How many read alouds do you have on the go?

[redgal]

As the title suggests, how many read-alouds do you typically have on the go and how to you organize that?

 

Do you read a chapter book at night and picture books or other literature books during the day?

 

Is it better to read from one book several times a day or have say 3 on the go at once? ( e.g. one in the morning, the second in the afternoon, and the third one in the evening)?

[2queens&1princenmyhouse]

We're currently doing D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths as a family in the evening, an Adventures in Odyessy book with the daycare kids after breakfast, SOTW 1 on audio during lunch and various picture books throughout the day. Of course, then we all have our own books that we are reading on our own.

[Farrar]

One longer fiction read aloud at night. Once in a blue moon we have two going at once, but generally just a single one start to finish.

 

Multiple read alouds for school during school time in the morning. Generally these are shorter and nonfiction, but as the kids have gotten older, they have included many longer ones that we finish over a period of time. We also read things like myths and sometimes historical fiction for history during this time. It's not unusual for us to have several books going at once.

 

By the way, I don't think there's one right way to do read alouds. Some people do them at lunch, some people do lots and jump around, some people are single minded and finish a whole long book in just a couple of days in spurts. I saw what MUST have been a homeschool mom and a kid waiting in line for a show once and she was doing a chapter book read aloud while they waited. Anywhere, anytime. :D

[Woodland Mist Academy]

We have seven. (That doesn't include the poetry we include throughout the day.)

 

Some books my dd10 reads aloud, some I do, and some we alternate.

 

1. math read aloud after math written work

2. literature at lunch while we do the dishes

3. science read aloud after science written work (before science written work we read a science poem)

4. science/lit read aloud after the straight science read aloud

5. history--we read one of her history books aloud

6. Plutarch at bedtime

7. another ancient history book at bedtime

 

This is one reason we spend many happy hours each day on studies. :001_smile:

It works wonderfully well for us.

 

Having the read alouds after the written work for each subject is good motivation for my dd to finish her work in a timely fashion.

 

ETA: I am considering adding a language arts read aloud.

Edited August 22, 2012 by Hilltop Academy

[alisoncooks]

Four:

 

1. the Bible (daily)

2. a chapter book (generally read a chapter 3-4x/wk)

3. picture books (usually from our library box, whenever we feel like it)

4. ongoing science text (2-3x/wk)

[MicheleinMN]

Bible, a poetry book, and 4 others. Monday - Count of Monte Cristo, Tuesday - The Hobbit, Wednesday - Napoleon, Thursday - Island of the Blue Dolphins, and Friday - usually Count again because it is so long and/or we missed reading on Monday.

 

I wish we still did a night time read aloud too, but we don't.

[Kathryn]

When my children were the ages listed in your signature, we had Sonlight and Before Five in a Row during the day, picture books before nap, and DH and I were each reading a different chapter book at bedtime. Then, he would look at books himself until he fell asleep.

[Woodland Mist Academy]

When my children were the ages listed in your signature, we had Sonlight and Before Five in a Row during the day, picture books before nap, and DH and I were each reading a different chapter book at bedtime. Then, he would look at books himself until he fell asleep.

 

 

After reading this I realized I misread the ages in the OP's signature. I thought the 10m was 10y. Oops!

[Dinsfamily]

I didn't realize we had so many until I typed it out here. I usually read these everyday. Science and history during the day and all others at night. We often read for about 1.5 hrs at bedtime. Dh reads to the baby at night and sometimes he'll take the 4yo too. Otherwise, they all sit for everyone else's stories voluntarily. I really like having read alouds at each boy's level so I don't combine. We like to read so it works for us.

 

1. Bible storybook (all together)

2. History book for ds8

3. History lit for ds8

4. History book for ds6

5. Missionary stories (all together)

6. Mother Goose for ds4 & ds6

7. Lit for ds8

8. Lit for ds6

9. Picture book for ds4

10. Aesop for ds8

11. Poetry for ds6

12. Poetry for ds8

13. Science book for ds8 & ds6

 

Every family is different and there is no right way to do it so just work out what is better for you and the kids.

