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How to Choose the Best Middle School Literature And Favorite Resources

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Today in how to choose the best middle school literature I want to help you conquer the overwhelm by giving you a few seasoned homeschooler secrets.

Best Middle School Literature

When I approached the middle school years, there was no lack of middle school literature lists.

I loved having the lists, but I quickly learned that having tips on how to choose literature for my teen was better.

So first, look at these four questions asked and answered full of tips to help you decide which books are best for your family.

Four Middle School Literature Questions Asked and Answered

How to Choose the Best Middle School Literature And Favorite Resources

Question 1.
Should I Read Every Book My Child Reads?

The answer is complicated. It’s both yes and no. The way you determine if it’s a yes or no is your purpose.

For example, if you’re wanting to use literature for analysis and to engage your child with understanding an author’s purpose it’s hard to do that unless you read the book.

Middle school is the time that most kids can do some introductory analysis. If you’re wanting to fill the literature requirement for just reading or for enjoyment, the answer is no.

I couldn’t read every book my kids chose, but focused on reading the few we would used for analysis. That secret tip helped me conquer the literature overwhelm in middle school.

In addition, this site for Banned and Challenged Books gives you an idea of the theme or worldview behind some books.

Question 2.
How many books should my kid read each year?

That is another subjective answer. Some kids are voracious readers others not so much.

But if you’re using the literature to fill a credit (yes you can get high school credit in middle school), you’ll want to set your goal for a realistic amount.

Looking over some literature lists for middle schooled kids, I’ve seen some unreachable numbers.

Whatever the number of books you come up with lower it. It’s so much better to get through a handful of books with meaningful discussions than to overestimate and rush through them.

That is disheartening for both teacher and kid. Remember you can always add more literature for analysis anytime during the year.

I’ve had different requirements with each kid as my circumstances were different each year, but a good rule of thumb at this age was to analyze between 4 to 6 books or less.

Some years we did more, other years I struggled to get through three books, but it was still solid language arts.

The other books were pure pleasure and met my reading requirement.

Middle School Homeschool

Again, this is NOT all your child will read, but it’s the amount you want him to read to help him with the critical thinking part of literature.

Question 3.
Do I want my child to integrate other subjects or skills or to use literature as stand-alone?

My answer is to integrate as much as possible. My preference from the time I learned about how to integrate was to use this method for all literature.

Integrate means to combine several skills or to combine subjects. By integrating skills or subjects,

  • your child learns the practical application of grammar, vocabulary, or writing in a way that makes sense;
  • the areas of language arts that your child is weak at can be strengthened. For example, he sees the correct spelling of a word in literature and applies it to his writing;
  • your child can choose literature choices based on his interests or to cover a subject he may not like as well. Unlike public school, your child doesn’t have to follow arbitrary lists. Too, if he is not passionate about history, then well-written fiction prose can help him to fill a history credit. Literature can make a history time period come alive while filling both a literature and history requirement in a more fun way; and
  • one unexpected benefit was that my kids learned study skills and research skills.

Literature Analysis for Middle School

Question 4.
Should I require my child to write book reports?

Although it’s not necessary for kids to write book reports, understanding the purpose of a book report lets you decide if it’s for your family.

Book reports, oral or written, are the blueprints for high school literary analysis.

The point is not whether you assign a book report or not, it’s that your child understands things like elements of fiction, genre, and figures of speech.

Whether you choose to do this orally, through a book report, a lapbook, or reading journal, it’s your choice. I have only one kid that loved book reports, but I orally reviewed with each kid the assigned books.

Next, look at this list of questions to include in a written book report or to go over them orally:

  • Was it better that . . . ?
  • What do you think . . . ?
  • In your opinion . . . ?
  • How would you change the character to . . . ?
  • How is ____ tied in or related to ____?
  • What choice would you have made ____?

Now that you have a quick overview of some of the general tips about how to choose middle school literature, look at this list of books.

Remember that you can choose classics, follow a history theme, favorite author or do a balance of genres. There are many genres to choose from.

Of course, if your child is college bound you will want to do a variety of genre even in junior high.

