I should clarify a bit. I have the Planning Your CM Education book/dvd and have used it faithfully for a couple of years. It is terrific in every way! I’m just having a hard time figuring out how to sequence books and determine what is a read aloud with my multiple ages of kids – 9, 6, 3, 9m. If I did them all separately and had a list of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th . . .grade books, it would be easy and maybe that’s what I should do and realize that I’ll read them until they can read on their own, but if I do that, then the oldest will hear the same books over and over.
For example the SCM Lit Guide lists the following…
Grade 1 – Charlotte’s Web, Stuart Little, Trumpet of the Swan, Mr. Popper’s Penguins, Winnie the Pooh, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Peter Pan
Grade 2 – Pollyanna, Pollyanna Grows Up, Black Beauty, Wind in the Willows, Heidi, Wizard of Oz,
Grade 3 – Chronicles of Narnia series
Grade 4 – Swiss Family Robinson, Rascal, Misty, Stormy, Sea Star, Pinocchio, Just So Stories
I also created a Master Booklist that lists every AO book, every Higher Up, Further In book, and every book from the Honey for a Child’s Heart book. This is my reference for when I want to add to or step outside of our SCM framework.
We have family literature read alouds, the 9yo reads on her own and I read aloud to the 6, 3, 9m olds, too. My 9yo has heard or read all but 2 of the above selections, but the younger 3 have only had a few of them.
How do I go about planning this out so that each child gets to hear great books geared for their age, but still doing lots of family read alouds without lots of repetition?
Currently…
- Family RA – Little Britches by Ralph Moody
- 6yo RA – Mr. Popper’s Penguins which I read to the 9yo when she was about 6 or so
- 9yo self reading – King of the Wind, Gentle Ben, SCM Module 4 readings, The Saturdays – some are for school/narration, some for fun
There are sooo many great books that I know we’ll never read them all, but I feel like if I had a more directed plan, we’d get to enjoy more of them. Does that make sense or just muddy the waters even more?
Keep the great ideas coming! You all are always so helpful in clearing things up for me!
Blessings,
Christie