[hsbaby]

We usually have two. One that correlates with science or history and one fiction "for fun" type. I read fiction at breakfast and the other after the subject it goes with.

[Julie Smith]

We have seven. (That doesn't include the poetry we include throughout the day.)

 

Some books my dd10 reads aloud, some I do, and some we alternate.

 

1. math read aloud after math written work

2. literature at lunch while we do the dishes

3. science read aloud after science written work (before science written work we read a science poem)

4. science/lit read aloud after the straight science read aloud

5. history--we read one of her history books aloud

6. Plutarch at bedtime

7. another ancient history book at bedtime

 

This is one reason we spend many happy hours each day on studies. :001_smile:

It works wonderfully well for us.

 

Having the read alouds after the written work for each subject is good motivation for my dd to finish her work in a timely fashion.

 

ETA: I am considering adding a language arts read aloud.

 

What are some of your math and science read alouds? I am always looking for suggestions in those two areas.

 

As for us right now we are reading (or listening to the audio version of)

 

1. SOTW #1

2. Mr. Q Earth Science

3. The Happy Prince and Other Stories (about 1 story a week)

4. The Secret Garden

 

We usually have more on the go then that. But everything seemed to have ended mid last week and has yet to be replaced.

[Woodland Mist Academy]

What are some of your math and science read alouds? I am always looking for suggestions in those two areas.

 

For math we are finishing String, Straight-Edge, & Shadow: The Story of Geometry. I think we might read Scammed by Statistics next.

 

For science we are reading The Magic of Reality. We started it as a read aloud last year, but it fell off the list after it was a misplaced for a bit. We hope to finish it early this year.

 

CPO Life has Animal Farm listed as a literature selection for the animal chapter. Granted, it's not a science book, but it's been fun to read as we study animals. I think when we finish one of our science read alouds we might read The Lives of a Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher--another CPO recommendation.

Edited August 22, 2012 by Hilltop Academy

[Chrysalis Academy]

1. Literature read aloud w/ Miss P - generally a "light" classic with vocab and/or sentence structure that would be a stretch for her

2. Bedtime read aloud - great children's stories read to both girls together

3. Science read aloud - We're doing The Way Life Works by Hoagland as a RA, a bit a day each day during Science Week

4. History - not one specific book, but I end up reading aloud from texts, or bio/supplement books every day during History Week

 

She also has a couple of IR books going, one assigned book correlated to history, and then whatever she wants for pleasure reading.

[Ellie]

Only one.

 

I read aloud to my dds one chapter a day (or the whole book if it was short), right after lunch, every day that we were home.

 

I didn't read aloud at night, because I wanted all of us to be wide awake while I was reading. :-)

[Julie Smith]

For math we are finishing String, Straight-Edge, & Shadow: The Story of Geometry. I think we might read Scammed by Statistics next.

 

For science we are reading The Magic of Reality. We started it as a read aloud last year, but it fell off the list after it was a misplaced for a bit. We hope to finish it early this year.

 

CPO Life has Animal Farm listed as a literature selection for the animal chapter. Granted, it's not a science book, but it's been fun to read as we study animals. I think when we finish one of our science read alouds we might read The Lives of a Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher--another CPO recommendation.

 

I heard about "Sting, Straight-Edge, & Shadow..." but our library doesn't have it.

 

I always like to have a mostly non-fiction book on the go. Recently it was, "The Burgess Seashore book, ... Animal book, ... Bird Book". But I am at a bit of a loss of what to do next.

 

My boys are 6 and 8 if that makes a difference.

 

If you don't want to do "Animal Farm" for some reason you should read this book. I haven't read it, but I have read others in the series to my boys and they are kid friendly.

 

(Taken from the website: http://www.freddythepig.org/bibliography.htm)

 

WIGGINS FOR PRESIDENT (later re-titled FREDDY THE POLITICIAN). 1939.

