What Goes On a Homeschool Reading List?

They call it a reading LIST for a reason. If they wanted the edition, publisher, and copyright date they would ask for a reading bibliography!

When you are preparing your reading list for your high schooler, all you really need is the title and author of each book. You can include books the children read by themselves, books they read aloud to you, and books you read aloud to them. You can include some books on tape (label them “audio-books”).

You can include plays that you read, like Death of a Salesman, or Romeo and Juliet. If you have a slow reader, or a perfectionist reader like me, then reading Shakespeare can be positively painful. It was helpful for us to read the book while listening along to a video of the play. That forced us to have some “forward momentum” as we read, and not get stuck in a quagmire of vocabulary. My boys seemed to get more out of a play when they followed along and “experienced” the meaning of the word rather than reading the definitions.

You can include books you assign for school, but also the truly “fluff pieces” of literature that probably aren’t worth a dime. Fluff pieces can help paint a full picture of your child. College admission officials can read between the lines of a book list. It can tell them reading level, of course, but they can also learn about your child’s interests, passions, and whether they read for pleasure. I have heard that college admissions folks who are concerned about “socialization” may want to see current literature on the list. I have heard one admissions person express concern that homeschoolers may be “too sheltered” in terms of their literature choices. So for us, we may be embarrassed by “Twilight” or “Marley and Me” on a reading list – but college admissions people may actually be relieved to see that your child chooses popular literature.

You have GOT to see this video.  It a a parody on The Little Mermaid. Amber is a genius.  Her parents must be very proud!

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