Literature for Middle School Homeschool

And one final thought there is a huge difference in maturity between sixth grade and eighth grade.

Keep that in mind in looking over this literature list as I provided options for different reading levels. This list below is a mix of literature that works well for this age, but you can always add to it.

Books for Middle School Kids

Alternatively, you may want to use something besides just a reader or the literature.

Middle School Literature Teacher Guides, Themed Guides and All-in-One Curriculum

For my first time teaching literature at the middle school level I loved using teacher helps and many times I used them as life happened. Why reinvent the wheel?

You can choose a book along with a teacher guide to help you teach the important parts of the book or use an all-in-one guide or curriculum.

Look at some of your options below.

How to Choose the Best Middle School Literature And Favorite Resources

I love Lightning Literature and they’re perfect for the older grades because they have a schedule which helps when you’re first beginning to teach literature.

Still, I had the tendency to over teach literary analysis, but key to keeping it fun is to do a bit each day.

Then, Language Arts Through Literature series is timeless. Their middle and high school grades are solid.

It is a Charlotte Mason gentle approach to literature and fits a lot of my likes; it takes an integrated approach which aligns with how I feel beautiful literature should be learned.

However, one of my VERY favorite resources for middle school kids was created by another homeschool mom.

You’ll love Literary Adventures for Kids which is online and self-paced. You choose the books and course and your child goes at his own pace. All the stress and prep for learning about literature was taken out.

If you’re looking for something that your child can do on his own, or you don’t have time to read every book, you’ll love Literary Adventures for Kids.

Also, Progeny Press Study Guides have been timeless.

My kids can pick the book they want to read and we find the accompanying study guide. The guides cover background information, vocabulary, literary analysis, and more.

In addition, be sure you check out the discounted resources at Homeschool Buyers Co-op Language Arts section. There are many discounted providers for literature guides.

Homeschool Helps for Middle School

Another favorite has been the literature unit guides by Teacher Created Resources. Although they are created for a classroom, I’ve been able to get many ideas to flesh out with my kids.

Additionally, Memoria Press literature guides are grade level literature units which also have helped me at this age.

Next, Beautiful Feet literature are some of my favorite themed literature units.

Covering history and literature simultaneously helped us to learn how to utilize our time and widen our reading diet.

If your child loves history, then integrating history and literature together makes practical use of your child’s time.

Did I mention that reading doesn’t become a chore, but becomes a time you and your child look forward to during the day?

Finally, paying attention to detail looks different for each book with each child, but that is the purpose of literature analysis. Too, our children can come to view each book loved as an artistic expression. It’s quite possible.

What books are you using for literature analysis for middle school kids?

You’ll love some of these other helps for middle school kids.

Hugs and love ya,

How to Begin Homeschooling A Teen Lagging Behind

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How to begin homeschooling a teen lagging behind is at the tip-top of the list for new homeschooler anxieties.

Whether your teen is behind because of unplanned happenings in life, sickness, motivation, or natural struggles, I have four solid tips to give you an easy starting point.

One/Why your teen is lagging behind is key to where to begin.

When my husband had a massive heart attack, my first son had just started homeschooling high school. He was going to be behind for a while because our family life mattered more.

How to begin homeschooling a teen lagging behind is at the tip-top of the list for new homeschooler anxieties. Whether your teen is behind because of unplanned happenings in life, sickness, motivation, or natural struggles, CLICK here for four solid tips to give you an easy starting point!! #homeschool #newhomeschooler #homeschoolingteens #howtohomeschool

Homeschooled Teens Behind

Identifying why your teen is behind will give both of you the right mindset for a starting point. Although my teen didn’t want to be in that situation (who does), he knew that it was going to take him longer to finish than we planned.

Family situations like extended sicknesses can’t be helped and a positive attitude is needed first before moving on.

Practical Tip One: Don’t bring more stress than you have now by setting unrealistic expectations for catching up.

Put aside the regular public school schedule and be determined to school year round to catch him up. Even in states where you have to keep the 180 lesson planning days it doesn’t mean you can’t have make up days.