 

Anxious to prove to the Beans that they are sufficiently responsible to run the farm while the Beans go to Europe on vacation, the animals found a bank and start a government, the First Animal Republic. The rats, in league with a family of woodpeckers who have blown in from Washington (literally, since a storm blew them off-course and onto the Bean Farm), attempt to turn the republic into a dictatorship but are foiled by Freddy. This book is often compared with George Orwell's ANIMAL FARM, which it predates by some ten years. It is probably the quintessential Freddy book, in its humor, themes, and characterizations.

[Jayne J]

Right now, we are reading the following:

1. Mythology--Roman. (Mon.)

2. Mythology--Greek. (Tues.)

3. The Questing Knights of the Faerie Queen. (Wed.)

4. Squirrels and Other Furbearers. (Thurs.)

5. A Child's Book of Saints (Thurs.)

6. Story Lives of the Master Musicians. (Fri.)

7. The Japanese Twins. (Fri.)

 

 

Daily:

8. Bible

9. Little Britches (This is our current lunch time read aloud. We rotate turns picking books from the shelf.)

[momto2Cs]

Right now, generally 2 books in the morning/afternoon, and 1 at bedtime, plus short stories for dd after her reading lessons.

 

This fall...

1. History text

2. Supplemental lit for history, just one at a time

3. 1-3 books for Narnia study

4. Books for science and math - sometimes longer books, sometimes picture-book length.

5. A bedtime book

 

So between 6-8 books at a time total.

Edited August 23, 2012 by momto2Cs

[magnificent_baby]

We do one chapter book as a read aloud after lunch; I try to read one chapter, but if they are getting wiggly, I stop at 1/2 or so. Besides that, throughout the day I pull random picture books to read aloud, and also our FIAR book of the week.

 

I will only have one chapter book read aloud going on at once with my kids as a group; it drives me nuts to be in the middle of several books.

 

So, about 20 minutes or so on chapter book, and about 2-3 read alouds the rest of the school day. (This does not include the kids reading aloud to me) I know I need to ramp this up though, it's hard fitting in everything we need to accomplish.

 

ETA: I see others are responding with subject type books, I do a lot of reading out of subject books, but didn't include those in my response.

[MamaCoop04]

Biography at breakfast.

Lamplighter book at lunch.

School related book in afternoon (usually history or science).

Fun one at bedtime (currently Dr. Dolittle).

 

Then we are each reading on our own for personal enjoyment.

[Mom2OandE]

We are new to homeschooling but it looks like we will have:

 

1. Bible & Devotional @breakfast

2. Poetry @breakfast

3. A classic or Newberry Medal winner after lunch (SSR to follow)

4. Art read aloud on art day

5. Twice a week we do History/Geography/Civics and we have multiple read alouds for all of those.

6. Short story read aloud for lit with ds (but dd may become involved).

[Tracy]

I often have 2 or 3 going at once. I don't have a particular system for them. It usually happens because I am trying to interest dd7 in a book that I can't get her to agree to, so I just start reading during a mealtime or while she is doing something else. OTOH, it may happen because dd sees something that I got from the library and is unwilling to wait for the current read aloud to be done. As far as when we read each one, dd generally picks what she wants me to read, and we somehow get through all them.

[FO4UR]

We always have several going at once...about 10. That does not include the picture books that we read in one sitting.

 

 

I keep our current books in a special spot on the shelf and let them choose what we read this time from that spot. If a certain book has been neglected for a few days, I'll choose it first.

 

 

I don't recommend organizing it too much b/c kids love to pick and choose. As long as I'm careful about what I allow on the shelf in the first place, this relaxed method works very well.

 

Sometimes I push to finish one book before starting another. (I like to have variety in genre.) Sometimes if a book sits there and sits there and no one wants to hear it, I just put it away and try again later (like a year later).

 

Oh, and this is definitely for kids 6+. When my oldest was 5yo and younger, it was mostly picture books. Still, I did the same method of having him choose a book at storytime...from the shelf I filled with carefully selected books. He was about 5yo when I started reading longer books with fewer pictures. It was a gradual process to work up to all the books we have going now. (And, I find myself thinking of all the wonderful picture books I need to cram in before my 6yo grows up too much...)

