Stupid Question :-) - Book lists vs. Books read for LA/Literature Credit

[mlktwins]

I know I have read on here somewhere about people keeping track of books read (I think for college app purposes).  Do ya'll keep books lists specific to the books covered as part of a LA credit (to note the titles on the transcript) or are you also keeping track of books read outside of their literature credit?  And...if you are keeping track of books not read for credit, are you putting this information somewhere within the college app?

[Alicia64]

One thing about homeschool parents: not stupid, always on-their-game. 😊

[Alice]

I kept a list of books read and then also listed assigned books read under course descriptions. It was a habit for us to keep track of books read, just for fun (I do it for myself) so that wasn't a big change. 

I made overly detailed course descriptions as we went along that listed every single book read or thing we used. I would just do this every now and then, like every few months and then at the end of each year I went in and made sure we had a course description for each class. 

Then when it was time to send them in, I edited. I figured it was way easier to edit down the course descriptions than to try and remember "what did we read for English in 9th grade?" 

I did send in as a separate document a list of books read in high school, and clearly marked it "Independent reading". My ds is a voracious reader and that's really a main part of his personality so I felt like even seeing the list told them something about him. I assume very few any  people actually read it. I'm doing the same for my now 9th grader. He doesn't read a lot but he reads pretty impressive books for his age. And he will likely be a kid who doesn't have a lot of traditional academic appeal (doesn't test well and has no interest in doing anything "to check a box"). So his reading list is more to show his intellectual curiosity and that he had a deep education, even the part that was self-directed. 

I don't think it's essential to turn in a list of books read. I would keep a list of what you assign for classes so you can at least mention some of them in the course descriptions. 

[mjbucks1]

For my oldest two who have been through the college application process, I kept track of all books read (including those read for classes and outside of class) and placed them on a master list.  I started with 8th grade, because at that point they were reading many classics.  I included books read for history and English (but did not include textbooks).  I also listed the books read for individual classes in the course description for that specific class.  I wrote thorough course descriptions for all classes, and I attached the book list at the end of the course descriptions.

I should add that course descriptions are not required for all (or even most) colleges, but one of the highly selective colleges my oldest applied to "highly recommended" course descriptions for homeschooled students.  I went ahead and did the same for our dd, and I do think it helped her get several competitive scholarships (not automatic merit scholarships).   

[Miss Tick]

I would have a mutiny if i requested that they let me know all the books they read on their own time. I keep track of what is read for classes, and I know (but don't track) what I do as a read aloud, but I could not tackle trying to track independent reading of other people in the house, and I think it unlikely they would be interested in tracking "books read" on their own.