In homeschool we learn 24/7/365. Think outside of the box as to when your teen can learn and then create a doable schedule.

Practical Tip Two: Is he lacking in motivation? There is a reason for that. Success is tied to motivation and motivation is key to success.

The approach used in public school for teens is completely different than the independent model used in the homeschool approach.

You’ll not gain traction by bringing your teen home and duplicating the same process at home. It won’t work. You’ll get the same results you’re getting now in public school.

Motivation can stem from boredom, lack of freedom, continually focusing on what your teen is not good at instead of his passions and strengths.

What is needed first is dialog with your teen to help him understand why he is lacking in motivation.

Getting a Homeschooled Teen on Track

Instead of telling him what needs to do to succeed, you need to draw him out with questions.

Asking him questions about his future stirs his emotion and feeds his motivation to see that his success is dependent on him. Benefits spark motivation. You need to draw him out to list how your new homeschooling lifestyle will benefit him.

I always encourage you to have him take notes and write it down. That way it’s not so easy to forget.

Your list of positives for homeschooling your teen can include these:

  • No forced schedule. A teen needs lots of sleep and learning can take place around the need for rest and good healthy food.
  • No constant pressure to take drugs or have sex.
  • A teen can pursue his passions and take alternate courses for subjects he will actually use in life. For example, some kids will not ever be math minded. Having a solid foundation for basic math with two years of math in high school may be good enough. You decide now as a family what will be your course.
  • A teen can take jobs that work around his school schedule.
  • Bullying and labeling are not part of everyday homeschooling.

Practical Tip Three: Make a list of the benefits of homeschooling. This is very important whether your teen agreed with the choice to homeschool or not. Benefits and payoffs for a homeschooled teen are huge.

No, he won’t have all the answers to your questions, but you’re giving him control over his future. You want him to learn how to have internal dialog.

You’re changing his future by changing the way both of you tackle this struggle.

Teaching Gaps in Homeschooled Teens

And yes, I know you want academic pointers and they’re coming, but this fine point is the difference between a homeschooled teen who tackles a set back successfully and one who stays crippled into adulthood.

Control over his future doesn’t mean he has to do it with no guidance from you. That would not be responsible for a child at any age. A teen especially benefits from your guidance – NOW. He needs you more than ever.

TWO/ Core or skill subjects are the framework of all successful education. Trim the fat by focusing ONLY on them.

Simplicity is the key to catching up and that means an easy workload each day is absolutely necessary.

Public school would have you think that 10 or more subjects is normal; it absolutely is not normal. More does not equal more better.

There is a difference between an easy workload and easy courses. I’ll mention some resources in a minute that will help your teen to sharpen his skills.

Core subjects (no this isn’t common core) are the framework or building elements your teen needs to succeed. We normally call this the Three Rs – reading, writing, and arithmetic.

The homeschool law in your state is your FIRST starting point because they will state which subjects are core. That is ALL that matters right now. As you have time to catch up after the setback, you can add in other subjects.

In addition, as you can see two of the Three Rs are language arts related. So it’s possible to use one resource to cover two of the basics of any well-rounded education. It’s that easy to catch up.

If you’re looking to begin homeschooling, my online self-paced boot camp may be for you. It will benefit the 1st and 2nd year homeschooler the most. And of course I always welcome your questions. Click here to read about the self-paced online homeschool boot camp.

Practical Tip Four: The easy starting point for the basic subjects is your state law. Start with the required subjects.

Do not saddle your teen right now with everything to catch him up. He will not quickly progress and it can backfire because it will strip his confidence even more.

Bottom line is that the content information that teens need to learn vary from state to state, but the core or skills subjects are needed for him to succeed across the board.

Three/ Use homeschool resources that are not baby-ish and that equally speed up the body of knowledge needed.

The last thing a homeschooled teen needs is to be reminded daily of his struggle.

And although an all in one homeschool curriculum will get you started homeschooling, it can be better to piece meal the subjects your teens need. You get to the heart of the struggler quicker.

I have found some resources that not only shore up weak areas in the skill subjects, but that are not baby-ish. We have used these when life happens and when we needed to catch up quickly.

