How do I gauge how much time to schedule for books? (logic stage)

[RedHen6]

Next year I will have a 7th grader and a 5th grader doing Early Modern history. I am SO excited to work through the formal reading list--but I am at a loss as to how to plan for the books.

 

Do you have any hints/clues as to how much time I should allow for books to be read? Or any clues as to when, in the progression of history, the formal-reading-list books should be placed?

 

Thanks!

Korrie

[mcconnellboys]

Placement would depend on which books you're using. As to how long they'll take, have you gauged how many pages per hour your children read, on average? That will give you a clue as to how long each book will take.

[Chris in VA]

It can be as simple as giving them one of the books, timing how long it takes to read a couple of pages and asking your kids to narrate to you, so you can tell if they skimmed or not. Go from there.

I try to make my schedule more of a sequence, instead of "30 mins for this, 25 for that," so we have some wiggle room. As you develop a rhythm, it gets easier to gauge how long things will take. I'd rather do it this way than always assign an hour of reading every day.

[katilac]

I'm not uber hyper about assigned reading matching up perfectly to the history chapter we are studying, so my method is to hand them the book and say, "Here, read this." I assign the book but not the reading time (in other words, they read assigned books whenever, not during 'school time').

 

My oldest is entering 6th, and our book discussions have been fairly informal. She and her sis have always been eager to talk about what they've been reading, so it's never been "now it's English class, tell me xyz about your book."

 

This coming year, we will do an intro to literary elements at the beginning of the year, and then pick just one or two books to discuss in a more formal way.

 

The WTM gives an in-order reading list by grade, and I just try to insert any extras into the chrono flow of the list.

[chai]

Next year I will have a 7th grader and a 5th grader doing Early Modern history. I am SO excited to work through the formal reading list--but I am at a loss as to how to plan for the books.

 

Do you have any hints/clues as to how much time I should allow for books to be read? Or any clues as to when, in the progression of history, the formal-reading-list books should be placed?

 

Thanks!

Korrie

 

Good question! I'm in the same postion as you are wondering how to schedule these books. We're doing early modern next year too. Can you share your reading list?

[claire up north]

FWIW, when Sonlight schedules out their book reading, they usually plan on around 20 -25 pages at a time. Of course, this is just a guideline. I agree with the other posters that you should consider the kid's reading speed and the difficulty of the book.

 

hth!