Which literature is too difficult for my 10yo 5th grader?

[Amy M]

I'm planning a list of literature that corresponds with Roman and medieval times for my 5th grade boy, beginning in January. He's turning ten in April and is a decent reader but not really advanced. There are lots of good options for this year. Unfortunately he doesn't love fiction. He has read adult versions of church history and missionary biographies, however, though it takes a while for him to get through them. So I have a list of books and would love some feedback on some of the options, if you think they would be too hard for him at his age, mostly Rosemary Sutcliffe and G.A. Henty choices that I wasn't sure of. Here are some I was wondering about:

 

by Henty:

The Young Carthaginian

Beric the Briton

For the Temple: Fall of Jerusalem

Winning His Spurs: A Tale of the Crusades

By Right of Conquest

The Dragon and the Raven

 

by Sutcliff:

Eagle of the Ninth

The Lantern Bearers

The Shining Company

 

by Howard Pyle:

The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood--should I wait till high school for Pyle's version, and use an easier one now?

Otto of the Silver Hand

 

Ben Hur--would that be too hard for a fifth grader?

 

Adam of the Road?

 

Is there an easier version of Ivanhoe for kids? What about Arabian Nights? Would Yesterday's Classics or the Baldwin Project have something for this age group?

 

What is your top favorite Shakespeare choice for this age?

 

and King Arthur? I have White's book and Roger Lancelyn Green's. Should I do Green's King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table for this age and use White for high school?

 

I also have Fierce Wars and Faithful Loves: Book 1 of Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene by Roy Maynard, but it looks too hard to me. Published by Canon Press, anyone know if this book is supposed to be for junior high or high school? Is there another retelling of Faerie Queen in chapter book format that would be good for early logic stage?

 

I understand if you all can't comment on all the books, but if you have any advice for any of my questions on this list, I'd be grateful to hear it! Thank you!

 

 

[Sherry in OH]

IMHO Henty is boring, I’d skip all of them.  Or maybe try one.

 

My 5^th grader loved Eagle of the Ninth, but we did it as read aloud. 

 

We also read:

Sword in the Stone, T. H. White

One Thousand and One Arabian Nights, Geraldine McCaughrean

Selected readings from Favorite Medieval Tales, Mary Pope Osborne

 

1001 Arabian Nights is a long read aloud. If you don’t want to devote so much time to it, select a few tales to read. 

 

The following are on our list for this spring:

Beowulf, Robert Nye

Odd and the Frost Giants, Neil Gaiman

Robin Hood, Roger Lancelyn Green

Selections from Ivanhoe, Sir Walter Scott [Librivox recording]

Adam of the Road, Elizabeth Janet Gray

When the Sea Turned to Silver, Grace Lin

A Single Shard, Linda Sue Park

The Door in the Wall, Marguerite De Angeli

Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Marcia Williams OR Canterbury Tales, Geraldine McCaughrean

 

 

Ben Hur – audiobook version maybe.  I decided against it.

Shakespeare will be next year.  Other than watching the BBC’s Shakespeare the Animated Tales, I haven’t made any firm decisions for next year.   We are behind schedule this year, so we will probably start the year by finishing up this year’s readings.

 

[EmilyGF]

I'd say it depends on whether your child will be doing deep literary analysis or reading to enjoy.

 

My daughters both read and enjoyed Adam of the Road and Pyle's Robin Hood. They are 8 and 10 but very excellent readers. Pyle's Robin Hood has hard language but a really good plot so they actually clamor to read it.

 

Emily

[Kathleen.]

Here's a really fun book about Roman gladiators - "Julius Zebra: Rumble with the Romans" by Gary Northfield. I just read this book. It's an easy read that tells the journey of a zebra captured by Roman soldiers in Africa and whisked away to Rome to become a gladiator. Julius becomes friends with the other caprured animals as they train for a battle for the birthday bash for King Hadrian. The pages are in Roman numerals and there's a glossary at the end of terms used related to gladiators and Latin. I got this book at the library for fun - I love reading children's books 😠and reading them to my kids or recommending they read it. The book is a good sized chapter book with pen drawings here and there. It has a bit of Roman gladiator history, but mostly it's fun and your son won't be intimidated to read it.

[Lori D.]

re: reading level

Of all of the books you list, except for Otto of the Silver Hand and Adam of the Road, I would say they are all much more of a 7th-8th grade reading level. If you have an average 5th grade level reader, esp. one who's not "into" reading fiction, then I'd either drop all or shift all to read-alouds rather than readers (except for Otto of the Silver Hand which should work fine as a solo reader for a 5th grader).

