12yo Reading List

The schools require the students in each grade to read certain books for certain reasons.  After going through the local school districts curriculum for 7th grade, I made a list of books they require or recommend.  I figured I would read some and figure out which to assign for the school year.

Some I rejected outright for various reasons.  For instance, my husband didn't like reading "the Outsiders".  Vehemently didn't like it.  But it came up several times in the curriculum, so I felt I needed to give it a chance.  After struggling to read the first few pages, I figured my son would be horribly bored by it.  Not that he will only be assigned books he is interested in, but that can only go so far.  I need to be to deal with it too.

Others I knew right away I would include.  Some because I've read them before.  "The Giver" by Lois Lowry will be a tough one for me, because, although I liked the book, I hated the ending.  So one of his assignments will be to write a different ending.  That will be very hard for him, but I think it could be a good assignment.

A few I really needed to look through to see what I would be able to use.  I found quite a few surprises.  Some good, some not so good.  Although Kwame Alexander's poetry is okay, I simply don't want to assign it.  But an Agatha Christie book sounds pretty good for a tween who has already read Sherlock Holmes.

There were also some that my husband insisted he read that are not on the list, from his interest in career/professional development.  After some discussion about that between us parents, we will determine which ones will be included from that list.  The 12yo already read "Who moved my cheese?" so I'm sure some will be included.

Every month will have a new book to read.  The first week, the assignment will be to read the book.  Since he can finish these books pretty quickly, I'm sure that this won't take the full week.  But just in case (busy week, lots of holidays, etc), he can have a little extra time.  The second week will be to really get into the book.  I have found a website called quizizz.com which has so many quizzes for free about so many different topics.  I figure one page of vocab and one page about questions about the book specifically in that week will be decent for a week's assignments.

The last 2 weeks of the month will be for the book report.  Some, like "the Giver", will have specific prompts for him to use.  Others won't.  I simply will want a synopsis of the book from his eyes.  I will suggest he can write the report from the perspective of "I'm glad I read this book because..." or "I hated this book because..."  We'll see how those reports turn out.  He really hates them, but I really think they are important to teach critical thinking about the text.

So as of June 2020, here's the list I have so far:
"The Giver" by Lois Lowry
"The Watsons go to Birmingham" by Christopher Paul Curtis
"Skellig" by David Almond (of particular interest to me because one of the main characters is homeschooled)
"And then there were none" by Agatha Christie
"The Pilgrim's Progress: a readable modern-day version" by John Bunyan, revision by Alan Vermilye

I'm rereading "Lord of the Flies" to see if that should be one.  I was surprised the 12yo hadn't read it before because I remember reading it earlier than grade 7.  I also think I might include "Animal Farm" which I feel is great description of how governments can change.  I have to look for open-ended questions/writing prompt ideas for these though.

I need a total of 9 books, and this is only 7.  I'll be looking into a few others, and then I have to choose which month to assign them in.  That will be tricky, but I am looking forward to the task.

Recap of 2019-2020

When pulling our 6yo and 12yo out of public school Nov 2019, we figured it would be an adventure, but one we could end at any time.  They could surely go back to school when or if we found homeschooling wasn't for us.

Then we moved from one town to another and then another.  Finally settling in what would have been the 3rd school district change for them in one year.  In times of upheaval, like moving homes 3 times, children are known to adapt easily, right?  That was actually one of our many reasons for starting this process.

Then, right after we moved in, Covid-19 happened, and everything shut down.  Now families all around us were asking "how do you do this every day?" Which amused me, because I wasn't doing NEARLY the same amount of work they were.  One neighbor in middle school had to be logged on to the computer for each class at different intervals through the day for a total of 6 hours!  I was told by other parents that some classes were meeting for an hour every day, while others were meeting for and hour every WEEK.  My 12yo was getting his work done in about 90 minutes, 60 if he sped through it (I wasn't happy, but things were crazy).

I loved the freedom of being able to say our school year ended on May 30th.  The public schools went longer that that, but we did some non-structured "science".  We went to the beach.  We learned about erosion, how sand is made, what the water table is, and how fun it is to bury your sibling in sand (that last one was a particularly favorite lesson).  We learned about how the sun heats the sand and the roadway differently, and how different the pain can be from each one (anatomy). 

I learned that almost anything can be a teaching moment if you just take a moment.

I've learned a lot about my kids through this.  I discovered they don't do video lessons well, at least not when being taught the particular lesson.  I learned that the 7yo needs me to guide her through her lessons every day.  I learned that they need 2 different schedules, but I need to be available for both, and I can be.  And I learned that I like learning stuff at the same time as my son.  I can even understand math some now!

I now know more about homeschooling that I did before.  So now I feel ready to make a plan for next year.  That's where this blog comes in.  I plan to write out the plans I have for each kid.  It will be a great way for them to keep track of assignments, but it could help anyone that is exploring like we were.  It will also help me in planning out these assignments. 

So here's to the new school year of 2020-2021.  May it be a whole lot better, easier, and more fun than last year.  Not a high bar because last year was rough, but it is something to plan for!

One of my favorite quotes is "shoot for the moon.  Even if you miss, you will still be among the stars".