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do you keep a running list of the books your kids read?


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I have been thinking about doing this for 3 years now, and I haven't done it. But I was wondering if anybody here does this and what do you put on the list...everything...or just certain books. Since I haven't done that, should I try to go back and have the kids try to think of books they have read and try to compile a list? What do you do in your home?

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I have a blog that I list all the books that ds has read, and all of our read alouds, as well. I can already see this getting tougher the more that he reads. I like to have a printout of all we/he reads, though, in his end of the year portfolio.

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I do it for them and myself. I keep a list of all the books we read aloud. Then when my oldest started reading to himself I added a separate list of books he reads alone. I also keep a list of all the audiobooks we read. I enjoy looking back at my own list and hopefully one day they will like seeing the list of what they read. It's also very helpful to me now when I'm trying to think of the next book to read aloud with the 5 year old. The list of what I read his brother at that age is a great resource.

 

I don't include picture books because I just can't, it would be too many. And this year I had to not include all the books the oldest goes back and re-reads. He does a lot of that without me even knowing. So mostly it's just a list of the books that he is reading for the first time.

 

I think the main thing is doing it in a way that is useful and fun for you and your family without having it become a burden. I wouldn't personally go back and compile a list, except maybe as a fun exercise together. I wouldn't try and make it complete but maybe "hey what books do you guys remember that you really enjoyed?"

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I've found that my blog is my easiest way to keep track of everything. I keep a running list of everything we do during the month that is lesson related including book lists and then post it at the end of the month (instead of in a weekly report). I try to keep track of most of the books my older two boys read unless they are way under their reading level. I usually skip re-reads, books not finished, or dumb twaddle. :) And it is much harder to keep track of books that are Magic Tree House level or below, just because it doesn't take very long to read them.

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No, I don't. It's a nice thought, but something I'd have a hard time actually putting into practice. My kids are young enough that they're still reading lots of short picture books and it's just way too much for me to try to keep track of every book when they go through so many.

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I keep a list of the books we check out from the library on my blog (um... don't look at it for any kind of educational inspiration right now though. My kids are just reading summer junk that they picked out themselves: Garfield, Rainbow Fairies, etc.) My library account is online so it's super easy just to copy, paste, and edit the list a bit. I really need to start adding in the rest of the books we read. Between Kindle books, Goodwill finds, and the many books my ps teacher friends give me, I'm not recording a lot of what they read. I really want to start using a system like Heidi @ Mt. Hope described. In fact, I'm off to check out her blog right now! :)

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I thought about doing it. ANd forgot until this post. :lol:

 

I am not organized enough. I thought it might be fun for him to look back over the list of books he read but other than that, is there a point?

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Of read alouds, yes, but not the books the kids read themselves. I'll probably have them keep a reading log in high school though.

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I keep a list for individual reading and a read aloud list. They love to look through the list to see what they've read. I put a star by the books I assign, but I do put free reading books on the list as well. As a PP said, I don't include books they reread, unless it's an assignment. I keep the list in the front of their LA notebooks so they can add to the list if they want. The read aloud list is in my teacher notebook.

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I have been keeping a list for years.

 

I have a word document on my desktop and I just keep adding to it.

 

It was really helpful when my daughter was applying to private schools after 2 years of homeschooling. I was able to show them what she had been reading for pleasure/school.

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I've kept a list for years. I just wish that I had recorded more information about each book; there are times when I think, "What was the name of that great read-aloud we found on the Vikings?" and all I have is a list of titles and authors. Not impossible to find, but more work than I sometimes feel like going to. ;)

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Just started doing that this year. I have the boys each keep a log of their independent reading (not the twaddle, though) and I put it into their portfolios.

I'd like to do more audio books this year so I think I'll keep a list of those too. I write down our read alouds in our daily log so I have a record of those.

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I have kept track of all my children's books since K. I write down when they start, when they finish, how many pages and who owns the book. I'm a bit OCD... :D It's REALLY nice for high school. When dd was admitted to Hillsdale, all they really looked at was her repertoire list, her college credits and her reading list. They complimented me on the reading list (I just gave them titles and authors and no, I didn't write down LoTR 15 times...). I can see ds at Hillsdale, so I'm glad I have it.

 

How far back did they want the list from?:bigear:

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I've found that my blog is my easiest way to keep track of everything. I keep a running list of everything we do during the month that is lesson related including book lists and then post it at the end of the month (instead of in a weekly report). I try to keep track of most of the books my older two boys read unless they are way under their reading level. I usually skip re-reads, books not finished, or dumb twaddle. :) And it is much harder to keep track of books that are Magic Tree House level or below, just because it doesn't take very long to read them.

 

I've already thanked Heidi personally on her blog for this tremendous resource. If you haven't seen it, you need to check it out. I just copy and paste the titles into our online library system and if they have it, I either request the book or add it to my online list for later. Good stuff, here. Thanks again, Heidi!

 

Edited to add: In fact, that's where I got the suggestion for our current read aloud:)

Edited by Kelly1730
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My DD likes to keep a journal, a drawing book, a pad with lists on it, a notebook about babysitting, a sketchpad, you name it, she has it. Since about the age of 3 she has HAD to have little notebooks. So now I have her keep a list in one of her MANY empty notebooks/journals. She simply writes down the title and author and the date she read it. She began doing this last summer when I challenged her to read 100 books during summer break.