This first resource The Language Mechanic: Tuning Up English With Logic, Grades 4-7 is not only a super way to catch up a teen with the basics of English, but it’s fun.

It has short, but challenging lessons. The best part is that there are examples that illustrate the humor in using English incorrectly. Your teens will love the witty examples.

As you can see below in one page of the table of contents there are a variety of basic skills reviewed and it’s a multiple grade resource.

Another resource that works well for teens who may have gaps in their learning are the Quick Study Guides.

Organizing your teen so that he can quickly find the skills he needs without tons of time is how to keep the stress level minimal and encourage independence.

How to Fill Holes In Learning

Add these quick study guides to a notebook and your teen can use them as a reference or basic outline for a subject. Look at how to put together a homeschooled high school writer’s notebook.

Writing tips, English Fundamentals, English Grammar and Punctuation, Chemistry, Research Papers, Math Fundamentals and the list just goes on of these wonderful tiny power packs of information. Also, science and history subjects are available for the Quick Study Guides.

Another quick and no fuss no frills resource to bring up math skills is the Key to series. Each packet of 10 booklets or so is designated with a specific math topic/skill so that you can zero in on the math skill your teen needs to review or learn.

Four/Use Out of the Box Options – Accelerated high School, dual credit, Online Tutors and Online Videos are otherv options.

Bright teens may be lacking motivation because they may want to get on with their goals.

Dual credit at a community college where a teen earns high school and college credit simultaneously can be a great way to capture any time lost learning. The student simply moves forward where he is at, but now has greater motivation for learning when he meeting his future goals. Check with your local community college for the criteria for dual credit.

Also, there is an accelerated high school program by Malibu Cove High School that been around for years. A teen can receive their diploma in 6 to 9 months instead of four years from an accredited school if you need that.

Four/Relationship is more important than academics.

Hear my heart when I tell you that when your kids are grown and gone, they’ll never fondly remember the academics. They will remember how you made them feel when you’re going through stressful times.

Whether you’re determining if your teen’s lagging behind is aptitude or attitude or he got behind because of sicknesses or general boredom in public school, your relationship with him matters the most.

Be patient to find the solution and quick to help him gain traction again.

And of course, if you have any questions drop them below or hit REPLY!

How to begin homeschooling a teen lagging behind is at the tip-top of the list for new homeschooler anxieties. Whether your teen is behind because of unplanned happenings in life, sickness, motivation, or natural struggles, CLICK here for four solid tips to give you an easy starting point!! #homeschool #newhomeschooler #homeschoolingteens #howtohomeschool

Look at these other ways or tips to help you fill the academic holes:

Hugs and love ya,

Essential Life Skills – A Homeschooler’s Other Curriculum

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

More and more parents these days are dropping their kids off at the front door of public school and are expecting teachers to do it all — teach the three Rs and life skills necessary for kids to live as functioning adults in society. As homeschoolers we have an advantage; we know that essential life skills are a crucial part of our curriculum.

With the growing concept of adulting – when young adults are learning life skills for the first time as they move out on their own – it would seem that the formula public school tends to use which is an academic approach isn’t working. And homeschoolers aren’t immune to this problem.

Essential Life Skills a Homeschoolers Other Curriculum @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

No matter in what form they educate their children, parents who try to do and be all things for their kids are doing them a great disservice. Additionally, if parents are trusting (aka hoping) that life skills will be caught, rather than taught that only seems to work out when they pick up something we don’t want them to, right?

As homeschooling families we have not only the privilege, but the responsibility to teach our kids these all-important life skill sets that make for a well-rounded and capable grown-up.

Too, we all know that skills taught like this should begin early. I focus on the teen part of life in this article because really it’s the time to maximize what we’ve been teaching them all throughout the years.

From the mouths of homeschoolin’ mommas who have been traditionally schooled comes this list of skills they didn’t learn in school. The teen years are a great time to make sure your kiddo gets these skills down while still living under your roof. And even if they’re in high school, it’s never too late for a crash course.

And they will thank you for it down the road!

