I promised that I would log the books that have proven to be useful in peaking Trey's interest in books and in his own personal journey as a beginning reader. One of the key aspects of these books has been finding ones that have an accompanying movie to go with the book. It's something about seeing what you've read come "alive" in a movie.
We started these read alouds right before Christmas in 2019. As of April 18th, we've read through the list below up through Boxcar Children, Book #1 and have watched the accompanying movies. I have Book 2 and 3 of Boxcar Children on order. Thriftbooks and Abebooks are fantastic resources to buy gently used books and you can accrue points as you purchase books to be redeemed for books.
In addition to these read alouds, Trey does his own personal reading time using the ABeka Readers. These books are wonderful for reinforcing the Abeka phonics sounds/rules, but the storylines are not as engaging as the read alouds that we read.
I'm strongly considering using Sonlight (Core A) for his upcoming 2nd grade year which already comes with a fantastic set of readers and read alouds.
I tried to be very careful in selecting Trey's first read aloud book for a few reasons. I wasn't sure when I first considered this idea if he'd sit long enough through an entire chapter of a book. I knew that I had to pick a special book, one that would spark the interest and maintain his interest for a long period of reading time. Within the homeschool community and more specifically the Charlotte Mason community, the term "living books", is a popular title. Many Moms go in search of living books as if they hold a special, magic touch.
Here's one definition,
Living books are usually written by one person who has a passion for the subject and writes in conversational or narrative style. The books pull you into the subject and involve your emotions, so it’s easy to remember the events and facts. Living books make the subject “come alive.” They can be contrasted to dry writing, like what is found in most encyclopedias or textbooks, which basically lists informational facts in summary form. (taken from https://simplycharlottemason.com/faq/livingbook/)
My goal with picking the first book was that it would be classified as a "living book", but would also connect with my son's personality and personal interests. I picked several books from a living book lists at the library and showed them to Trey and he picked the one that had his best loved, unique animal. Penguins.
Who would have thought?!
If you're in search of a more comprehensive list, try these sites for more living books!
Massive Guide to Homeschool Reading Lists
75+ Favorite Read Alouds for Elementary Aged Kids
Trey's 1st Grade Read Alouds
Mr. Popper's Penguins by Florence and Richard Atwater*
Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary*
Runaway Ralph by Beverly Cleary*
Ralph S. Mouse by Beverly Cleary*
The Chocolate Touch by Patrick Skene Catling
The Boxcar Children (Book #1) by Gertrude Chandler Warner*
The Boxcar Children Surprise Island (Book #2) by Gertrude Chandler Warner
The Boxcar Children The Yellow House Mystery (Book #3) by Gertrude Chandler Warner*
(* - denotes that an accompanying movie is available online)
Read Aloud Top 2 Rules:1) Trey can sit, stand, jump up and down, and do whatever his little body desires while Mommy reads as long as he can effectively answer my reading comprehension questions that come every 1-2 pages. This helps be ascertain whether or not he's following along with the storyline and understands what's happening. His activity of choice is usually building Lego creations. His sister's activity of choice during read aloud time used to be knitting or coloring.
2) We WILL celebrate at the end of completing each book.
If there is an accompanying movie that goes with book, we usually schedule a "book party" on a Friday and we lay out a blanket and have pizza on the floor while watching the book-movie.
While this initial set of books got us started on our read aloud journey, they proved useful to my active son that loves humor and penguins apparently. Once we started on this read aloud journey with the first book, Trey became hungry for more read aloud books. While I've seen his interest to be read to grow, what's even more exciting is seeing his love for reading his own books increase.
Isn't that what we desire as parents? To see our children love to learn. It may take a little trial and error, but I can assure you that as you work with your child on a regular basis you will find ways to foster growth, joy, and excitement in their learning experience.
And you just may learn a little something about penguins along the way!
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