 

re: Sutcliffe

I personally really enjoy her books, as they are beautifully written, and she's got real depth of character and theme in her works. However, because her writing has a lot of wonderful poetic language use and description, and because she often inverts typical sentence structure, these techniques can make her works feel "slow" or "dull" to a typical 5th-6th grade reader who "just wants to get on with the next plot point".

 

re: Henty

As far as themes in Henty's works: Henty was in essence writing "dime novels" of historical "romances" (adventures) for his 1800s British audience. He was an author of his times and his works reflect the attitudes of the 19th century upper class English. Today, we see the anti-Catholic, faulty Christian theology, imperialistic, racist (esp. denigrating of Blacks), and white superiority in those attitudes and beliefs. Some people on these boards use his works as discussion opportunities to point out these problems, while still enjoying the adventure aspect of his books.

 

As far as writing Henty's writing quality: I personally find his writing to be mediocre. It is also tougher-going for a 5th grader, as his writing is straight up Victorian (complex and sometimes convoluted sentences, older vocabulary, tendency towards flowery language). Henty's works are "dime novels", so heavy on improbable adventure, and shallow in character development and lacking in development of theme and beauty of language use. With so many great historical fiction works out there, esp. many written for the upper elementary/young adult ages, I personally would pass on the problematic works of Henty for something that is much more age appropriate, interesting, and better written.

 

re: Howard Pyle

Otto of the Silver Hand will be fine as a solo reading book. You might preview a chapter or two of the Robin Hood and see if you think it would be a good fit for your son; it looks to be more of a grade 7-8 reading level to me, so it might be better as a read-aloud. Or, if you need a solo reader version Robin Hood, these are good versions and geared for elementary ages:

Robin Hood of Sherwood Forest (McGovern)

Children's Dover Thrift: Robin Hood (Blaisdell)

Usborne: Tales of Robin Hood (Claybourne)

Yesterday's Classics: Stories of Robin Hood (Marshall) 

Children's Dover Thrift: King Arthur (Crawford)

 

re: Ben Hur

I read it at age 12 and loved it. But I was a strong reader. I don't think I'd hand this one off as a solo read below grade 7-8. Possibly do as a read-aloud, but it just be better to wait on this one, as it is very detailed and builds slowly.

 

re: Adam of the Road

You may even want to shift this to a read-aloud -- JMO, but the unusual sentence structure and the Medieval terms places it more at a 6th grade level for comfortable reading.

 

re: Ivanhoe / Arabian Nights

Here are two abridged adaptations of Ivanhoe for upper elementary ages:

Great Illustrated Classic

Classics Illustrated Graphic Novel: Ivanhoe

 

Another option would be to WATCH rather than read, with the 1952 movie. At this age, if you don't have a fiction-lover, I'm all for using movies and graphic novels as a way to absorb the story and the feel of the times, and then in high school, read the full original versions to analyze and dig deep into the language and literature. :) Side note: after exposure to Ivanhoe and Robin Hood, a MUST read is Edward Eager's Knight's Castle -- SO fun!  :thumbup1:

 

For the Arabian Nights, I'd shoot for general exposure, don't feel like you have to read ALL the tales. Yes, the Balwin Project has Andrew Lang's version of The Arabian Nights Entertainments. For variety, though, you might consider listening to the Jim Weiss audio version as a family. Or, if you need a solo reader:

Geraldine McCaughrean's version -- she's a wonderful, very readable storyteller

Phillip Smith's Children's Dover edition -- nice and short

Tenggren's Golden Tales from the Arabian Nights (Tenggren) -- well-written; longer, but with gorgeous artwork

 

re: Shakespeare

We didn't do any Shakespeare until high school. Well, I do recall now that we read either the Charles Lamb or E. Nesbit abridged tales version for children in late elementary or early middle school. But it really wasn't of much interest to our DSs. I'd wait on Shakespeare for a few years, and then dive in as a whole family and use ideas from past threads, which suggest materials like:

How to Teach  Your Children Shakespeare (Ludwig)

Folger Shakespeare Library website teaching resources

 

If you absolutely must do Shakespeare now, check out the Leon Garfield adaptations. As for which play... a non-fiction lover might prefer one of the histories, such as Julius Caesar. Of the comedies, A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Tempest are probably the most accessible. If you read an adaptation of The Tempest, you might enjoy following up with the 1950s sci-fi film Forbidden Planet which is the basic story of The Tempest, and have fun comparing. For the tragedies, Romeo and Juliet is pretty easy to follow, but hard to imagine a 5th grade boy being that interested in the topic ;) . Perhaps Macbeth or Othello -- bloody, but the themes are very straight-forward. Hamlet is so rich and subtle I just hate to see that one done too early, so that students don't want to do it again later on when they can really dig into it and mine the treasures there...

