Reading is a great way to explore our world because you are allowed to visit foreign countries, learn a new skill or hobby, sail on the Titanic, ride in a hot air balloon, swim with whales and dolphins, hike mountains, visit a specific time period, escape from dragons…the list goes on and on.
Most homeschool parents encourage or even require their children to read every day. They understand the importance of fostering a love of reading early on. Reading not only broadens your horizon, but it helps improve spelling and writing skills. Isn’t that something we all want for our children?
There are numerous book clubs for kids, teens, and adults these days. Many homeschool co-op groups offer book review classes. Kids are challenged to go beyond the pages of the book and apply what they are learning in the book to their own life. I’ve not met a kid yet who didn’t enjoy a great hands-on book review class. They come away with more than just having read a book; they feel like a part of the book.
I bet many of you have book shelves filled with great works of fiction and nonfiction alike. I suspect of you have rooms that rival a library. It is easy to find books written about kids at school, but how many books can you find that feature, or merely mention homeschooled kids? How many of your books are specifically geared toward the homeschooler? How many of your books are written by a homeschooler, or a homeschool parent? Does homeschool literature exist? Yes, it does, but it seems to be a niche market at this point, although it is growing.
Homeschool characters or homeschool plots have been long excluded from most reading material. Part of the reason is simply that homeschooling has only taken off in popularity in the last decade. Wouldn’t it be nice for your child to read books written by homeschoolers for homeschoolers. Your child is immediately able to identify with homeschooled characters...they share a commonality.
There are many benefits to reading books authored by homeschoolers as well. One big benefit is allowing your child to see that homeschooling can and does produce amazing writers…case in point, Christopher Paolini . My daughter loves the Inheritance Cycle series by Paolini. One day as we were discussing writing, I told her that one of her favorite books was written by a young homeschooled guy. She was so impressed and inspired that she decided she too could write a book. Voila, her writing career took off. While she is not at the level of Paolini, I have seen great strides in her writing, and most of all, I have seen a strong belief in herself. She will tell you very simply that if a homeschooled kid can write a great book like Eargon, there is no reason why she can’t also write a great book. I could never have instilled that determination in her by encouraging her to write. It came because she saw what a homeschooled kid did, and identified with him.
Introduce your homeschooler to books for and by homeschoolers. See what a difference it makes in their life!
Most homeschool parents encourage or even require their children to read every day. They understand the importance of fostering a love of reading early on. Reading not only broadens your horizon, but it helps improve spelling and writing skills. Isn’t that something we all want for our children?
There are numerous book clubs for kids, teens, and adults these days. Many homeschool co-op groups offer book review classes. Kids are challenged to go beyond the pages of the book and apply what they are learning in the book to their own life. I’ve not met a kid yet who didn’t enjoy a great hands-on book review class. They come away with more than just having read a book; they feel like a part of the book.
I bet many of you have book shelves filled with great works of fiction and nonfiction alike. I suspect of you have rooms that rival a library. It is easy to find books written about kids at school, but how many books can you find that feature, or merely mention homeschooled kids? How many of your books are specifically geared toward the homeschooler? How many of your books are written by a homeschooler, or a homeschool parent? Does homeschool literature exist? Yes, it does, but it seems to be a niche market at this point, although it is growing.
Homeschool characters or homeschool plots have been long excluded from most reading material. Part of the reason is simply that homeschooling has only taken off in popularity in the last decade. Wouldn’t it be nice for your child to read books written by homeschoolers for homeschoolers. Your child is immediately able to identify with homeschooled characters...they share a commonality.
There are many benefits to reading books authored by homeschoolers as well. One big benefit is allowing your child to see that homeschooling can and does produce amazing writers…case in point, Christopher Paolini . My daughter loves the Inheritance Cycle series by Paolini. One day as we were discussing writing, I told her that one of her favorite books was written by a young homeschooled guy. She was so impressed and inspired that she decided she too could write a book. Voila, her writing career took off. While she is not at the level of Paolini, I have seen great strides in her writing, and most of all, I have seen a strong belief in herself. She will tell you very simply that if a homeschooled kid can write a great book like Eargon, there is no reason why she can’t also write a great book. I could never have instilled that determination in her by encouraging her to write. It came because she saw what a homeschooled kid did, and identified with him.
Introduce your homeschooler to books for and by homeschoolers. See what a difference it makes in their life!
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