Virtual Homeschool Coop Assignment #3 | How do you use a Reading List in Your Homeschool? | #VHC

This response is my part of the Virtual Homeschool Coop Channel Collaboration. You can find out more at www.virtualhomeschoolcoop.com. The goal of the Virtual Homeschool Coop is to build the homeschool community of knowledge with collaborations to give voice to all experiences in homeschooling.

We have been all over the map when it comes to book lists in our homeschool. When I first began I wanted to make sure we added in some of the classics but as my children grew that was not their idea. First and foremost I wanted each of them to have a love for books. So, if it was Captain Underpants that caught there attention then so be it. Amelia Bedelia was another all time favorite along with Mrs. Piggle Wiggle in the beginning.

How and where do you get your book list? How big is it and how do you assign reading?

Through elementary years, we pretty much purchased the books on the Sonlight reading list per grade. I used them as a guide and often bought the reading guides to go along with them to have the comprehension questions handy.

During the middle school and high school years I pulled books from the Classical Conversations book list for the challenge years. Our curriculum, My Father's World, also includes/included wonderful books as well. Their read aloud books are some of my all time favorite books.  We especially love the series of books from YWAM publishing. Be warned if you choose these though - I ended up in tears while reading almost every one!

All of the above book lists I would normally follow the guide which told you how much to read of each book in order to finish by the end of the school year.

We also add in interest led books to our curriculum. Some of my children's favorites over the years are the Magic Treehouse Series, the Narnia Series, the Lord of the Rings series, the Little House on the Prairie Series, and the Anne of Greene Gables series. For these books, we go at a much more relaxed pace because they are reading these on top of their other lists. If they wanted to read more, they were certainly allowed to do so but we usually stuck with 1 chapter per day.

Do you reward and give incentives to read?

As far as rewards go, we always participated in the Pizza Hut BOOK IT program until each one aged out of it. I really wish it went past 6th grade because all my children would still do it if it did! Who doesn't love free pizza?!? I guess I should have continued it myself but I didn't. We also always participated in our library's summer rewards programs too.

Book Adventure is a place we used for a little while where you can offer rewards for reading.

Do you quiz for comprehension?

As I mentioned earlier, when we used Sonlight we did quiz for comprehension. As I began to just pull the books from the list and not buy the guides I would google comprehension quizzes per book and usually had pretty good success. I have also purchased an annual membership to abcteach.com and used their comprehension guides. 

So what does reading look like your homeschool?

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Some of Our Favorite Books

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Survey says...

Today, we would like to share with you a few of our favorite books.  Here is a list of our family favorites.  Let me tell you, it was not easy to choose!

Family Choice

If you have been a reader here before you probably already guessed our number 1 pick is The Bible. We use different versions but NLT is the most used.  We also use Bible Hub for parallel readings.  I have also shared some of our favorite Bible devotions in the video below.

Jonathan - 12th grade 

Jonathan's book choice was a recent book he was introduced to while completing the Illuminating Literature course.  I think the course is really helping him to enjoy literature more than ever.  The book he chose was Pudd’nhead Wilson by Mark Twain. The series he has read and recommends is The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings Series.

Stephen - 9th grade

 

Stephen chose to recommend the series of The Chronicles of Narnia and his all time favorite 2 books come from that series as well - The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, and Prince Caspian.

Sarah - 7th grade 

Sarah chose any Ameila Bedelia book as her favorite of all time and also recommends The Little House on the Prairie series.

Me (Mom)

My main reading genre usually aligns with self help, nonfiction so I chose Own Your Life by Sally Clarkson or any other book by her as well!  

For my homeschool mamas - I would also recommend Homeschool Supermom... NOT! When Grace Meets Homeschooling.

So there you have it - just a few of our favorites that might interest you for the upcoming year!  Happy Reading!

Review of Heroes of History's Milton Hershey: More Than Chocolate

YWAM Publishing specializes in offering books that focus on ministry, education, evangelism, discipleship, and prayer. You may be familiar with some of their series including Heroes of History or Christian Heroes: Then & Now. They are a nonprofit ministry of Youth With A Mission, and a portion of the money received goes to different countries in need.

We were given Milton Hershey: More Than Chocolate from the Heroes of History series including both the book and the Unit Study Curriculum Guide to review. Last year we visited Hershey, PA and also did a chocolate unit study so I chose this book to see if we could recognize any facts that were familiar.

