New homeschool family - need advice on reading ?

[AZJessica]

Hi all! We are just starting our homeschool adventure with 8th, 6th, 4th and 2nd graders. I'm looking for advice on reading. All of my kids can read and appear to be generally good with comprehension.

Since we are new to homeschooling, I'm wading in kind of slow. Just for reference, right now we have math (Saxon & Math U See), grammar (FLL or GFWTM depending on grade level), spelling (Spelling Power) and writing (WWE or WWS again depending on grade level). 

Do I just have my kids read books they're interested in? Do I try to have reading tie in with writing assignments? Or Do I pick up History and have their reading tie in with that? I would love some direction or ideas or stories about what has worked for you! I'd like my kids to be challenged but also really enjoy their reading time ??♥️

Thanks in advance!!

Jessica

[acresoft]

You can let them read what they want or tie it in with history, science, or writing. Some ideas are biographies, historical fiction, nature stories, stories of inventions, etc.

[Mergath]

I'd start by reading "The Book Whisperer" by Donalyn Miller. It's inspiring and has a lot of great ideas.

[8filltheheart]

The beauty of homeschooling is that you get to make the decisions. What you decide on, that is the education your children will receive. 

Some people tie literature to history. Some don't. Some use all textbook resources. Some put piles of books together and create their own curriculum.

The only wrong answer is not educating your children. The how's in how you go about it are as varied as the number of homeschooling families.

What do you want to do? How do you want to approach it? What are your educational goals behind the approach you have decided on? Are they age/grade level appropriate for each child?

Once you answer those questions for yourself, you will have your answer.

[Bluegoat]

As everyone said, you can really do what you like.  I can share some of the things I have noticed though, in no particular order.

You may find your 2nd graders needs with reading are a lot different than the older kids.  At that age, I was picking books mainly for interest and being something they could manage at their reading level, but often that was a lot simpler than what they could enjoy as a read-aloud.  Kids at that age really need to have books read to them as well as doing their own reading, so they are getting stories appropriate for their mental level.  Your 4th grader may be in a similar position.

Also for those younger ages, you may not need to have much written output for their reading.  Most second grade kids do all the writing they need with their writing programs, and it can be hard on them to do much more.  At that age, oral narrations, where the child simply tells back the story or chapter or paragraph, is a better bet.  Not always for every book, and it is harder than you might think, so you have to start simply.  But this provides the eventual basis for written output about what is read.

Your 4th grader might still be doing mostly oral narrations of literature, but you might start transitioning to written ones.  If it's a new skill, practice orally for a bit first.  (Also - I would make sure there is some reading which is just for fun.  If they or you are overwhelmed, don't worry about output for a while, you can always start it next year if you want.)

As far as history - you can use non-fiction history readings for some reading practice.  (This applies to science too.)  If your 8th grade kid is reading something like Fabre, well, that is great reading practice.  Some kids really enjoy reading non-fiction like that, or they like the subject matter, and if you have a lot of heavy reading there you should probably do a little less in another area, like literature.  It is important though that kids do get some exposure to literature, plays, poetry, and that sort of thing.  So - balance.

As far as correlating literature with history - I think it's unwise to do that to completely.  It can be really nice if you are studying, say, the ancient world, to have a novel set there.  If you look at the books suitable for that child, and there is something appropriate, use it!  

Even more, I think, if you are studying a particular period seriously consider reading some literature actually produced during that period.  If you are studying the ancients, include some mythology, or the Oddest in some form.  If you are studying the middle ages, maybe you want to include some part of the Song of Roland, or do a read aloud of a version of Kind Arthur or Robin Hood.  Look at some poetry, or plays if they are at the right level, or go to some plays.  As kids get older using real period literature becomes easier, and eventually toward high school it's important to the study of literature as a subject.

All that being said, there are so many great books out there for kids that will not correlate to your history or science studies at the age your child will make the most of them.  It would be a shame to miss The Secret Garden because you are studying the ancients that year.  I find I make those decisions by intuition most of the time -  I will plan something particular to support our other studies, but apart from that I see a book on the shelf and think - ah, that would be perfect for Rosemary right now.  

Also - kids will make connections even if they are not reading stuff at the same time they are studying it.  In general with teaching, I think it's very helpful to remember that everything doesn't come together all at once.

 

[AZJessica]

3 hours ago, 8FillTheHeart said:

The beauty of homeschooling is that you get to make the decisions. What you decide on, that is the education your children will receive. 

