Novels to read aloud

[spotty_dog]

Sometimes we go on themes. Like DS loved Little House for the self sufficiency of their lifestyle, so My Side of the Mountain was a perfect follow on,

[civilspouse]

These are great ideas. DS had been enjoying chapter books but we read at bedtime and it's been tougher to get through them with DD (22 mo) lately. I like putting them to bed at the same time. Any tips for younger siblings or do you read to each child individually?

See also this thread from a while back:
http://www.medicalspouse.com/forums/...ad.php?t=50669

We've been all about the Roald Dahl based on recommendations in that thread (although let me express my loathing for Charlie and the Glass Elevator--the others are good, though).




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We have loved a number of Roald Dahl books (James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, George's Marvelous Medicine, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, Charlie). Charlie and the Choc Factory has been DS's favorite book so far so I got Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator recently. He lost interest and we ended up taking it back.

[TulipsAndSunscreen]

We've been reading aloud to DD1 for about a month. According to the googles, they can understand 2-3 grades above their own reading level if you read it out loud. DD1 isn't reading yet so I'm keeping it uber simple (Magic Tree House series) but I cannot wait to read some of these books.

This list is getting me so excited!!

[alison]

The Ramona books are a hit in our family. Dh is the one who reads to dd5 at night, and he hates when he's on call and misses a chapter.

[ides]

I know. It's really fun! We started Ragweed the other day. It's pretty exciting. We tried to read The Mad Scientist Club but it was a bit boring for O and we only made it through two and a half chapters. I think he may like it when he's older though.

[GrayMatterWife]

I am currently reading aloud to my kids "Lord of the Flies." DS11 and DD6 love it. DD5 is pretty disappointed. The other kids told her that it was about "Piggy." She thought they meant Piggy and Elephant. William Golding cannot compete with Mo Williams.

[peggyfromwastate]

Ouch. Lord of the flies!! You could do watershed down next. It's all about bunnies.

[Thirteen]

Ouch. Lord of the flies!! You could do watershed down next. It's all about bunnies.

Love that book.


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[spotty_dog]

LOL. My kids are ridiculously moral people who are disturbed and bemused by most kids-book accounts of bullying. I think LotF can wait for us. We'll be doing Five Children and It next, I think.

[Sheherezade]

Five children and it is wonderful. LoF creeps me out.


Angie

[GrayMatterWife]

Love that book.


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I know it sounds like a weird choice. But, something I've learned through homeschooling: take every opportunity to share what you love with your kids. Your enthusiasm is contagious and it doesn't feel forced. So I read to them what I love--we've done Moby Dick and Time Machine. I am going to do the Diary of Anne Frank and Animal Farm... These are passions that I can share with them.

[peggyfromwastate]

Novels to read aloud

There's no problem with it-- kids meet a book where they are developmentally able to imho. So, reading LOF to that age-- they will relate their own way I think.

I just heard somewhere (was it here?) an author discussing "are you there God? it's me Margaret." I remember so vividly the scandal that book was. I waited months for it from the library. Like all girls my age, we focused on the Period. Oh the scandal!!! The author I heard interviewed said the book was really about her faith journey, and the period was a small part of the book. Fascinating! I need to reread now-- I always felt like I was reading the YA version of "sixty shades" or something. So I have every other Judy Blume book lol.

A I'm actually super curious what your kids think of the LOF!!!

(And 13 I loved Watershed down too.)

[spotty_dog]

I know it sounds like a weird choice. But, something I've learned through homeschooling: take every opportunity to share what you love with your kids. Your enthusiasm is contagious and it doesn't feel forced. So I read to them what I love--we've done Moby Dick and Time Machine. I am going to do the Diary of Anne Frank and Animal Farm... These are passions that I can share with them.

Is this an Andrew Kern/teaching from rest concept? I loved some of the stuff I read and listened to from Circe last year, I should get back into it and get inspired for this summer. I've slacked during the school year at afterschooling because they have so much else going on, but they are both crazy excited when I talk about learning plans for this summer so I need to get organized!

Do you know/are you interested in Michael Clay Thompson language arts materials? It just popped into mind because I know he does a literature unit with Time Machine, Connecticut Yankee, and A Christmas Carol. It's intended for gifted fifth-sixth graders, and has a parent manual for deep, Bloom's Taxonomy type thinking about each book and the interrelationships between them.

[MAPPLEBUM]

My mom used to read aloud to us when we were children. One of my absolute favorites, which might be pretty obscure was Hitty her First Hundred Years. That one really captivated me as a young child.

LoTF was pretty disturbing and I read it in graduate school! Woo-ey!

[MrsK]

This inspired me to try some more sophisticated books with my boys. K1 has always had a short attention span so we've mostly stuck with picture books. We tried Winnie the Pooh and Paddington a while back and it was sort of a meh experience. Thus far, he's mostly liked "The Magic School Bus" books.

I started the boys on a Ramona Quimby book yesterday and K1 (age 5.5y) is hooked. He begged me to read the entire book in one day. Today, we started the series "20 Shakespeare Children's Stories" by Sweet Cherry Publishing (for sale cheap via Groupon). I was worried that the themes would be too mature and plot lines too complicated -- which they really are, after all we've got stories about marital infidelities, incurable illnesses, abandoned babies, suicide, etc. -- but he's loving it. He just had me read "The Winter's Tale," "All's Well That Ends Well," and "Antony & Cleopatra" all in one sitting. We've been stopping now and then to summarize what we just read and to make sure he understands all the vocabulary but he seems to have a good grasp of the plot and he's asking good questions -- like why the Roman navy defeated the Egyptian navy, why Antony betrayed Octavius Caesar, or how Hermonie disguised herself as Diana.

K2, on the other hand, just wants to know who's "the bad guy" in each story, why the men have long hair, and whether there are any pictures of armies. He's exclusively interested in traditionally "boy" themes these days. He's planned a Hulk birthday party where the main activities revolve around smashing stuff and told me that he didn't want to invite certain girls because "they play princesses all the time and will show up in princess dresses and twirl and ruin my Hulk party." On the other hand, he is really fascinated by "The Time Warp Trio" series and we read half of "Knights of the Kitchen Table" in one sitting.