New Year, New Reading Challenges (Homeschool Style)

In our homeschool this year, we admittedly have not read often enough. The littles are still trying to get comfortable reading or learning to read so they don't have the interest that I desire for them. This year, we have been running the olders around a lot during the day to college classes, work or after school activities. We have tried to listen to some books and podcasts, but with people getting in and out frequently, that's a challenge. I really need to learn to "carschool" better, but that's for another post.

We are very definitely relaxed, eclectic homeschoolers, therefore, our goal is to try to learn without anyone really knowing they are learning. Reading rich literature is one of the best ways to do that since books cover everything, so for 2019, to encourage us to read more as a family, and to learn in a more relaxed manner, we are going to do a few challenges.

READ A LOUD CHALLENGES

Picture Book Challenge by Becky's Book Reviews combined with 2019 Caldecott Award Challenge by Smiling Shelves

Becky wants to encourage adults (and families) to read more picture books during 2019. She has several categories in which to choose.

We are going to do a twist on Becky's challenge by reading all Caldecott medal and honor books this year. Our guidelines are as follows "something old" are books that won between 1938 and 1978 and "something new" are books that won between 1979 and 2019. The other two categories should be self-explanatory.

With the Newbery/Caldecott challenge, that Julie is doing, we earn a point for each Caldecott book. We are aiming to get to the Spinelli level, that is 30-44 points, for the year. 

We will document the books read on the following list: 

January
_ Something Old
_ Something New
_ Something Borrowed
_ Something True (nonfiction)

February
_ Something Old
_ Something New
_ Something Borrowed
_ Something True (nonfiction)

March
_ Something Old
_ Something New
_ Something Borrowed
_ Something True (nonfiction)

April
_ Something Old
_ Something New
_ Something Borrowed
_ Something True (nonfiction)

May
_ Something Old
_ Something New
_ Something Borrowed
_ Something True (nonfiction)

June
_ Something Old
_ Something New
_ Something Borrowed
_ Something True (nonfiction)

July
_ Something Old
_ Something New
_ Something Borrowed
_ Something True (nonfiction)

August
_ Something Old
_ Something New
_ Something Borrowed
_ Something True (nonfiction)

September
_ Something Old
_ Something New
_ Something Borrowed
_ Something True (nonfiction)

October
_ Something Old
_ Something New
_ Something Borrowed
_ Something True (nonfiction)

November
_ Something Old
_ Something New
_ Something Borrowed
_ Something True (nonfiction)

December
_ Something Old
_ Something New
_ Something Borrowed
_ Something True (nonfiction)

I do need to include a variety of chapter books as read-alouds, also. I think I will start with a goal of two a month and just log them as we complete them. We have a ton of books on our shelves that need to be read, so this should be an easy task if I just make a note of it. We will earn family prizes if we meet our goal of 6 books each quarter of the year.

READ ALONE CHALLENGE

Amazing Authors - A to Z by Primary Themepark

This challenge is actually from a teacher so it is a little different than all the rest. It comes with worksheets that can be completed as they read their books. There are also some Author Study sheets that can be filled out periodically. All the printables are free for this unit. The boys will read a variety of books that they, mostly, will select. We might even include a few audiobooks if we travel. The books can be physical books or e-books. They will earn prizes at certain levels.

As we complete this challenge, the letters with the book and author will appear below:

What are you doing for literature next year? Challenges, unit studies, curriculum, or something else? Let's chat in the comments below. I love hearing what others are doing.

New Year, New Reading Challenges (Personal Style)

As I stated in my previous post, I am huge into challenges. In past years, I have halfheartedly tried reading challenges, with little success. I say I'm going to do it, but I don't take the time I need to read. For this new year, I am making it a priority in both personal and home school life. I'm posting them publicly so I can share my accomplishments and failures, throughout the year, with all of you. I plan to post results periodically so you can see what we are reading.

My Past Failures:

4. I didn't set aside a quiet reading time each day for my children and myself.

3. I didn't visit the library enough to get the books I wanted to read. 

2. I always tried to read too many books in each challenge.

and the top reason:

1. I didn't make it a priority in my life.

Changing Them to Successes:

I must succeed so I will plan a trip to the library ever 2 weeks, schedule a reading time 3-4 days out of the week and I will make it a priority to complete at one book a week. For the most part, I have limited the challenges to ones that will overlap slightly or only require a small number of books read to successfully complete them. There are a couple that are truly important to me and I feel I need to stretch myself even if they are hard. 

***My first goals for 2019!***

THE EVERYTHING CHALLENGES:

1. Learn Something New 2019 by SMS Nonfiction Book Reviews

#LSNreadingchallenge

2. Creativity Reading Challenge by Whatever I Think Of!

3. Royal Reading Challenge by She's Got Books on Her Mind

4. Library Love Challenge by Angel's Guilty Pleasures

#LibraryLoveChallenge

5. For the Love of E-books Challenge by As Told by Tina

#ForTheLoveofEBooks19

BONUS: The Ragdoll Reading Challenge (Light Edition) by Ragdoll Reads

THE CHRISTIAN CHALLENGES:

1. Cloud of Witnesses by Operation Actually Read Bible

2. The 2019 Christian Reading Challenge by Visual Theology

#vtReadingChallenge

3. 2019 Reading Challenge for Women by Young Wife's Guide

I will be linking more details about each challenge and my progress during the year, so be sure to check in on me to make sure I'm reading.

What are your personal reading challenges and goals for 2019? Share in the comments so we can encourage each other.

Another Year, Another Dead Blog

Go ahead... Check out my blog... It will only take you about 30 seconds... Another year has passed and it's still stalemate. It's time to do something different to put some life into this..

CHALLENGES. I love challenges. I fail attempt to complete a lot of them. I love them nonetheless. So for 2019, it's Challenge Year for my blog.

I found this challenge by herding cats $ burning soup that will hopefully get me to post at least once a month. That alone would be a huge stepping stone.

It's the 2019 Blog All About It challenge. To sign up and read more about it, click here.

The challenge lists a word a month. I write a post about that word. Sounds pretty simple. Right?

Jan- First
Feb- Pink

Mar- Luck
April- Sweet
May- Bloom
June- Risk

July- Heat
Aug- Sky

Sept- Crunch
Oct- Shiver

Nov- Thankful
Dec- Twinkle

I know I can do this! Do you know of any other blogger challenges I can do? If so, please post in the comments and I will add it to this post and try it.