Literature.

I've been thinking a lot about our literature selections for this upcoming first grade. I want to make sure that we turn more of our time into read aloud time…something I think we've strayed from these last couple of months. I haven't been blinded by what my children are capable of doing and what they are incapable of doing as well. I know that Marco is NOT into story times, but Isabella is. So I'm thinking of starting off slowly with this and growing so that we are doing more and more reading as time progresses.

Currently, we read for about 30-45 minutes a day (not in one sitting). This is mostly picture books and bible stories. Marco recently rediscovered an old favorite and we are re-reading My Father's Dragon. I hope to find other books similar to this that will capture his imagination. It seems like such an arduous task to find chapter books to his liking that are fiction. I have no problems getting him to sit through non-fiction books, so I'm hoping that he'll enjoy our new set of books based on Greek mythology for first grade.

We are also big fans of Evan Moore's Literature Pockets. We have worked on them throughout the year and the kids love them! It has helped us in memory work…something I really enjoy and think beneficial to kids. I plan on continuing the use of Literature Pockets as well as the Veritas Press First Favorites Vol.1. The latter is a comprehension guide intended for children who are new readers. The books included in the guide are Curious George, Caps for Sale, Corduroy, If you Give a Mouse a Cookie, Blueberries for Sal, The Little Engine that Could, Floss, A Chair for Mother, Harry the Dirty Dog, Billy and Blaze, Bread and Jam for Frances, Dr. DeSoto, Frog and Toad are Friends, and Frog and Toad All Year Long. For each book there are activities geared towards comprehension that include things like crafts and copywork. Although I don't think that Marco is able to do all of the reading alone, I think we can tackle it together.

As for additional reading, I've always let the kids pick their own books when we go to the library. I think we'll have more than enough to read with the new year and our new curriculum. I do want to add a bit more fairy tales before bed, but I'm not going to push it. Slowly, slowly, slowly.