 

re: King Arthur

White's Once and Future King is best for high school when you can dig into the themes. There are also a number of political things in it that will go right over a young reader's head and just be boring, plus some mature ideas and moments  in the work that you might want to wait on until later. And, it is actually 4 books in one, so SUPER LONG for a 5th grader who's not "into" fiction. Green's King Arthur is do-able for a 5th grader.

 

re: Faerie Queene

Wow, this is a very allegorical lengthy poem in the original, and it is all tied around Christian ideas, morality, and a glorification of Queen Elizabeth -- it is usually tackled in college English Lit. classes, and sometimes in high school. I read the excerpt that is available online at Amazon of the version you linked, and it's a lovely prose version, but I'd still wait until high school and do some deeper literary analysis and digging into it then, if you have time for the work and want to cover it then.

 

If you really need a version for now, I found this: Stories From the Faerie Queene: Eight Fairy Tales for Children (Jeane Lang). However, I really do think The Faerie Queene is a very optional work -- esp. since getting this student to read fiction will be more difficult, I'd focus on making sure you hit the works that most frequently referenced in Western Literature, Film, and Culture -- and that would be things like: the Bible, Aesop's fables, Greek myths, Norse myths, King Arthur, Robin Hood, Arabian Nights, traditional fairy tales, etc.

 

 

One last thought: to help encourage your DS with reading fiction, I highly recommend doing some of your history-go-along fiction works together: read aloud a chapter, or for 20-30 minutes, "popcorn style" ("you read a page, I read a page"), which sets up a great dynamic for discussing together as you read. That encourages a "reluctant fiction reader" to see and share interesting things in the story with you, as you are sharing what you see in it; that also models how to read fiction, and is a great stepping stone into the kind of deeper reading and analyzing of Literature that you'll be doing in high school. Plus, it's just great fun and builds good reading memories together of shared book experiences. :) Even if you have a lot of children or high-need younger children, I strongly encourage carving out 20 minutes a day (maybe in the evening) to do this aloud-together reading of classic Literature, as it helps build an appreciation and understanding of the Great Books.

 

Enjoy your Ancient/Medieval studies! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited December 27, 2016 by Lori D.

[HomeAgain]

Eagle of The Ninth was not well enjoyed here.

 

However, if you want a good novel on King Arthur, Black Horses For The King was a wonderful lead-in. 

[Amy M]

IMHO Henty is boring, I’d skip all of them.  Or maybe try one.

 

Thanks. I do have an audio version of some by Hodges (I forget the first name, a new guy in homeschooling audio.) If I have one of these, maybe I'll have ds read along with the audio as an easier option, and just listen to one or two others if I have enough. I knew I wouldn't have time for all of them anyway. Just wondered what reading level he is at.

 

The following are on our list for this spring:

Beowulf, Robert Nye

Odd and the Frost Giants, Neil Gaiman

Robin Hood, Roger Lancelyn Green

Selections from Ivanhoe, Sir Walter Scott [Librivox recording]

Adam of the Road, Elizabeth Janet Gray

When the Sea Turned to Silver, Grace Lin

A Single Shard, Linda Sue Park

The Door in the Wall, Marguerite De Angeli

Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Marcia Williams OR Canterbury Tales, Geraldine McCaughrean

 

I appreciate your sharing your list. I do have other items on my list, but wanted help with the reading level of some of the ones I listed. I know The Door in the Wall will be a read-aloud for us, and I have a few versions of Robin Hood to choose between. That's a neat idea to just do selections from Ivanhoe from Librivox. I wondered about A Single Shard--I think I'll use that one, though it is about medieval Korea, and I thought we would cover more of Japan and China--and thought of Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. I've not read Lin's work you mention here. How does it compare--did you prefer it? I just read Canterbury Tales by McCaughrean, and plan to use much of it, excepting the few chapters that I didn't like for their treatment of adultery. That's why I pre-read, as I'd heard Chaucer's Tales were bawdy.

