A look back at our Summer Reading

As the summer quickly winds down and you start to prepare for Back to {Home} School, I wanted to share with you some of the books we read. Back in June, I had inspirations of researching and composing my own summer reading list. I realized, though, that what Buttercup and I enjoy most about home school is spontaneity and flexibility. Having a pre-determined reading list kinda goes against our free spirited attitude. So, instead, I decided to just "wing it" this summer. I must say, it worked out so well for us! We took regular trips to the library just as we do during our regular {home} school year. We chose books that appealed to us, books that would be fun and entertaining. I also encouraged Buttercup to choose books that would teach us something or challenge her reading level.

Here are some of the books we read. We loved most of them. The only exception was Beezus and Ramona. It's not that we didn't like the story, the problem is that Buttercup is just starting to read chapter books and this one was a little too long. So she lost interest in it. We were reading it together, but a couple of chapters in I decided to wait a little longer to start with this book series. I know we will eventually read the Beezus books, we're just not ready now.

The other chapter books that Buttercup read and loved were the Nancy Drew Notebook series. These are Nancy Drew books written for younger readers. They are awesome and Buttercup read several this summer. She also started to read a few Magic Tree House books.

Since we've already started to home school, we are onto our next reading challenges!

Hope you had a wonderful summer, full of learning opportunities, relaxation, and great books!

Some of our favorite books are available at Amazon.

Happy Homeschooling Adventures!

Homeschool and your local library

I guess I never realized the importance of our library until we started to homeschool.

Sure, we would go there once in a while to pick books to bring home. Sometimes, we would even spend time there reading books. But I don't think I really appreciated how much a library has to offer.

Now, my daughter and I go to our local library once a week and we take our time browsing the shelves and choosing just the right books for the coming week.

For my daughter, it is just fun. It is part of school and we try to go on the same day every week (library day). It's something we both look forward to.

In reality, it is a carefully planned outing. I do a lot of research on books I will need to support the lessons I am teaching. I like to have different resources at my disposal to make lessons as interesting as possible.

For instance, I was planning a lesson on healthy habits, so I found books about personal hygiene and health specifically for young children. I also use books to help reinforce math lessons. I always find good material at the library.

We've become quite comfortable with the library and it's massive amounts of books. My daughter is very familiar with the layout of the children's floor of the library and she is clear on what reading level she should be choosing.

During our first visit, I showed her where level appropriate books were and I helped her choose. I gave her guidelines and since then, she has become a pro at choosing her own books. It is important for her development to learn to make choices. She also likes to be in control of the books she chooses.


If you homeschool, use your local library. It is a very valuable resource and it's free.