R is for Reading - A to Z April Challenge

Reading has always played an important part in homeschooling. From the time that the girls were both adopted, they have listened to stories - ones that I have read to them as well as that they have listened to on tapes or CDs.

Olivia reading a Harry Potter book.

She is going through the series and 

is on the fifth book...a rather long one.

When the girls were both in preschool, Kindergarten, and early-elementary school, fairy tales and short stories seemed to be the main focus of our reading.

Once we began using Sonlight's curriculum in the mid-elementary school years, reading became an even greater part of our days. Literature and living books related to history, geography, and science became an integral part of our days.

Last year, we began reading the Caldecott and Newberry award-winning books. The former award is for books based on artistic-design while the latter is an award for content/writing.

We have read all the Caldecott books that have received an award to date. From this point forward, we will read one book annually (the one that receives the award) until the girls graduate from high school.

The Newberry books take a bit longer to read since they are chapter books. Our goal to read all the award-winning books by the time the girls graduate from high school.

In addition to the books that I read aloud to the girls as well as the ones they read to themselves as part of their homeschooling, they also read and listen to books on their own.

Sophia reading a book after a long day.

Each of the girls started a book journal when they began reading on their own. In it, they write down what book they read next to a number. In this way, they can keep track of all the books they have read (not including the ones required for homeschooling).

At this point, Sophia has read 596 books and Olivia has read 74 books. It will be interesting to see what number they reach by the time they are ready for college.