Milton Hershey: More Than Chocolate is the biography of a chocolatier who made the famous Hershey Bars. If you have never studied about Mr. Hershey before, his story is one of never giving up. He faced many milestones before reaching his final chocolatier millionaire status including debt, shame from his Mennonite family members, mother and father pulling him in different directions, and many many failures. 

His first greatest success did not come with the Hershey Bar but with caramels. He would experiment with products and sales techniques and experience many more failures than successes in the beginning but the overlying theme was he never gave up. His success really began to sore when he sold his caramel factory in 1900 for one million dollars! Finally falling in love at the age of 39 and marrying soon after, his wife Kitty knew that for Milton it was never about the money. He enjoyed the challenge and hard work. He was also very generous with his money setting up family and friends for life, starting his own thriving community known as "The Sweetest Place on Earth" and named none other than Hershey, PA, and starting an orphanage and school for boys.

The Unit Study Curriculum Guide helps you easily tie in other study areas such as geography, current events, math, history, science and more turning your book into a complete unit study. It also includes a meet the authors section containing 7 videos, written biography of Milton Hershey, and a bonus section including word puzzles, samples of other guides in the series, and map keys. Suggestions are included for using the guide in a classroom setting, homeschool setting, and/or group setting. 

You can use the series of books as your core history curriculum or as a supplement. Our favorite way to use these books is for our read aloud time. It's fun when can sit as a family and share with dad, who is a history buff what we have learned. We mainly used the question section of the guide. Each chapter contains 6 questions including comprehension, vocabulary, factual, and open ended opinion questions. The answers are also included. This study guide is filled with ideas of hands on projects, memorization ideas, essay topics, creative writing topics, video project ideas, and so much more!

Here are a few of the sheets included:

One of the ideas was to film a commercial for a Hershey Bar. Here is my son's commercial for why you need to buy yourself a Hershey Bar - too much fun and I seriously was crying from laughing!  He's also been watching some videos on editing and filming so this assignment went along perfectly. 

Video Link

Our main focus was reading the book and answering the questions but we will definitely be implementing some of the terrific ideas included.  We would highly recommend this series of books and guides. We've read several of them as read alouds and each one has been very educational and exemplary in bringing history figures out of the pages of a book and into our lives.

If you would like to see what other books are offered in this series check out the Chronological Index of Heroes of History and click the banner below to see more reviews.

You can also visit YWAM Publishing on Facebook, Twitter , and Pinterest.

Review of Tales from the Circle C Ranch

Circle C Adventures rides again and we love going along for the ride! We've been a fan of Andi for a little while now so when the opportunity came to review the latest book, Tales from the Circle C Ranch, my daughter and I were so excited. This book also has the Andrea Carter's Tales from the Circle C Ranch Learning Lapbook that can be purchased to add in extra fun as well. We received both for our review.  To see our previous reviews of other books go here and here.

Tales from the Circle C Ranch

This 150 page paperback book includes 11 short stories broken down into 2 parts - The Early Years and The In-Between Years. The collection of stories answers fan's questions that stemmed from reading Andi's Adventures in Circle C Beginnings and the Circle C Adventures series. Although it answers questions from those books, it can also be read as a stand alone book. It is a quick read with a nice font and black and white illustrations scattered throughout. My daughter and I just love following Andi through her adventures. We find ourselves trying to guess what she will do next and giggling as we read all snuggled up on the couch together. Before each short story, you are given the setting and time where this story takes place and the corresponding book that is comes before. Although, it is fiction, we always feel like we're on a real adventure. We love trying to read in our best cowgirl voices as we saddle up to see what happens next at the Circle C Ranch. One of my favorite parts is reading her stories and seeing how she applies her faith in everyday situations.

You can also see sample including the first story and the table of contents. The book can be purchased here for $7.99 plus shipping and handling. You can even get it personalized!

Andrea Carter's Tales from the Circle C Ranch Learning Lapbook

I also loved the fact that this book came with the option to purchase a lapbook because that lines right up with my daughter's learning style. She loves lapbooks and I think she will no matter how old she gets. Unfortunately, we haven't had the time to put this one into practice yet as my mother has been experiencing some heart problems so our time at home has been limited. I did print out the pages and have them ready for when we have some down time - which will hopefully be soon.