[ALB]

We have a few going at a time, and we approach each one differently. One we read a chapter a day and do narrations, one we read as much as we want whenever we want, one is scheduled twice a week and one is at bedtime with dh.

[Woodland Mist Academy]

I always like to have a mostly non-fiction book on the go. Recently it was, "The Burgess Seashore book, ... Animal book, ... Bird Book". But I am at a bit of a loss of what to do next.

 

My boys are 6 and 8 if that makes a difference.

 

In that age range, some books we used either for read alouds or for independent reading:

 

Seed Babies, Insect Folk, and Song of Life by Margaret Morley

Among the Night/Pond/Meadow/Forest People by Clara Dillingham Pierson

The Wonder Book of Chemistry and the Story Book of Science by Jean Henri Fabre

 

The above are old books. There were times I had to let her know updated science findings/terminology/etc.

 

Some more modern books we used in that age range were:

 

Lucy and Stephen Hawking books (George's Secret Key to the Universe, etc)

Russell Stannard books (Black Holes and Uncle Albert, etc)

 

She read the Hawking and Stannard books independently, but they could be used as read alouds as well.

 

There were LOTS of other books. Many of them had less of a fictional storyline, though. We also read several biographies of scientists at those ages.

 

 

If you don't want to do "Animal Farm" for some reason you should read this book. I haven't read it, but I have read others in the series to my boys and they are kid friendly.

 

(Taken from the website: http://www.freddythepig.org/bibliography.htm)

 

WIGGINS FOR PRESIDENT (later re-titled FREDDY THE POLITICIAN). 1939.

 

Anxious to prove to the Beans that they are sufficiently responsible to run the farm while the Beans go to Europe on vacation, the animals found a bank and start a government, the First Animal Republic. The rats, in league with a family of woodpeckers who have blown in from Washington (literally, since a storm blew them off-course and onto the Bean Farm), attempt to turn the republic into a dictatorship but are foiled by Freddy. This book is often compared with George Orwell's ANIMAL FARM, which it predates by some ten years. It is probably the quintessential Freddy book, in its humor, themes, and characterizations.

 

Thanks! She is enjoying Animal Farm, so I'll look into these as well.

Edited August 24, 2012 by Hilltop Academy

[Woodland Mist Academy]

Jean Craighhead George's books would also be good for that age range.

 

ETA: (6-8 years) I should have just added this to my previous post to Julie. Oops.

Edited August 23, 2012 by Hilltop Academy

[redgal]

Thank you all so much! It is so helpful to see what others are doing and how you are laying it all out I am new to home schooling and this forum and it ROCKS! I love it here.:D

 

We been doing random read-alouds here and there, and sometimes a chapter book at night but I'd love to get more organized. Love the suggestions. So with this is mind I'm thinking of doing four read-alouds a day (in addition to the subject books for math, history, science etc) Something like:

 

Breakfast: Poetry ( e.g A Child's Garden of Verses)

Lunch: Illustrated Classic, Treasury/Collection, or Classic ( e.g James Herriot or Charlotte's Web)

Afternoon: Short Fable or Fairy Tale

Evening Family RA: Fun Book ( e.g. Burgess Bird Book or Harry Potter)

All others will be picture books that they choose ( usually a lot of them as we have book baskets all over the place!) the ones in brackets are the ones I am thinking of starting with.

 

I love the idea of taking it in turns to pick the family RA - so I am going to set up a shelf for that.

 

DD4 loves animals and nature stories, magic stories, fairy stories, detective type stories, fairy tales and books with girls as the main character or heroine, mysteries and fantasy. Any suggestions for this age group (she will be 5 in December and can happily curl up to listen to a longer book but the odd illustration is also appreciated)? Also I have no idea what type of read-alouds for the subjects like math, science so any suggestions there would also really help us out.:D

Edited August 25, 2012 by redgal