I'm going to try to posts periodically that are devoted to the books we are reading. I doubt I'll do these posts weekly because now that the boys are older there are more books that are taking us longer to read. But I thought my readers might like to see the books I choose and also hear some of the why behind those choices. If this doesn't interest you at all, feel free to skip these posts entirely.
We do our first read aloud session for the day first thing in the morning (9am) and we ALWAYS start with the Bible. I read 3-4 chapters each morning depending on how the chapters are laid out and how long they are. We are ALWAYS reading the Bible. When we finish reading, we just go back to the beginning the next day and start again.
We are currently reading through the Gospel of John.
This is a fun book that I spotted several weeks ago while browsing the shelves at the library. As you can (hopefully) see from the photo below, each day of the year is devoted to a scientific fact. This is looking to be a fun (and different) replacement for the "On This Day" book we read last year.
This is the companion book to "The Book of Virtues" by the same author and again, these two books are something we are ALWAYS reading. When we finish "The Moral Compass" which will likely be towards the end of this year, we'll switch back to "The Book of Virtues".
I try to always make sure we are reading another book about moral or character. This book of Fables of Aesop has been a part of our "classics" collection for awhile now and I'm keen to read the book aloud to the three boys. As the fables are short and sweet, I read six fables each day.
Monkey is starting the year off with a unit study on the Vikings which he has been keen to start for quite awhile now. The bulk of our reading will be junior non-fiction selections (as seen in the top two examples) but I'm also throwing in some tougher book selections that weren't available at our library when Monster studied this unit. The Jackie French book in the photo above is the perfect example. The library ordered it sometime after I finished teaching the Vikings to Monster. I read this book independently when the boys were very young and knew way back then that it would be the perfect addition to a unit study. It is not appropriate for Munchkin though so it is read during our evening read aloud session and after he is in bed.
The left hand photo is a wonderful series put out by World Book that I read aloud some time ago to Monkey and Monster. However, the information is still compelling and relevant in today's world so I'm primarily reading it aloud to Munchkin - but Monkey is choosing to listen in as well. Another reason I particularly like this series is because it crosses curriculum for us. The books cover history topics and also count as a portion of their technology curriculum as well.
The right hand photo is an adult non-fiction book that I am actually reading aloud to all three boys (yes even Munchkin is listening to this one). He requested that we learn a little bit about the history of paper and I remembered that I had seen this book in the library. It is a lot of detailed history and information in general, but in the discussions I have had with Munchkin since starting the book, he is absorbing many more details than I would have thought that he would. The author writes well and the book is engaging and easy to follow.
Our health related unit studies for the beginning of this year are: germs (specifically viruses actually but a few of the books the library has cross over into other forms of germs so we are starting with an overview before we narrow our learning down) and the human body.
Colonial Australia is Munchkin's history (part of it anyway) for this year so I found a few good books specific to that time period in the library. The book on the right is the first book in an amazing series that the library purchased a couple of years ago. We actually read the first six books in the series in 2021, but since then the library has purchased the remaining six books (there are 12 books total in the series) and all three boys agreed that it was worth it to start at the beginning, review the first six books, and then continue with the new books we haven't read yet. The series covers Australian history from before the arrival of the British, right up to 2021 I believe.
Monster is studying World War II again this year. We are going to read a few junior non-fiction books about specific aspects of the war - like this one about how the war impacted Australia specifically. Read further below to see the other way we are going to study the war. Our first unit study on World War II focused on the broader aspects of the war but I want to go a bit more specific this year.
All of the above books are read in our morning session which takes somewhere between 90 minutes and two hours depending on how often we stop for discussion or for any interruptions of any sort. Once we finish reading it is time for the boys to start their written work for the day.
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In the evening we have a second read aloud session. The nightly routine is dinner at 6pm, then family prayer time from 7pm until 7:30pm (it rarely goes that long though) and after that I do targeted reading aloud with each boy.
I read to all three boys together for the first hour (from 7:30pm until 8:30pm) at which point Munchkin heads to bed. This is the time for their literature selections and we start with Munchkin's book since he goes to bed first. To start off our school year I decided to read Mary Poppins as I've never read the book before. It turns out there are actually EIGHT books in the series... but as our library only has book one, we'll just read that, and afterwards watch the Walt Disney adaptation (with Julie Andrews) and see what we think.
Hubby does the overseeing of teeth brushing and tucks Munchkin in to bed while I start reading Monkey's read aloud selection to him. This year we are tackling Tolkien and starting with The Hobbit. Again, another book I have NOT read and Monster is choosing to listen in to Monkey's evening read aloud time as well.
This is Monster's literature book for the beginning of the year and probably the one I'm most looking forward to reading. I find it MUCH easier to read C.S. Lewis aloud and then Monster and I discuss the chapter to make sure we understand what Lewis was trying to communicate. I will fully admit that Monster grasps some of Lewis' concepts much faster and much better than I do, hence why I've decided to read Lewis aloud. It is for my benefit as much as for Monster's.
These last four book selections are books that aren't suitable for Munchkin and therefore cannot always be read during the day - though sometimes we will sneak a chapter in during the day while Munchkin is enjoying his computer time (he is three rooms away and wearing headphones so he can chat with his friends) or when he is outside playing with the next door neighbour. The two selections above are for Monkey. The Thirsty Country book covers Science and Geography content for him. Meanwhile the Factfulness was another random find in the library while I was browsing and it is a brilliant book. I am looking forward to reading it to the two older boys and having lively discussions about everything that we learn.
Finally, Monster's history (World War II) selections for this term. For this second study of the second world war I really wanted to focus on the personal aspects of the war rather than just statistics and battles and aircraft and such. We will review bits of that, but I wanted to dig into the really emotional side of things.
The left hand book is all about the Australians who were on the Kokoda Track. I've heard a little bit about Kokoda but never done any thorough study of it myself so I will be learning right along with Monster.
The right hand book is an amazing book that I read independently a couple of years ago when it was first published. Eddie Jaku was an AMAZING man and the book really touched me so I knew I had to read it aloud to Monster.
