Plans for 2008 - Language Arts Part I

One of the biggest challenges in our homeschooling journey to date has been Munchkin's difficulty in learning to read. It has taken a while for her to learn decoding multisyllable words. I've tried to supplement by reading books to her aloud. This has been only partly successful as her language receptive disorder makes it difficult for her to fully comprehend spoken language. Also, these learning difficulties have resulted in Munchkin disliking reading.

I would really like to change Munchkin's attitude towards reading and I know that the only way to achieve this is by increasing her comprehension and reading skills. More importantly, I need to remember to provide material to her which is at her ability level. This is one of the reasons we have simplified our history plans. The frustration we experienced trying to use more advanced books has resulted in both of us disliking certain lessons. I want to bring back the love of learning and the only way to do this is by making lessons easy and fun. I will continue to challenge her but at an appropriate level; one which doesn't result in frustrating us.

So, the first thing which is going to be implemented in the New Year is Munchkin's new Reading List. Basically, I have collated a list of books which I would like Munchkin to read. This list is ordered by the book's lexile level. We will begin with the easiest book to read, spending a minimum of 30 minutes reading a day, and move on from there. My initial list is available below. I will continue adding the books to this list beginning with My Recommended Books Lists (right-hand menu). If you would like to check the lexile level of any book, you can do this at the Find a Book with Lexiles webpage.

 The following resources provide information on how the lexile levels correspond to grade levels:

• Lexile Grade Level Conversion Chart
• Reading Grade Level Comparison Chart

Book List by Lexile Level

Book with titles in italics have been read by Munchkin

370L Freckle Juice

 460L Sideways Stories from Wayside School

 460L The Littles

 490L Bears on Hemlock Mountain

 550L Stone Fox

 560L Sarah, Plain and Tall

 590L Are You There God its me Margaret?

 610L The Courage of Sarah Noble

 650L Strawberry Girl

 660L Dr Dolittle Series

 670L Lon Po Po

 670L Number the Stars

 670L The Tale of Despereaux

 680L The Family under the Bridge

 700L The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

 700L Where the Red Fern Grows

 720L Freedom Crossing

 730L In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson

 740L A Wrinkle in Time

 750L All of a Kind Family

 750L Misty of Chincoteague

 750L The Westing Game

 750L Trumpet of the Swan

 760L Good Night Mr Tom

 770L The Book of Three

 780L Cricket in Times Square

 780L The Borrowers

 780L The Indian in the Cupboard

 790L – 970L Chronicles of Narnia

 790L Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nimh

 790L The Year of Miss Agnes

 800L Redwall

 810L My Side of the Mountain

 820L Maniac Magee

 830L King of the Wind

 830L The Summer of the Swans

 840L Johnny Tremain

 840L Year of Impossible Goodbyes

 850L Anne of Green Gables Series

 850L Witch of Blackbird Pond

 860L Julie of the Wolves

 860L Ramona Quimby

 870L Pippi Longstockin

 890L Caddie Woodlawn

 890L Cheaper by the Dozen

 890L Shiloh

 910L Dear Mr Henshaw

 910L Mr Popper’s Penguins

 920L Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry

 920L Stuart Little by E. B. White

 930L Little House in the Big Woods

 950L The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

 970L White Fang

 990L Ginger Pye

 990L My Father’s Dragon

 1000L Homer Price

 1000L The Island of the Blue Dolphins

 1000L The Phantom Tollbooth

 1010L Black Beauty

 1010L The Egypt Game

 1020L Wolves of Willoughby Chase

 1070L Twenty One Balloons

12:30 PM - Dec. 22, 2007 - post comment

Advent and Christmas Unit 2007