Posts Tagged homeschool books
The Saturdays | Book Review Ages 9-12
Posted by Diane in Recommended Homeschool Books on March 2nd, 2010
This homeschool book review was written by 10 year old homeschool student, Andrew Sanders.
“The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright is one of my favorite children’s books. The main characters are four children, who go on silly adventures with their dog. My favorite character is Oliver, a six-year-old boy who goes to the circus all by himself. While he is at the circus, he buys some cotton candy and a snotty little girl screams to have it. Another funny adventure is when Mona, one of the girls, gets a manicure without her parents knowing! When she comes home, the whole family is so startled that she is sent to her room! When I finished the book, I learned a valuable lesson for any kid: Ask for permission before you do something. I definitely recommend this book for other people who like to laugh.”
Have you visited my online homeschool bookstore just for preteens? You’ll find my favorite books on Christian faith, fine arts, history, math concepts, novels, and many more categories for 9-12 year olds. And if you like The Saturdays, Andrew also recommends The Four Story Mistake also by Ms. Enright. Thank you, Andrew!
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If your son or daughter has a favorite book to recommend, please send me an email with the details.
Story Prediction Engages the Homeschool Child
Posted by Diane in How to Teach Homeschool Skill 1: READING on November 28th, 2009
“Are we there yet?’ When Meredith and Connor were much younger, we regularly heard this plaintive cry from the back seat of the van on long drives to Chattanooga. This innocent question reveals an amazing fact about the human mind: children think in terms of linear progression. There follows here. Future follows present. Last follows first.
Likewise, you can capitalize on this rule of thought by incorporating prediction when reading aloud to your homeschool children. Predicting content is as simple as asking what is going to happen next. After you’ve read a colorful two-page spread in a picture book, stop before turning the page and ask your child to predict the subsequent content:
“What do you think is going to happen next in the story?”
Demonstrate how to predict content by showing your child how to do it, and watch him imitate your example. Use the illustrations and keywords as clues to how the author plans to develop or unfold the plot line. Ask questions about what has happened previously in the story. If a child expects you to stop periodically and ask him to predict content , he will anticipate your questions by paying closer attention to the reading. The satisfaction of getting the right answer will motivate your homeschool child to really concentrate. If he occasionally messes up, go back and point out the clues that he missed.
To prepare the young child for predicting content in the preteen and teen years of homeschool high school, look at the front cover, back cover, art, title, and any other clues everytime you pick up a book for read aloud time. After a cursory glance, ask your child to think about the total message of the story book. This broad or universal exterior prediction serves to supplement the interior predictions that you request while reading the narrative.
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Are you looking for the best homeschool books for your preschool child? Once your young child passes the toddler stage, look for books with sequencing and ordering like the timeless children’s classic, Caps for Sale, about a peddler and some rambunctious monkeys.
What Homeschool Books Do I Recommend?
Posted by Diane in Recommended Homeschool Books on August 13th, 2009
If you’ve explored The Classical Scholar Book Store, you know that I’ve been selecting homeschool books for babies (birth to 9 months), books for toddlers (9 months to 3 years), books for preschoolers (ages 4-5), books for beginning readers (ages 6-8), books for preteens (ages 9-12), and books for teens working on high school credit (ages 13+).
Why did I decide to open amazon stores? Well, I get a lot of requests from readers for homeschool book recommendations, and since there are SO many different publishers and translations out there, I decided it was easier to SHOW you my favorite books instead of creating a list. Many of the books on amazon are only available through secondary sellers, so you can get some good deals beyond the amazon discount. And if you spend over $ 25, amazon will ship your entire order for free. Feel free to use these homeschool book recommendations when you go to the library, too, by printing out the amazon book store pages of the books you want to find.
Of all the emails I get asking for homeschool book recommendations, my largest single request falls within the preteen category which would be books for ages 9 to 12. Somewhere around this age, kids get pickier about their reading choices (especially boys), and parents get frustrated when all the kids want to read is Captain Underpants or the “Here’s Lily” series. (I have no problem with letting the kids read these lightweight books as long as their reading diet includes other weightier content.) So I am thrilled to tell you that I have selected almost 600 fantastic books to use in teaching your 9 to 12 year old in your homeschool (and I’m not even done adding all the books that Meredith and Connor read when they were preteens)!
In the Preteen Book Store, you’ll find that each category has a brief explanation of what criteria to look for in books for kids ages 9-12. You’ll find books for strengthening your child’s Christian faith, exploring history and natural science, legends, and over 150 fiction novels involving adventure, animals, fantasy, friendship, history, humor, and mystery. And as you are browsing the selections, don’t forget to look for books for read aloud time. I hope you discover some books that you’ve never seen before as well as your own favorites.
So now without further ado, I’d like to invite you to browse my favorite books for preteens.