And if you’re looking for curriculum to help you teach life skills, you’ll love Skill Trekker. There are 500+ skills (and counting) in the program.

Domestic Life Skills for Homeschooled Kids

  • basic cooking and cleaning bathrooms, vacuuming, grocery shopping (online and in real life)
  • how to sort laundry properly
  • basic and advance home maintenance
  • basics of human anatomy and well-being
  • how to access home services
  • how to garden or at least grow and care for one plant
  • how to care for pets, their health and animal CPR
  • how to sew is not a lost skill about homeschoolers and basic alterations
  • how tos of basic couponing
  • how to change a diaper
  • lawn maintenance
  • simple electrical and plumbing know how
  • how to menu plan

Auto Care Skills for Homeschooled Kids

  • how to buy a car and basic car care (oil and filter changes, how to check oil, change a tire, etc)
  • determining the value of a car using the Kelley Blue Book
  • how to keep an auto compliant with local law
  • how to pump gas

Workplace Skills For Homeschooled Kids

  • learn how to fill out a job application
  • learn how to prepare a resume
  • prepare for a job interview
  • understand how to work with others in a workplace environment
  • how to be on time for a job

Small business management, which is so relevant to many of today’s entrepreneurial homeschoolers, was and still is often reserved for college, or at least specialized trade school programs.

Your entrepreneurial kids may enjoy the boxes from Boss Club which teach kids how to be entrepreneurs. You can click on the picture below to see how they build skills for helping your kids.

Health Care Skills for Homeschooled Kids

  • basic hygiene
  • understand how to take care of their basic health
  • understand differences in how food is grown or processed
  • how to give consent for procedures
  • CPR and basic first aid
  • understand how to use medicine versus natural remedies
  • how to notice and be caring when others have special needs like dementia, seizures, or panic attacks
  • how to give basic elder care

Financial Education for Homeschooled Kids

Last, but certainly not least, many homeschool moms failed to receive an adequate, or sometimes any, financial education while in school.

  • how to handle and maintain a checking account how to prepare and file taxes
  • how to create and stick to a budget
  • how credit works
  • the basics of a mortgage and how it works
  • value of saving and preparing for retirement
  • how to apply for insurance and discern what’s necessary

So there you have it, skills that haven’t been taught in school in the past, and most likely aren’t today.

As homeschoolers we have an advantage; we know that essential life skills are a crucial part of our curriculum. Click here to grab this list!

These aren’t fluff topics; these are concepts and abilities that will enable your teen to be a fully functioning adult and even perhaps put him ahead of many of his peers.

Don’t make your teen fumble with adulting when you can arm him with these basic essentials!

You’ll also love these other tips:

Hugs and love ya

12 Easy Ways Homeschooled Teens and Tweens Socialize

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

It’s a valid concern; homeschooled teens and tweens need to socialize more than we do sometimes.

I used to joke that if it was left up to me, I would prefer to stay at home instead of ever going to a field trip. After being around other homeschool moms or families for a day at a fun field trip or homeschool event, I always felt very differently.

12 Easy Ways Homeschooled Teens and Tween Socialize

Homeschooled Teens Socialization

Then, I realized I should have worried more about socialization at the teen and tween years. It’s important to have your kids around other kids when they’re in the younger years;; it teaches your kids to not just focus on self. On the other hand, the teen and tween years have very different needs.

Now that two of my sons are grown, I know that my husband and I are their best friends. But my grown sons have best friends that came from outside of our family as it should be.

Homeschooled teens and tweens need friends outside their family. It’s essential and natural to a child’s development to have friends outside their family.

6 Benefits of Homeschooled Friends

Looking back I know that my kids received many benefits from having homeschooled friends.

Oh yes we have other friends that were not homeschooled, but being a close friend is different.

While we joke a lot about in our homeschool lifestyle, friends are especially important to teens and tween.

