5LittleMonkeys Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 (edited) Is having 4 going at once too much? These are the ones I'm wanting to read... we have been reading Our Island Story but we only have 18 weeks of our school year finished and I want to fit them all in before we start AM. History next year. Our Island Story, 50 Famous Stories and Viking Tales...but I also want to read The Adventures of Robin Hood and Stories of King Arthur and Tales from Shakespeare. Oh, and then there are stories from the Fairy Books, 4 Edith Nesbit books and 6 Elizabeth Enright books. How do you people fit all this reading in!!!!:willy_nilly: Edited to add that the term "you people" is not meant in a derogatory way...I mean it as in those of you who are masters at lit based learning. Edited January 14, 2011 by 5LittleMonkeys clarification Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom in High Heels Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 It depends. I try not to have more than 2 or 3 going at a time, but mostly because I get tired and confuse things. I also lose my voice too easily if I read for hours on end. I love to read and Indy LOVES to be read to, but too much kills my voice. I'd love to do more, but I just can't. I feel bad, but there you have it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissKNG Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 We have two chapter books going (at big girl's bedtime) - one for history and one for fun (Magic School Bus - we are in the middle of it but haven't read from it in about 2 weeks but it's still there...waiting). Then I use random picture books (2-3) for snack/story time. And I read from a Bible story book in the am at breakfast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plain jane Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 Is having 4 going at once too much? These are the ones I'm wanting to read... we have been reading Our Island Story but we only have 18 weeks of our school year finished and I want to fit them all in before we start AM. History next year. Our Island Story, 50 Famous Stories and Viking Tales...but I also want to read The Adventures of Robin Hood and Stories of King Arthur and Tales from Shakespeare. Oh, and then there are stories from the Fairy Books, 4 Edith Nesbit books and 6 Elizabeth Enright books. How do you people fit all this reading in!!!!:willy_nilly: Edited to add that the term "you people" is not meant in a derogatory way...I mean it as in those of you who are masters at lit based learning. I've done up to 4 but that's tops for me. I prefer to double up on a book and get it done rather than start too many going at one time. I find the kids get confused and inevitably I forget about one and we never get around to finishing it at all. :o As for fitting it all in... well, a bunch of the ones you've listed above are available for free on librivox. I have them on my computer/iPod and we listen to them over meals or when the kids have quiet play time- doing puzzles etc. I read to the kids at night but that is usually just fun literature. Currently I'm reading Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls. I try to read one history read aloud at some point in the afternoons but anything else gets done via audiobook. I simply can't read aloud as much as I used to with the younger ones always clamoring for their books to be read too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NanceXToo Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 Well, right now we're reading: Ben and Me for Social Studies Skellig for the 52 Books in 52 Weeks (doing together w/my daughter) Wright On Time, Wyoming (my daughter reading independently) and sometimes there's something thrown in for science or some such- so I'd say 2-4 books at a time, usually! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5LittleMonkeys Posted January 14, 2011 Author Share Posted January 14, 2011 Thanks everyone! I think I'll try 3 for now and see how it goes. I've used Librivox a couple of times...sometimes the people reading aren't very good. I do have the Librivox recording of Robin Hood but the guy reading is rather monotone and doesn't read with any emotion. I'm afraid it would put my dc to sleep. I'll check again though because I know they add readings occasionally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 It varies a lot in our house. Right now, we have one book that we're reading as a family read-aloud before bed (in addition to the children's Bible that we also read during that time). I also have a space in the schedule for history, one for literature, and one for science. So in the history space, we have SOTW vol. 2 and Our Island Story, but neither every day and not both in the same day. SOTW2 is the basis, and as applicable, we read the chapters of OIS that fit. Then in between those chapters, we add other supplemental books that apply, usually picture books or at least easier ones that are geared more toward my 5yo. Like, right now we're learning about life around the 11th century, particularly pertaining to castles. So over several days, we read SOTW chapter 16, which talked some about castles, and we read OIS chapters 27-29, which talk about some of the first kings of England after the Norman Conquest. Then in the days following, we read other books that give broader pictures of what life looked like around a castle or medieval town; currently, we're reading David Macauley's Castle, but we won't go back to SOTW or OIS until we're ready to focus on knights more than castles. Our literature space is usually geared toward our history studies as well, so we recently finished Our Little Norman Cousin of Long Ago (I cannot say enough good things about this series!) and are now reading King Arthur and His Knights. So it's usually two, occasionally three (if they're very short), books and/or chapters a day as read alouds for the history and literature spaces, total. Science is usually another book and/or chapter, sometimes two. Right now, it's the Burgess Bird Book and other books about birds. So that plus history, literature, and evening makes about four, plus the Bible. I've been a bit lax, but would like to get into reading a chapter of something church-history-related (we're in the middle of Trial and Triumph) and something from Tales from Shakespeare about once a week each. The kids don't seem to be confused by having several books going at once; it's just a matter of trying to fit it all in, which doesn't always happen with younger children around. :) (DD8 also has at least one chapter book that she's reading on her own at any given time, and I sometimes require that she read and narrate to me about something additional related to our history studies too.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 In addition to our history spine (which doesn't really count...) we often have 2-3 going. Plus, we usually have 1-2 other chapter book read alouds going in the evenings which usually don't have a connection to history, but occasionally do. We also often have a science book going... but not all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 We often have 4-5 going at once around here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robsiew Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 We usually just have 2 read alouds going at once. An audio book during lunch and each child has a book going with Dad at bedtime. They all also listen to SOTW during our school day so I guess that might count too. The younger 2 boys get read aloud to by me in the mornings, but these are picture books (usually history/science based), not ongoing books. This is in addition to the books they read on their own for school as well as an individual reading time at night before bed where they are reading pure choice material. I don't think we've attempted more than 2 ongoing books at a time (along with SOTW). Like you say, it's tricky to find the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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