The lapbook comes with everything you need except the folders. The pages are in full color and you are given great directions on how to put the lapbook together. It even has a folder diagram labeling where to put each of your mini books. I love that! There are mini books to go along with each short story. Just some of the topics you'll cover include:

• girls dress styles during the 1800's
• the general store
• history of photography
• state fairs
• history of fireworks
• how to write a limerick
• crabs

See this page for all the concepts covered. I can't wait for things to slow down around here this summer so we can dive into this. It would be a great way to reinforce the stories we've read too. We received the PDF download of the lapbook which can be purchased here for $7.00. It is also available in print for $12 plus shipping and handling or you can buy a combination of the book and lapbook for $19 plus shipping and handling.

If you are looking for wholesome books to share with your children, then you will want to check these out.

Circle C Beginnings - recommended for ages 6-9
Circle C Adventures - recommended for ages 9-14
Circle C Milestones - recommended for ages 12 +

There is also a series of books for boys ages 8-12 - Goldtown Adventures

Find out more about Circle C Adventures by visiting their Website, Facebook, or Twitter pages.

Review of Thick as Thieves

Our family loves reading!!  We are always on the lookout for wholesome, character building books to devour so today's review meets that criteria and more.  I would place it into the category of historical fiction so even more bang for your buck. Circle C Milestones is a series of books published by Kregel Publications following the adventures of Andrea Carter also known as, Andi, as she heads straight into the ups and downs of becoming a teenager.  We received the first book in the series, Thick as Thieves and we're already looking forward to the second one set to be released in July 2015, Heartbreak Trail.  
Thick as Thieves is a paperback book with 176 pages and 26 chapters. It is recommended for ages 12 and up.  My daughter and I read the book together out loud.  I would say that the book would appeal mostly to girls but I have to tell you that as my sons would walk by as we were reading, you would here them chuckle and stand around the door to see what was going to happen next.  They really enjoyed the vibrant character of Macy and I really enjoyed allowing myself to find her character as I would read.  
Synopsis
The setting takes place in the late 1800's in California and centers around Andi.  She lives on the Circle C ranch and helps out with the daily tasks of ranch life as much as her mother will allow.  The beginning opens as her favorite horse, Taffy, is about to give birth.  She would prefer to stay at the ranch all day but has to head off to school instead.  Not only did that have her spirits down but when she arrives at school, the new girl, Macy Walker, is assigned to sit beside her.  As I said earlier, Macy is a wild mess and as the story unfolds we were all on the edge of our seats to see how the relationship of these two would end up.  Family trials are also a part of Andi's days as their ranch is being hit by cattle rustlers.  I won't spoil it for you, but there was plot twist that neither of us was expecting!  Sarah, my daughter, and I have decided we really want to go back and read some of the other books and series now.  Each series follows along with Andi as she grows but they aren't needed to fully understand the story line of the book. 

Author Susan K. Marlow has such a fun and wonderful way of writing that shines through in this book.  She also has a fun blog where she shares stories written from readers, fun trivia, photos, and more.  Thick as Thieves is written from Andi's point of view making it extremely relatable.  My daughter who is 11 and a little younger than the recommended age had no trouble reading this at all. We both think any girl would love it.  The central theme of the book all comes back to friendship and Scripture verse 1 Peter 3:8 is recommended for memorization.  Andi often quotes Scripture verses through out the book as well.  You can read a sample excerpt here.
Also available for free on the website is a 40 page downloadable Study Guide that includes many enrichment ideas from comprehension questions, vocabulary activities, writing assignments, crossword puzzles, Scripture memory posters, and more.  It's divided up into 6 sections with the 2 recommendations for using it.  You can read the whole book at once and then go back to do the study guide. You could also read the chapters assigned to each section and incorporate the study guide all along.  We chose the 2nd option and decided to pick and choose which activities we were interested in most for each section.  I loved that it included an answer key.  
Here is a sample of a timeline we prepared on how to train a foal.  

There is plenty of reading fun available for a variety of ages. Here are the series of books available at this time:
Circle C Beginnings - recommended for ages 6-9 Circle C Adventures - recommended for ages 9-14 Circle C Milestones -  recommended for ages 12 +
There is also a series of books for boys ages 8-12 - Goldtown Adventures
Find out more on on Circle C Milestones by visiting their Website, Facebook, or Twitter pages.