 

Ben Hur – audiobook version maybe.  I decided against it.

I do have a children's version (picture on every page) of this. Wondered if I should use it or go for the original. Sounds too difficult though.

 

Shakespeare will be next year.  Other than watching the BBC’s Shakespeare the Animated Tales, I haven’t made any firm decisions for next year.   We are behind schedule this year, so we will probably start the year by finishing up this year’s readings.

 

Thanks for your input. I love talking about children's books.

 

Here's a really fun book about Roman gladiators - "Julius Zebra: Rumble with the Romans" by Gary Northfield.

 

This sounds really neat! Thanks for the suggestion. I have a problem, though--I'm a missionary in Africa, so I was just going to work with what I already have and can't easily get new books. But maybe I'll put it on my wish list for the future for the other kids coming up.

 

re: reading level

Of all of the books you list, except for Otto of the Silver Hand and Adam of the Road, I would say they are all much more of a 7th-8th grade reading level. If you have an average 5th grade level reader, esp. one who's not "into" reading fiction, then I'd either drop all or shift all to read-alouds rather than readers (except for Otto of the Silver Hand which should work fine as a solo reader for a 5th grader).

 

This is helpful, thank you. He isn't average, in the sense that he chose to read a few 400-page works on church history and theology (!) this year, though admittedly they took him a long time. And every fiction book I've assigned him in school he has enjoyed; he just never picks up a fiction book himself, or continues of his own volition in a series. He admits he doesn't like fiction, but then once admitted that he just wants exciting stuff.  Anyway, I know I cannot shift his whole literature list to read-alouds. This is supposed to be his reading for the year, and I don't have the time to read them all with him. But I will use the ones on my list that I already know are fine for his reading level then.

 

re: Sutcliffe

I personally really enjoy her books, as they are beautifully written, and she's got real depth of character and theme in her works. However, because her writing has a lot of wonderful poetic language use and description, and because she often inverts typical sentence structure, these techniques can make her works feel "slow" or "dull" to a typical 5th-6th grade reader who "just wants to get on with the next plot point".

hmmm, interesting. He would probably struggle, then, unfortunately. Maybe I could buddy read Eagle of the Ninth with him, and forget the others.

 

re: Henty

As far as themes in Henty's works: Henty was in essence writing "dime novels" of historical "romances" (adventures) for his 1800s British audience. He was an author of his times and his works reflect the attitudes of the 19th century upper class English. Today, we see the anti-Catholic, faulty Christian theology, imperialistic, racist (esp. denigrating of Blacks), and white superiority in those attitudes and beliefs. Some people on these boards use his works as discussion opportunities to point out these problems, while still enjoying the adventure aspect of his books.

I had never heard this.

As far as writing Henty's writing quality: I personally find his writing to be mediocre. It is also tougher-going for a 5th grader, as his writing is straight up Victorian (complex and sometimes convoluted sentences, older vocabulary, tendency towards flowery language). Henty's works are "dime novels", so heavy on improbable adventure, and shallow in character development and lacking in development of theme and beauty of language use. With so many great historical fiction works out there, esp. many written for the upper elementary/young adult ages, I personally would pass on the problematic works of Henty for something that is much more age appropriate, interesting, and better written.

Okay, thanks.

 

re: Adam of the Road

You may even want to shift this to a read-aloud -- JMO, but the unusual sentence structure and the Medieval terms places it more at a 6th grade level for comfortable reading.

That's what I wondered when I glance at it. I really want to do this one, though. But I don't want to exhaust or discourage him with too many hard selections.

 

re: Ivanhoe / Arabian Nights

 At this age, if you don't have a fiction-lover, I'm all for using movies and graphic novels as a way to absorb the story and the feel of the times, and then in high school, read the full original versions to analyze and dig deep into the language and literature. :)

 

OK, this question might be a bit off-topic, but then what do you do for reading? I like movies, etc., but I don't want to wait on all reading until high school. :) There are so many good options for this age and for this time period of history, would you suggest I simply use easier options then?

 

Tenggren's Golden Tales from the Arabian Nights (Tenggren) -- well-written; longer, but with gorgeous artwork

 

(I would like this one, but when I looked at it before, I thought it was out of print? It was really expensive.)

