The holidays are a time when homeschool classrooms are not quite as active as most homeschool teachers would like them to be. There are so many other holiday related errands to run, that the actual teaching manages to take a backspace for a while. During this time it would be a good idea to get your homeschool students involved in doing some extra reading on their own.
Pick a List of Approved Books
To ensure that your homeschool students are reading something worthwhile, sit down with them and pick out a list of books that you approve of and they are actually interested in reading. Now paste the list on the homeschool notice board and let them exchange these books from the library throughout the holiday season. You will need to do this individually with each child as most grade levels will require different level books to read.
Make Book Reports Mandatory
Have the homeschool students write a book report on every book that they read. It doesn’t matter if it’s just a graphic novel, if they read it, they need to make that book report. Give them about five questions that they can answer to create a good book report. This can include what is the story about, when does it take place, who are the main characters, what did you like or hate about the story and similar questions.
Add a Weekly Deadline
The holidays can be a very distracting time and even though the homeschool students may want to read the books, they may not be focused enough to do so. By placing a weekly deadline for a book report you will ensure that they at least get some books ready to review each week. It will keep them focused on a daily, bare minimum, pages to read goal.
Of course there will be weeks where no work actually gets done, and that’s okay as well. The idea of the holiday book exchange is to ensure that no brain drain takes place and basic skills are kept in practice even as the homeschool students take a break from regular school work.