Look at 6 benefits of having friends:

  • When my kids had a friend with our similar lifestyle it made homeschooling the norm;
  • It taught my kids about what is true loyalty – it’s not blindly being loyal to a person who is deceptive to their parents and others around him;
  • Finding friends with similar likes and hobbies as my kids encourages passionate lifelong learning;
  • My kids learned how to listen to others and be interested in them – who wants to be around a person who talks about himself only or shows no interest in what others are doing;
  • My sons learned how to be generous and share not just their things, but with their personal time; and
  • Friendships helped them to avoid being lonely.

12 Ways Homeschooled Kids Socialize

One/ Host a LAN party.

I know, I too had to ask my kids what it was when they got invited. But it’s a gathering where a connection is made for multiple game playing. One friend had a router for connecting all of the kids’ games so they could play together.

Grab the pizza and the teens will have fun! The thing with this is that they can play the game and do just a bit of talking. It’s a great icebreaker. This is especially good if your teens or tweens are hesitant about being around others.

Two/Game night.

Kids love games and many ages can play together. Get one or two of your kids to make some brownies and have everyone bring a board game they like and let them enjoy.

Side note: At times I’ve had to set a minimum age for ones to attend just because I didn’t want them to feel too baby-ish. Most homeschooled teens are inclusive of younger kids so teens and tweens together had fun. But there were times they just older ones close to their age.

Three/ Movie night OR movie afternoon.

Depending on everyone’s schedule, my teens did a lot of movies in the early afternoon because it wasn’t crowded. You know as homeschoolers we’re ready to have fun a lot earlier than the public school schedule. After the movie and depending on the group’s budget, they may grab supper and continue visiting.

Going in the afternoon made for a longer period of time and they still were home at a decent hour. This matters if you have new drivers like I did and I no longer went with them.

Four/ Nature Hikes.

Depending on the weather, any time for a tween or teen is a good time for a hike. Barring absolute flooding, my boys were always up for something outside although I may not have been. Normally it doesn’t cost a lot either.

Five/ Escape Rooms.

If you don’t know what they are, I bet your tween and teens do. The first time my boys did one, they were hooked. But it’s a room that has clues (items) left in it and as a group you have to solve the riddles to get out of the room.

Some escape rooms are at libraries, others places are theme parks. Just google escape rooms near me. Again, it’s a great activity for a group to do as they work together to solve the riddles and mysteries to get out/escape the room. They’re timed, but depending on the room it’s normally like a few hours.

Six/ Ballroom dance group just for homeschoolers.

Although my boys were NOT aboard when I formed the dance class, they needed an extra half credit for fine arts. This was my solution. I would have never guessed that they would have loved it as much as they did all the while telling me they were NOT doing it.

We got other boys and girls to make couples and met up once a week. All the teens had a great time. It matters too who are the instructors. We had young and hip instructors and all the group were homeschoolers. My boys have great memories from this once a week meet up.

Seven/Skating (Ice or Roller).

Whether you decide to rent out the ice skating rink or rolling rink or just skate at the park, the kids love it. One group I know said to bring mini wheels and some brought skateboards too.

Eight/ Laser tag.

My boys all loved laser tag. We always met at games rooms so that the kids could have a variety of things to choose from.

Nine/Bowling.

Bowing is another great way for kids to have fun and talk. The more the merrier is best. My boys loved doing this because they could actually talk with their friends instead of just being in a movie and not really having time to visit.

Ten/Theatre.

My boys also loved theatre. It’s a great way to be around other adults. One year we actually put on a performance of Shakespeare at our co-op. So whether you have a theatre night in your homeschool group or go see a play, kids love it.

Eleven/Form a 4-H Club.

Ask your local 4-H office how to set up a club, but they’re fairly easy. We were part of one for enrichment and electives. Each month the kids would decide if they would learn photography together or sewing.

Twelve/ Park days are still cool.

Tweens and teens don’t mind meeting up at the park too. Normally it’s never too crowded during the day unless the public school had a field trip planned that day.

That has happened plenty of times to us. But the kids just visit with each other and enjoy their lunch.

As parents we would bring our curriculum to show each other for the new year and the tweens and teens would bring their games or music. They loved just hanging out with each other.