 

One last thought: to help encourage your DS with reading fiction, I highly recommend doing some of your history-go-along fiction works together: read aloud a chapter, or for 20-30 minutes, "popcorn style" ("you read a page, I read a page"), which sets up a great dynamic for discussing together as you read. That encourages a "reluctant fiction reader" to see and share interesting things in the story with you, as you are sharing what you see in it; that also models how to read fiction, and is a great stepping stone into the kind of deeper reading and analyzing of Literature that you'll be doing in high school. Plus, it's just great fun and builds good reading memories together of shared book experiences. :) Even if you have a lot of children or high-need younger children, I strongly encourage carving out 20 minutes a day (maybe in the evening) to do this aloud-together reading of classic Literature, as it helps build an appreciation and understanding of the Great Books.

 

Enjoy your Ancient/Medieval studies! Warmest regards, Lori D.

 

Thanks so much for all of your thorough, thoughtful help! You're always so interesting and helpful, Lori D.! I really appreciate your time.

[Sherry in OH]

I appreciate your sharing your list. I do have other items on my list, but wanted help with the reading level of some of the ones I listed. I know The Door in the Wall will be a read-aloud for us, and I have a few versions of Robin Hood to choose between. That's a neat idea to just do selections from Ivanhoe from Librivox. I wondered about A Single Shard--I think I'll use that one, though it is about medieval Korea, and I thought we would cover more of Japan and China--and thought of Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. I've not read Lin's work you mention here. How does it compare--did you prefer it? I just read Canterbury Talesby McCaughrean, and plan to use much of it, excepting the few chapters that I didn't like for their treatment of adultery. That's why I pre-read, as I'd heard Chaucer's Tales were bawdy.

 

I haven't read When the Sea Turns to Silver.  It is a companion novel to Starry River of the Sky and Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, both of which my children greatly enjoyed. The reading level of Lin's books is somewhat lower than that of the books you list.   I read aloud our literature selections, thus reading level is a minor consideration.  Interest level is more important.  I skim to see if I want to read the book and if I think it will interest my children.   

 

 

 

 

[Amy M]

 

I read aloud our literature selections, thus reading level is a minor consideration. 

 

Wow. Isn't that exhausting for you? And how do you find the time? And what do they read then for their own practice? Do you use a reading curriculum as well?

[Sherry in OH]

Wow. Isn't that exhausting for you? And how do you find the time? And what do they read then for their own practice? Do you use a reading curriculum as well?

 

I read aloud for about 30 minutes in the morning and then again at lunchtime.  Both children love reading and listening to someone else read (me or audiobooks).   I nudge them toward books I think they would like. Otherwise, except for their book club selections, they choose their own reading material.  My 5th grader's favorite authors are Rick Riordan and Stuart Gibbs.  He also likes the books in the Horrible/Murderous series.  

[TheAttachedMama]

Most of those books would be too hard for MY 10 year old to read alone.  (Although he was a late reader.)    However, if you like these books and don't have the time to read them, consider assigning some as audiobooks.     (I am personally FINE with my child listening to books as opposed to reading them when they are above his reading level.   We do a ton of immersion reading on his kindle.)  

 

FWIW, I also have a 10 year old who is studying this time period.   (But we are calling this his 4th grade year since he JUST turned 10 a few days ago.) Here is our history book list for the year.   Our book list is sort of blurred and not really separated into clear lines of biography, literature, myth, historical fiction, etc.   These books roughly align to SOTW 2 which is what we use as our history spine.   (So that is why things are not in exact chronological order.)    As you can see, he reads some of these books alone, some I read aloud, and others are assigned as audiobooks.   I also try to vary his readings so that he has easy feeling books alternated with more challenging books.   (And I don't just assign him readers that have to do with history.  He reads stuff in science, or "for fun" books too.)

 

And man....I didn't realize we have so many books!  

 

Sword and the Tree by Clyde Robert Bulla (Reader)

Sword & The Stone (from Favorite Medieval Tales by Mary Pope Osborn) (Done as read aloud)

Island of Lost Children (from Favorite Medieval Tales by Mary Pope Osborn) (Done as read aloud)

Illustrated Tales of King Arthur  (Reader)

Who In the World was Theodora  (Audiobook) 

Famous Men of Middle Ages-Justinian  (Read Aloud)

Famous Men of Middle Ages-Mohammed (Read Aloud)

Famous Med of Middle Ages-Charles Martel & Pepin (Read Aloud)

Illustrated Arabian Nights (Reader)

Street Through Time (Reader)

