Family read-a-louds vs. Indep. Reading

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  • March 20, 2015 at 5:15 pm
    rutsgal
    Participant

    I am looking for input/ suggestions for literature . There are too many wonderful books that I would love to enjoy as a family !! I am trying to work on our reading list as we are approaching our last book for the school year( both family read-a-loud & Independent ) . I am stuck on trying to figure out which ones are better for our family to enjoy together Vs. Assigning  one for independent reading. Sorry if I seem to be rambling ….. It’s been a long week ! So , currently on our shelves we have some great classics that I myself have not read .  Here is what I am *guessing * would be a good plan: Family: Treasure Island, Heidi , The Jungle Book , The Secret Garden , Indian Captive ( Story of Mary Jemison) …. And maybe Robinson Crusoe??? Since I have never read any of these , not sure if my kids would be too young ? ( 8 & 7 ) Indep. Reading : 3rd grader- Charlie & the Chocolate factory, Stone Fox, Flood Friday , Trumpet of the swan & misc. Childhood of famous Americans  ( He currently is reading the Daniel Boone book ) 1st grader – She stil needs some help & is not quite independent yet. We did complete two of the pathway readers . Looking for suggestions with this as well . Does this look ok ? What books would you choose to read together as a family , and which ones would you choose for Indep. Reading ? Thanks a bunch for your suggestions !! Jamie

    March 20, 2015 at 7:50 pm
    andimcbee
    Participant

    I’m in the same boat! Although my Y1 boy has read simple readers: Frog and Toad, Nate the Great, and more twaddly things like Scaredy Squirrel and Splat the Cat. He came out of public Kinder with very weak reading skills, so we started from the ground up.

    March 20, 2015 at 9:46 pm
    sarah2106
    Participant

    Have you looked at this literature list?

    https://simplycharlottemason.com/planning/curriculum-guide/literature/

    We have been using the grade 1-4th as family read aloud suggestions.

    My 2 oldest did not really get going with reading on their own until about 1/2 way through 2nd grade. We read a lot of simple books until that point. Once reading took off the Burgess Animal Books (Adventure of…) were a great start because shorter chapters. My Fathers Dragon is also a favorite for first chapter books

    My DD 3rd grade just read Secret Garden to me out loud, one chapter/day. She really enjoyed it!

    March 20, 2015 at 9:47 pm
    sarah2106
    Participant

    There have been some great book list suggestions, people linking their favorites. Search is not working but if you search Simply Charlotte Mason Book List or similar on a search engine, it should pull some up.

    March 20, 2015 at 10:12 pm
    sarah2106
    Participant

    Not sure if these will help, but I had some of these bookmarked. Often I look at book lists from Sonlight or similar and pull from the literature suggestions for grade/age appropriate independent reading selections. It seems “easier” for me to find family read aloud, but selecting for independent I find more challenging.

    This is a good list with suggestions
    http://charlottemasonhome.com/2007/05/30/literature-by-grade/

    http://homescool-ed.blogspot.com/2007/04/sonlight-books-arranged-by-well-trained.html

    A few topics I found searching
    https://simplycharlottemason.com/scmforum/topic/master-book-list-for-ao-hifi-hfch-updated-pdf/

    https://simplycharlottemason.com/scmforum/topic/literature-reading-list-for-1st-grade/

    https://simplycharlottemason.com/scmforum/topic/chapter-books-to-start-with-for-2nd3rd-grade-boy/

    https://simplycharlottemason.com/scmforum/topic/missceegees-book-lists-lots-of-them/

    https://simplycharlottemason.com/scmforum/topic/book-list-recommendations/

    https://simplycharlottemason.com/scmforum/topic/literature-booklists-by-grade/

    March 20, 2015 at 10:21 pm
    sarah2106
    Participant

    If you select Literature form the Popular Topic Tags (on my computer shows on the right of scree), you can see previous threads concerning this topic. I always forget about tags

    Forgot to mention… My 3rd grader still reads out loud to me all the time! She reads to herself for pleasure, but for school she reads out loud. It is such great practice and makes sure the is not skipping tough words.  There was a recent topic that talked about the value of continuing have the student read out loud. Yes it takes time, but it is a lot of fun.

    March 21, 2015 at 5:27 am
    retrofam
    Participant

    I would wait on Treasure Island,  and read it yourself first to see what you think.  I may be the only one, but I didn’t like it.

    Goodreads.com has book reviews that can be helpful.

    March 22, 2015 at 5:28 am
    Angelina
    Participant

    Agreeing with the above comment on Treasure Island.   Given the ages of your children, you might also consider waiting on Robinson Crusoe.  I plan on saving that one for high school for age 12-14.  Also agreeing with what others have said about using the SCM booklist to structure your family read aloud list, and then building your children’s independent reading list based on all other recommendations “out there” (i.e.  books listed in Honey for a Child’s Heart, missceegee’s book lists, Sonlight recommendations, etc)

    Personally, I wouldn’t miss reading Trumpet of the Swan aloud to your children – it’s too good not to enjoy yourself.   Also you will miss out enormously if you don’t add Little Lord Fauntleroy to your list!  I loved that one (especially loved the mother…what a woman – what love, gentleness, forgiveness and self control she shows!)

    March 22, 2015 at 10:23 am
    Shannon
    Participant

    I don’t have time to read through all these answers but when I saw you were thinking of Treasure Island I wanted to make a recommendation.  I had gotten the book to read to my boys and it was daunting!  I gave it up thinking I nor they were ready for it.  (The language is tough – dialect and pirate talk and all).  I then happened across and audio book for it (we don’t do many audiobooks until recently) and oh my, what an experience.  Don’t miss the version read by Neil Hunt.  He is amazing!  My sons are 9 and we finished it a few days ago.  I see there are some concerns mentioned above about doing TI at all and I can’t advise about that.  It was entirely appropriate for our family and would have been last year also (when they were 8).

    And then for the adults, I loved a book called Under a Wide and Starry Sky, a biography about Robert Louis Stevenson as from his wife’s perspective. I love reading books that really make someone from history come to life and this book truly did that.

    I’ll read the rest of the thread later to see what else I can learn and if I have other thoughts to post.  Gotta go now!

    March 24, 2015 at 6:11 pm
    rutsgal
    Participant

    Hey Ladies thanks so much for reading and responding to my post 🙂 The last 5 days have been soooo busy for us. I feel like I get up in the morning and I blink and it’s dinner time.

    I have not read through all of your responses, but hope to this weekend.

    I do occasionally refer to the SCM’s site for literature selections. I just was trying to add to our list based on what is currently on our shelves. I will be anxious to read all of your wonderful ideas and suggestions when I get some time  !

    Thanks again ladies !!

    Jamie

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