I remember one time looking over at the huge group because they had a huge roar of laughter. They were arm wrestling. I’m telling you, just provide a place that is fun and they’ll talk and make friends.

There is NO shortage for homeschooled tweens and teens to socialize. These are just the EASY ways I listed for you. Most of these things don’t require much time to host or get together.

What things does your homeschooled tween or teen like to do with other tweens and kids?

12 Easy Ways Homeschooled Teens and Tween Socialize. It's a valid concern; homeschooled teens and tweens need to socialize more than we do sometimes. Planning time for tweens and teens to socialize doesn’t have to be hard. You’ll love these 12 Easy Ways Homeschooled Teens and Tween Socialize. CLICK HERE to read it!

You’ll loves these other tips and articles:

Hugs and love ya,

6 Boy Approved Books Which Spark the Love of Reading

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Not wanting my boys to be among the boys-who-hate-to-read statistics, it was a challenge in the beginning to keep my boys’ enjoying reading. I had a LOT to learn about how boys learn. Sharing these 6 boy approved books which spark the love of learning, I’m hoping that one or more of them will flame that ember to read in your boys.

6 Boy Approved Books Which SPARK the Love of Reading!! Sharing these 6 boy approved books which spark the love of learning, I'm hoping that one or more of them will flame that ember to read in your boys. CLICK here to look at this short but TRIED and TRUE List!!

Boy Mom Reading Tips

Now that I have lifelong adult son readers, I know you’ll benefit from these three simple, easy, and tried and true reading tips.

One/ Quit thinking like female teachers.

I know, it sounds crazy because homeschool stats reveal that a majority of the teaching is done by moms. It’s hard to not think like a woman when you are one. Where am I going with this?

The point is we add to our son’s dislike for reading when we try to use the books we loved as a girl to spark a boy’s interest. My boys didn’t connect with a lot of the books I loved as a girl. When I started homeschooling I felt like I had a diversified reading diet growing up, but it didn’t include a lot of topics boys liked.

Sure some of the books were the same ones I loved like the Where the Red Fern Grows and The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe. But I had to expand what I thought were appropriate topics to read about.

Two/Hero or Heroine Matters

Although boys love to get lost in a world of fiction too, relating to the hero matters. It’s hard for boys who are struggling to read to relate to a sentimental girl. At the time my first son was struggling with a love of reading, unless the girl was mischievous or a tomboy, it wasn’t easy for my boys to understand the sentiment.

Too, a lot of boys, including mine, develop slower. Their maturity rate is different than girls. They don’t necessarily see themselves in a place through the eyes of the character, so you have to be sure they do.

Instead of trying to read between the lines, my boys needed to understand the why of a point directly. Finding a solution to the problem was more paramount than understanding exactly how a character felt.

A story line with male role models no matter the age was a good starting point in helping my sons identify with people who are like them.

Three/ Boys LOVE Pictures. Use this tip.

Boys are not ready to move away from pictures as fast as girls may be. Realizing that significant fact, I was so grateful for the Great Illustrated Classics series. True, some of the pictures are not like the comic books that boys love, but pictures are still pictures to boys.

The size of the print mattered to my first reader too. Until he felt comfortable and was hooked on reading, we just kept on reading most of the books from the Great Illustrated Classics series.

I never worried whether the books were abridged or unabridged until I hooked my reader.

That is the point – hook your reader first, then focus on literary value. There is so much time to do that.

Out of all the books I used for my boys to hook them on reading they narrowed down their favorites to these 6 choices to nurture a love for reading.

One or more of these book or series should give your boys a taste of boy approved books, but more important they’ll nurture a love of reading.

A book list doesn’t have to be long to work; the book list needs to be focused on what boys can relate to.

I’ll be sharing more book lists that have worked for us through the years.

Does your son have a favorite book or series that worked to fan that tiny ember to a raging love for reading?

6 Boy Approved Books Which SPARK the Love of Reading!! Sharing these 6 boy approved books which spark the love of learning, I'm hoping that one or more of them will flame that ember to read in your boys. CLICK here to look at this short but TRIED and TRUE List!!

You’ll love these other tips:

Hugs and love ya,