Name: CHEC Rocky Mountain Homeschool Conference
Start: 2025-06-12T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-06-14T23:59:59-05:00
Location: Denver, CO

Tagged: how many books, How much reading

This topic has 3 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 10 years, 8 months ago by JenniferM.

Viewing 4 posts - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

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September 24, 2014 at 5:10 am
Monucram
Member
Just wondering about how much you read in a day and if it works well for your children.
This is what our day looks like:
History- Story of America – I read
Abe Lincoln- she reads
Personal dev. – I read
Narration – I read
Civics – I read
Bible – I read
Now civics is only for a few weeks and personal dev. is only once a week for this semester. And as I’m looking at the rest of the subjects I notice that the amount of reading in a few weeks will just be Bible, narration, and history, plus her reading in history. So it will taper off eventually.
But in regard to that amount of reading, do your kiddos say there are too many stories going on and its hard to keep them in order? My 12 y.o. has commented that so I’m keeping it in mind but persevering while noting how well she narrates the subject we’re on at the moment, as well as how she does in recalling review, when we pick up the story the next time. I’m thinking that if after many weeks of this schedule she cannot recall much of each book or something, then perhaps it is too much.
What do you think? Am I on the right track when trying to evaluate if this is working? How long should I give it? (currently our year will be scheduled in 3 12 week blocks) The other thing I’m keeping in mind is this is a fresh start with using CM. She does really well with narration so she’s not struggling there.
So, how much reading do you do, typically, and how do you evaluate the process of knowing if it’s working for your children?
Thanks
September 24, 2014 at 11:01 am
andream
Participant
Sounds to me like your evaluation plan is good. When we are picking up a book, I usually remind what happened last time just to make sure we are all on the same page. For more difficult subjects, like history, we keep a list of characters on the board to remind us whose who in the story. For example: Tellus-teacher, Flavius-the slave of Tellus. Or with the roman kings we have listed them out and given a short description. It’s tough to keep those difficult names straight.
Reading:
History
Geography
Bible
Science
Character
Poetry
Literature (different books for different kids)
Aesop for the six year old
Picture books for four year old
My voice gets tired! I’ve started letting librivox help me some.
I guess I read aloud for about every subject and the nine year old narrates almost everything, except literature and poetry. She is good at narrating, but sometimes grows weary of doing it so much. I just remind her that next year she will begin writing it out : ). That makes it seem a little better : )
She reads two books per day on her own and narrates. I alternate the subjects of the books. So she may read liberty Christian nature reader and a history book each day until they are finished. Then she might switch to a literature and a character type book.
Hope that helps a little.
September 24, 2014 at 12:10 pm
Melanie32
Participant
I’d down to homeschooling one and my daughter is 12. We read from many different books each day. About 2/3 of our homeschool day consists of reading-maybe 3/4. Right now we’re reading from at least 9 books though we don’t read from each book every day. At 12, my daughter reads most of these books to herself. I read aloud from 2-3 of those books each day.
Before we start reading, we talk about what happened in the last reading as well. That helps to keep things straight in her mind. However, I only do this with the read alouds.

September 24, 2014 at 12:37 pm
JenniferM
Participant
We love books. I find that it’s easier to keep up with a story if we read it about the same time each day. If it has been a few days since we last read from a book, then I ask for a quick recap of where we left off.
So for example, this is when we usually read particular books:
Breakfast: Bible
Lesson time (mornings):
history (3 days per week) I read aloud to both children
Mythology stories for children ( I read aloud once per week to both children)
I assign a daily reading assignment to my 9 year old. It may be an additional history book, Nature book, or Literature book
I read aloud to my seven year most days from Nature book or literature
Once per week, my 9 year old and I read together a children’s version of Shakespeare
After lunch: on-going family literature book. I like to choose books with relatively short chapters so my husband can enjoy them with us before heading back to work.
Evenings: I read aloud from a literature book typically from the library, so we do not stretch it out too long.
My 9 year old reads books on her own. My 7 year old practices his reading daily in addition to “reading lesson” time.
I know that looks like a lot, but aside from the Bible, it ends up being about 4 books each day for each of my children. I think of it as being able to follow along with the characters and plot lines of different tv shows. If it is a regular part of your life, it becomes easier.