Many have asked me how and why we have decided to homeschool. The answer of why has been answered a very long time ago. I do it because no one else decided Sconicle was worth being taught. That being said we decided that Sconicle would learn everything in a deep way, that we would pick out the best of the best for what he needed.

I thought I would cover our reading program today.

Reading we decided Sconicle would read all the good books we did as kids, the books few kids today ever see. Dunk as a 6th or 7th grader had to read this story about a migrant farm boy, he absolutely hated it. I cannot remember the boy’s name but as Dunk would tell you the kid had a lot of problems none of which were interesting. This year Sconicle has started out reading Tom Sawyer, he now revels in the mischievousness of Tom and the antics of Aunt Polly. Tom Sawyer can teach Sconicle far more about life and relationships than the migrant farm boy story. Many think you have to “buy a book” to help you teach a reading program. All we do is buy the book or use the book we have to read, then find ways to test and quiz Sconicle on the book. Each chapter he has to tell us the summary of it. Since it is Tom Sawyer, Hubby and I have both read the book. We find it fun and enjoying hearing Tom’s adventures. Today’s chapter Tom is going to fall in Love, Sconicle always reads the title of the next the chapter. There are many places for help for books.

Here Plot Summaries are located. This helps a parent know what is happening or refresh their memory of the book. Look HERE.

Quizzes are a dime a dozen on the net. Most of which free are computer based but that is fine, he takes the test and I see the score. Cliffnotes has a good one, Look HERE.

Once he finishes the book, and the quiz then he will start his project of a movie, a poster and a paper.

Sconicle will learn how to communicate the story over and over again. It is a good story, with great writing and a great message.

As I listen and watch Sconicle be so happy about reading I will never forget the little boy in third grade I brought home. He could not read basic words, he struggled for any help. His IQ was as high as it is but his confidence was so low. We went back on Monday to read some of the common words that he had struggled to read for a year at home. As he said, “how did I think this was hard?”

After Tom we plan on going to Huck Finn but perhaps not right away. What Tom does is awake Sconicle, and homeschooling can do that in a very real way. If Gator or Dunk could read books this great I have to think they would be better rounded in education.

The most interesting part of this is when I brought Sconicle home, his reading ability was nil, I was scared stiff he would never conquer it. He would stay a statistic, Sconicle proved me wrong.

Tweet This Post  Ping This Post