Call it Courage (Historical Fiction)- Immersion Reading Kindle

You Wouldn't Want to be in a Medieval Dungeon (Reader)

You Wouldn't Want to build a Medieval Cathedral (Reader)

Famous Men of Middle Ages-Clovis

The Song of Roland-from Favorite Medieval Tales by Mary Pope Osborn) (Done as read aloud)

The Werewolf-from Favorite Medieval Tales by Mary Pope Osborn) (Done as read aloud)

Famous Men of Middle Ages-Attila the Hun

Leif the Lucky Biography (D'Aulaire)-Read Aloud

You Wouldn't want to be a viking explorer-Reader

Chose Your Own Path Vikings-Reader

Asgard Stories:  Tales from Norse Mythology (Audiobook)

Choice of:  Viking Adventure by Clyde Robert Bulla or Beorn the Proud (Reader)

Who in the World was Ethelred (Reader)

Making of a Knight (Reader)

Choose your Path Knights (Reader)

Choose Your Path Samurai (Reader)

You Wouldn't Want to be a Knight (Reader)

You Wouldn't Want to be a Samurai (Reader)

You Wouldn't Want to be a Crusader (Reader)

Minstrel in the Tower (Reader)

Canterbury Tales by B.  Cohen (Read Aloud)

Robin Hood by Pyle (Immersion Reading on Kindle)

Door in the Wall (Audiobook)

You Wouldn't Want to Explore with Marco Polo (Reader)

Crispin Cross of Lead (Audiobook)

Shakespeare-Henry V (Play and Children's Version Read Aloud)

You Wouldn't want to be Joan of Arc (Reader)

Sterling Biographies Joan of Ark (Audiobook)

Joan of Arc Biography by Diane Stanley (Read Aloud)

Apple and the Arrow (Read Aloud)

Lives of Extraordinary Women-Isabella of Castile (Read Aloud)

Pedro's Journal (Read Aloud)

Who in the World was Amerigo... (Reader)

You Wouldn't Want to Saile with Columbus (Reader)

D'Aulaire Biography of Columbus (Read Aloud)

You Wouldn't Want to be a Mayan Sooth Sayer (Reader)

You Wouldn't Want to be an Aztec Sacrifice (Reader)

You Wouldn't want to be an Inca Mummy (Reader)

Incans, Aztecs, Mayans by John Holzmann  (or choice of books on topic from library)

You Choose History (Aztec) 

Secrets of the Andes (Immersion Reading Kindle)

Lives of Extraordinary Women-Queen Nzingha

Children of the Longhouse (Immersion Reading Kindle)

Martin Luther Biography by Diane Stanley (Read Aloud)

You Wouldn't Want to be Married to Henry Viii (Reader)

Da Vinci Biography by Diane Stanley (Read Aloud)

Who in the World (Guttenberg) (Reader)

Michelangelo Biography by Diane Stanley (Read Aloud)

The Apprentice (reader)

Along Came Galileo (Reader)

Queen Elizabeth Biography by Diane Stanley (Read Aloud)

You Wouldn't Want to be a Shakespearen Actor (Reader)

(We would have put in a Shakespeare biography, but we have read most in our Shakespeare club)

Young Readers Shakespeare MacBeth (Read Aloud, then see play)

You Wouldn't Want to Explore with Francis Drake (Reader)

You Wouldn't Want to be sick in the 16th Century (Reader)

 

[stutterfish]

Eagle of the Ninth is fab on audio book. Just saying.

[Lori D.]

 

re: reading level

...I'd either drop all or shift all to read-alouds rather than readers...

 

This is helpful, thank you. He isn't average, in the sense that he chose to read a few 400-page works on church history and theology (!) this year... he just never picks up a fiction book himself... I cannot shift his whole literature list to read-alouds. This is supposed to be his reading for the year, and I don't have the time to read them all with him. But I will use the ones on my list that I already know are fine for his reading level then.

 

Gotcha. :) And, that sounds like a good plan! I'm sure he'll do great -- and enjoy the fiction books, in spite of himself. ;)

 

 

re: Sutcliffe

...hmmm, interesting. He would probably struggle, then, unfortunately. Maybe I could buddy read Eagle of the Ninth with him, and forget the others.

 

Oh yes, do at least try Eagle of the Ninth! He may really enjoy it. Sometimes, those who prefer non-fiction really like the close attention to detail descriptions in this type of historical fiction. :) Hope you'll both enjoy it!

