In the spirit of National Reading Month, I thought I would introduce our new literature program that I’ve begun in our homeschool this year. I will also be releasing parts of it on our Homeschool Printables Page. I will also offer more details and information on our Beyond Literature page later this month and throughout the year.
Where the Idea Came From
I have felt we have not been doing enough for a while now with the literature we have been reading. While I love that our daughters love reading, I know they need to dive deeper with them than we have been. We read a lot but haven’t looked at writing mechanics or discussed books beyond what happened and how it relates to our history. We lacked the basic skills of understanding literature. As a former English teacher (wannabe), I needed to correct that situation. I also miss lesson planning and creating units and wanted to do more than make our Christmas School every year.
What It Is
I will introduce essential literature components and various elements of literature so that we can go “beyond” just the basics of what happens in the book. I have broken the elements into about nine basic units of study that I will teach the girls during our Supplemental Saturday time. Within each of the units, I have chosen two to three mentor texts (picture books) and tried to create one to three activities to practice identifying and working with the elements of each unit.
Besides the essential elements of literature, I have generated a book list for the girls based on their reading skills and ages. They will pick several books from that list to read this school year. These books are outside the books they read within their Sonlight readers as part of their history curriculum. After they read each book, they choose to either do a one-page book summary or a not-so-formal book report-type project. This will help them dive into their books and practice the elements we are learning about.
Where it is Going
I plan to make lesson plans and units available as we complete them (and I work out any kinks I find) and determine what works and doesn’t. I will also release our one-page summary and not-so-formal book reports on our Beyond Literature Page and Homeschool Printables Page. For free, I will also release our book lists for the year I made for each girl and new lists each year as I create them.
The book-loving nerd inside me has been so excited about this project, and I hope you all will be as well. It allows me to be creative in the area I love and help more girls dive deeper into literature.
As always, keep following our journey on our Facebook Page or Instagram. If you want more in-depth conversations, check out our Facebook Parent Group.