Some people tie literature to history. Some don't. Some use all textbook resources. Some put piles of books together and create their own curriculum.

The only wrong answer is not educating your children. The how's in how you go about it are as varied as the number of homeschooling families.

What do you want to do? How do you want to approach it? What are your educational goals behind the approach you have decided on? Are they age/grade level appropriate for each child?

Once you answer those questions for yourself, you will have your answer.

 

Those are great questions to consider. And I appreciate your point that it's my decision - I'm still breaking out of the mold of regular schooling and worrying about what's going on at school.

[Alice]

16 hours ago, AZJessica said:

Hi all! We are just starting our homeschool adventure with 8th, 6th, 4th and 2nd graders. I'm looking for advice on reading. All of my kids can read and appear to be generally good with comprehension.

Since we are new to homeschooling, I'm wading in kind of slow. Just for reference, right now we have math (Saxon & Math U See), grammar (FLL or GFWTM depending on grade level), spelling (Spelling Power) and writing (WWE or WWS again depending on grade level). 

Do I just have my kids read books they're interested in? Do I try to have reading tie in with writing assignments? Or Do I pick up History and have their reading tie in with that? I would love some direction or ideas or stories about what has worked for you! I'd like my kids to be challenged but also really enjoy their reading time ??♥️

Thanks in advance!!

Jessica

 

Welcome! 

We’ve done all of the above, at different times and with different kids. When we first started out I tended to try and strictly tie in our read-alouds with our history or with other things we were studying. The good thing was that we read a bunch of books we probably wouldn’t have read otherwise. The downside is that sometimes we got a little tired of a particular time period or topic. Or I’d think “we can’t read that book, it doesn’t fit with history” and so we’d miss out on other good things. Now I’m less concerned with making it all fit together and more comfortable with the idea that we don’t have to cover everything. 

I let my kids pretty much pick what they want to read in their free time through elementary school. We go to the library a lot and I suggest things I think they will like but I don’t assign books. My main goal is to have them enjoy reading. We’ve done book clubs, both on our own and at our co-op and that has directed their reading somewhat. My two boys did those in roughly 4-6th grade and I started one for my daughter last year in 2nd grade (it was mostly to at her request to have more time with friends than for reading but the reading was a bonus).

We read aloud books that I pick. At this point, I pick a mix of things that go with history or things I just want to share with them or that we are interested in. We’re currently re-reading a lot of books that the youngest missed when we read them the first time. Our main homeschooling “method” is reading so really history and science has us reading a lot of books together, just non-fiction. 

In the summers I make them each a list of books. The goal is to read one a month off of my list but they read a lot more. I try and put books that I think they will like but that would be challenging. 

We are also pretty laid back about writing. I haven’t had them write a lot about what they are writing in elementary school or even middle school because I don’t have kids who like to write and the writing kills the enjoyment of the books. Some books we talk about and discuss orally. Occasionally they do a writing assignment paired to a book. 

Once they get to middle school and then high school I assign books for English and they do more analysis and writing. I roughly tie the English to History. My oldest wanted to do Modern History for 9th grade and most of his literature selections were 20th century, mostly American. This year we are doing Ancients so he’ll read things to go with that. 

 

[displace]

Welcome to homeschooling.  I use inspiration for reading literature: Mensa book lists, book shark, award winners, top 100 book lists, and free reading.  I tend to “assign” from book lists and free reading per day.  You may consider anthologies for older students or variety.  

[Another Lynn]

Catalogs from homeschool companies are a fun way to get inspired for making reading lists.  

If you want to tie reading into history, you might check out The Well-Trained Mind from the library.  Also, in the Prologue, Jessie Wise talks about how she required them to check out a biography, a science book, a history book, a practical or arts/crafts book, and three books of their choosing - stories, poetry or nonfiction.  This would be a great way to give some structure and some choice at the same time and who knows what interests they might discover!  It would also buy you some time if you don't feel decisive yet on how you want to approach it.  

[happypamama]

Welcome to homeschooling!  You get to decide!  

 

I personally generally tie required reading into history because I love history, and I love how literature based on a time period often gives a richer understanding of that time period. But for their free reading, bedtime readalouds, car audiobooks, audiobooks that my littler ones listen to while I’m working with my older ones. . . They’re not generally tied to anything. Just read, lots. There are so many good books out there.