 

 

re: Henty

...his works reflect the attitudes of the 19th century upper class English. Today, we see the anti-Catholic, faulty Christian theology, imperialistic, racist (esp. denigrating of Blacks), and white superiority in those attitudes and beliefs. Some people on these boards use his works as discussion opportunities to point out these problems, while still enjoying the adventure aspect of his books.

I had never heard this.

 

You may (or not -- lol) find these links of interest:

"G.A. Henty and the Christian Worldview" -- medium length book review by Daniel J. Mount

"George Alfred Henty" -- short Henty bio from Tavistock Books discussing Henty's racism and imperialism in context of living in Victorian times

"Classics that Avoid Racism" -- lengthy thread on the Simply Charlotte Mason website (between Christians) on the topic or racism in books (Henty is one of a number of authors mentioned) -- I found this helpful for hearing different points of view and reactions to subtle racism in books

 

I always like to have information and hear a variety of views on different matters to consider as I weigh the pros and cons of doing some books and authors, or in considering how we will approach/discuss them in our homeschooling. :)

 

 

re: Adam of the Road

You may even want to shift this to a read-aloud -- JMO, but the unusual sentence structure and the Medieval terms places it more at a 6th grade level for comfortable reading.

That's what I wondered when I glance at it. I really want to do this one, though. But I don't want to exhaust or discourage him with too many hard selections.

 

Both of our DSs really enjoyed that one. Maybe "play it by ear" and see how it goes, and if he gets bogged down, then try doing it buddy reading style?? Just a thought. :)

 

 

OK, this question might be a bit off-topic, but then what do you do for reading? I like movies, etc., but I don't want to wait on all reading until high school.   :) There are so many good options for this age and for this time period of history, would you suggest I simply use easier options then?

 

So much depends on what each homeschool family's specific goals and needs are, and what type of learners the students are. If you are a more formal classical homeschooler and are much more following TWTM, then what we did for reading may not help you achieve your goals.  :)

 

I'm a very casual WTM user -- I really liked the overall chronological structure of TWTM, but I only used parts of it as a general guide. One reason has to do with my personality and teaching style -- I just can't "do" formal/traditional types of curricula. The bigger reasons were DSs -- one has mild learning disabilities that took me a long time to figure out, and neither DS was ever very interested in academics and reading. Just who they are and how they're wired. The upshot is that while we roughly did a 6-year chronological History study, and we did include a lot of books to match the History study, we also did a lot of books based on being a good reading and interest fit for our DSs.

 

In the upper elementary grades there are SOOO many excellent children's and young adult books, and more coming out every year, that I see grades 4-8 as the little window of opportunity to read these wonderful works, and save many of the older classics for when the students have grown in to them (for me that's more like gr. 7-12) . So throughout the elementary grades, whenever it worked out that a good book fit both the History cycle and DSs' reading level, we included it, but we also read lots of books NOT tied to the History cycle, getting ideas from book lists and curriculum provider lists: 1000 Good Books, Newberry books, Sonlight, Ambleside, Biblioplan, Veritas, Tapestry of Grace, etc.

 

Grades 4-6 were fabulous for some of the best children's and young adult works out there, and in those years were some of our family's most favorite books ever -- books like: My Side of the Mountain, From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, A Wrinkle in Time, etc.

 

So we read a mix of things during the elementary grades -- some classics as read-alouds, some grade-level adapted versions of classics, some books that fit the chronological History stage, some that fit with the Science topic of the year, and then many high quality children's and young adult books written in the 1950s up through the present time.

 

 

Tenggren's Golden Tales from the Arabian Nights (Tenggren) -- well-written; longer, but with gorgeous artwork

(I would like this one, but when I looked at it before, I thought it was out of print? It was really expensive.)

 

It was reprinted about 12-15 years ago, and that edition (which is what I have) is available used for less than $10 through Abe.com or Amazon used -- however, the Abe.com only ships to the U.S., so you'd have to have a state-side relative or friend collect books for you and then ship a big box all at once to you. I don't know if the Amazon used ships outside of the U.S.

 

ETA: -- just looked and one of the used sellers appears to ship to Africa! In this list, used bookseller "honey pye" has global shipping rates, with these "shipping to Africa".

 

 

Wishing you all the BEST in your History and Literature studies, whatever you decide on! :) Warmest regards, Lori D. 

 

 

Edited December 30, 2016 by Lori D.