Book of Centuries and/or timeline you can show them where you are reading from if they ask questions. Also, let them find it on the globe if you are in different countries. Mine haven’t had any confusion going back and forth for different books before.
Also, we are using BF guide to Geography with our Holling books. We love the maps, it really gives them a good sense of where they are reading about. The BF guide says its for 1st-6th grade.
Okay, I’m gonna chill out a bit.
Things are working well right now. I just need to focus on quality, not quantity. After I starting really thinking about it, we do a good deal of reading now. In addition to history, science, and literature that we read together, both my children have been picking out books that interest them to read on their own.Braden (my son) read Buffalo Bill and the Pony Express in a couple of days for his “independent reading time” and really liked it. Katelynne (my daughter) is reading A Little Princess for her “independent reading time” and is enjoying it also. So I will continue to do what I am doing and just pick out some extra reading for them from other lists when we need to.
NO MORE STRESSING!!
(I’ve really got to quit searching other sites and just be content)Thanks girls!!!
Things are working well right now. I just need to focus on quality, not quantity. After I starting really thinking about it, we do a good deal of reading now. In addition to history, science, and literature that we read together, both my children have been picking out books that interest them to read on their own.
(I’ve really got to quit searching other sites and just be content)Viewing 8 posts - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)
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