Homeschool Summer Reading Program

Online Reading Activities, Lesson Plans and Literature

Feb 24, 2009 Lisa Russell

Find reading lists and reading lesson plans online, plus summer reading activities to supplement your homeschool curriculum from elementary through high school.

Online homeschooling resources abound for compiling a summer reading list. With everything from message board based book clubs and websites hosting literary discussions, reading activities and reading lists are easy to find and readily available to compliment any homeschool curriculum, for all ages.

Reading Lists

Reading lists are easy to find via online homeschooling resources. Many curriculum developers and literary societies, and state board of education websites publish lists of books deemed important for students to read. Homeschool reading lesson plans often involve writing about books or discussing books. Indeed, the Thomas Jefferson curriculum is comprised entirely of books that are read by both student and teacher, then written about, then discussed at length. A summer reading program can develop from books chosen by the student, or books found on one of these reading lists.

Summer Reading Program

Summer reading programs are popular because reading is all at once entertaining and fires the imagination. Reading is relaxed, and doesn't involve much teacher preparation. Additionally, there are no papers to grade or tests to score. Developing a summer reading program for your homeschool can be as simple as designating a time each day to read, whether it means that the parents are reading out loud to the children, or the children are reading on their own. For older students or for a more in-depth study of a book, enlist the cooperation of friends for a book club.

Reading Lesson Plans

Use publisher's websites to find resources to reinforce or supplement the materials in the literature you or your child has chosen. Additionally, you can use a search engine, placing all of the words of the book's title in quotation marks, to find lesson plans by other homeschoolers or in teaching websites. Using resources from other educators is a popular way to customize activities based upon the reading lists you've selected.

Summer Reading Lists and the Homeschool Curriculum

Reading the books your family is reading, in addition to being a fun way to share experiences with your children, allows you to engage in a discussion of the characters, the setting and the plot of each story. Your thoughts will likely be different than your child's and the insightful conversations that you share can add depth to the story that children might not have noticed otherwise. This is a crucial part of the Thomas Jefferson method's approach to learning and it's often called the Socratic Method. Experimenting with this type of learning over the summer allows you to use the summer reading list as more than just a curriculum supplement, it becomes a family bonding experience, too.

Start your summer off right, with a plan to make the most of a summer reading program. Investigate ways to make the most of each book on the reading list, by finding supplementary materials, additional background information, and sharing the stories with the entire family.

The copyright of the article Homeschool Summer Reading Program in Homeschooling is owned by Lisa Russell. Permission to republish Homeschool Summer Reading Program in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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