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Yes I do. Pretty much everything goes on it besides our daily bible and devotions (as they're ongoing) and any books she/we reread. I keep it in a binder- just printable pages with a place for the title, author and who read it (Mom, Dad, her, audio, etc).

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I do it for them and myself. I keep a list of all the books we read aloud. Then when my oldest started reading to himself I added a separate list of books he reads alone. I also keep a list of all the audiobooks we read. I enjoy looking back at my own list and hopefully one day they will like seeing the list of what they read. It's also very helpful to me now when I'm trying to think of the next book to read aloud with the 5 year old. The list of what I read his brother at that age is a great resource.

 

I don't include picture books because I just can't, it would be too many. And this year I had to not include all the books the oldest goes back and re-reads. He does a lot of that without me even knowing. So mostly it's just a list of the books that he is reading for the first time.

 

I think the main thing is doing it in a way that is useful and fun for you and your family without having it become a burden. I wouldn't personally go back and compile a list, except maybe as a fun exercise together. I wouldn't try and make it complete but maybe "hey what books do you guys remember that you really enjoyed?"

 

this

 

i have a page on my blog for books by year (family read-a-louds and audio) as soon and Big starts reading alone i'll make a page for him -- i start and stop the pages by school year. i am not sure how i will do it when he starts reading on his own ....

 

we also have a family books worm on the hall wall. a construction paper Caterpillar with a body section for each book; again when each boy starts to read alone they will have their own.

 

I do not include all the picture books, but I do include relevant ones (like The First Dog, fiction but read it at the related time) in their own section of a blog page. I want to look back and have a good record of it all --

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I used to keep a list of my own reading before my kids were born. I had about 3 years, with a few brief comments about if the book was worth purchasing for the home library, and a rating system. Now that the kids are starting to read and I am reading more too I started a list back up and had fun looking over the old one. As they become more independent readers, I will keep a book log for them too.

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There's not enough paper in the world for or me to do that. DD read 3 books today before breakfast.

 

:iagree:

 

I'd love to keep a list, but I have no idea how I would do so. If you keep a list and your child is a voracious reader, how do you keep track? I don't always see what he's reading; he often has several books going at once; I don't necessarily know when he finishes a book; and he may read a couple full novels in a day. How on earth do you keep track of that?

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I only keep a list of the ones required for school. I turn it in with her portfolio at evaluation time. She reads too many books up in her room that i don't know about the be able to keep an accurate list of everything. :)

 

this is us too...especially with our daughter....so I was thinking I might try to keep a list of required reading and few others that might be important....or especially enjoyed. Plus audio books listened to, also. thanks for all of the replies...this was very helpful to me.

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Yes. I started a excel spreadsheet in 2008. I include only chapter books. (Books that take at least one hour to read). I record the first year it was read, and if applicable the last year it was read. and How many times it was read. I do have a "notes" section where I might say something just as: "Eldest liked it, Youngest didn't" or "Daddy read this one" Please don't ever grammar check my notes. :)

 

Eldest just this year started reading chapter books so now he has a column for "Read by Eldest" It will have to be expanded to include "year read...." but that is not needed yet.

 

I also include audio books listened to. (We don't ever listen to audio books as background noise so this is attentive listening)

 

We are approaching 500 books. A bit of a nice landmark. :)

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My kids keep a written log which I put in their homeschool portfolios. In theory every book they read goes on the list, but in practice I know they miss some. They don't like logging but I prefer they do it themselves at their ages. It really doesn't take any time.

 

I would love to have a list of all the books I'd read as a kid. For the last few years I've kept track of my own reading as well.

 

Our library keeps a log of all the books we've checked out, but we check out many, many items that we never get to, or start and don't finish, etc. So that is not an accurate list for my use.

Edited by marbel
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:iagree:

 

I'd love to keep a list, but I have no idea how I would do so. If you keep a list and your child is a voracious reader, how do you keep track? I don't always see what he's reading; he often has several books going at once; I don't necessarily know when he finishes a book; and he may read a couple full novels in a day. How on earth do you keep track of that?

 

Ask him to, tell him too -- or have a location he leaves his DONE books for you., if he is able to read so much / so well he can follow though with making sure you get the names

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I keep a running list of assigned reading on my blog. I make a big pile at the start of each session and then remove those we didn't make it to or add others.

 

I have a lot of kids so it keeps me from forgetting who has already read what.

 

It also helps me when a younger kid reaches that point so I don't have to reinvent a booklist.

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I keep track on my blog and on Goodreads. However I've been wanting to get a HUGE, beautiful leather bound journal that we can keep propped open on a hall table and we can each record the books we read (with our name, title of the book and the date we completed it). If its a read aloud, we can each sign our name next to the title. What a family keepsake this would be.

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I keep track on my blog and on Goodreads. However I've been wanting to get a HUGE, beautiful leather bound journal that we can keep propped open on a hall table and we can each record the books we read (with our name, title of the book and the date we completed it). If its a read aloud, we can each sign our name next to the title. What a family keepsake this would be.

 

That is a beautiful idea!

 

We'll never implement it here - those sorts of things just don't work in my family - but I love it!

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