When I put "Read 100 books" on our summer bucket list, I got a few "wow" type comments. In reality, our "summer" was 6 weeks. That's only 2 to 3 books a day, and that is more than doable for us. I didn't necessarily want a challenge but more of a group goal and reminder to keep at it.
We've done library summer reading programs in the past, but it seems to be getting more and more complicated. So we ditched that for our own little program. The rules were simple. The book had to be read aloud, and no matter how many times you read the book, it only counted as one "entry". (Olivia read one of the Mercy Watson books out loud at least 5 times!)
We had to take down our little caterpillar from Kindergarten to make room for our time line. So I just moved the little head to our hallway under the kids art display. I told Olivia that for every book she read aloud we would use a purple circle. All of the other books were read by me, Michael, or my mom when she was visiting. There are exactly 100 circles up there, but I'm positive we read more than our 100 goal. (I was just sick of cutting circles and keeping up with it! Ha!)
I started collecting children's books during my freshman year of college! I always knew I was going to be a teacher and I would need books for my classroom. We have hundreds and HUNDREDS of books! They've always been an important part of our home, but as I dive more into the homeschool world I realize more and more how life changing they can be!
We regularly max out or library card (50 books at once!). Olivia is flying through chapter books faster than I can request them at the library. Oh... requesting books from the library! This has become a favorite thing of mine. I can go into our system, search for books, request they be set aside for me, and when I walk in there is a plethora of goodness waiting for me on the hold shelf. It is magical and amazing for this busy schooling mom!
I get my books lists from multiple different places.
First, our curriculum leans very heavy on living books. Each teacher's manual is chocked full of ideas for every week of the year.
Second, I love, love, love the Read Aloud Revival podcast. If you have children of any age, then you should check it out. Reading aloud to our kids is not just for the little toddlers who haven't learned to read yet. It is so good for children (and teens, and adults) of all ages. And if you just cannot bring yourself to read aloud yourself, then I highly suggest listening to audio books. You should hear Olivia read! The expression, voices, and fun she puts into reading is something she learned from listening to amazing and professional people read the classics! It makes a difference!
The podcast itself is amazing, but Sarah MacKenzie also has a website where she has multiple book lists to choose from.
Third, is the book Honey for the Child's Heart. If you listen to the podcast, you'll actually hear multiple people reference that book and others like it. My copy actually came with our Kindergarten curriculum. It is a reference type book comprised of different types of quality books for children.
Fourth, if I'm on the library website and I need a quick idea--Pinterest always has a few good lists.
Go ahead--use that library card! Read a good book. Or call Olivia up. She'll gladly read a book to you. :)
LOVE LOVE LOVE !
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