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.