Summer Reading Has Begun

Summer is here! And with it, my kids and I are again participating in the reading program with our library. Need to print off the log for Barnes & Noble too...

                                 I think the majority of these were supplied by my mom alone.

My mother sent about a truckload of books (not really exaggerating on this!) My kids and I are all proof that reading truly promotes literacy. All 3 of the school aged children are above their grade levels in language arts. Even my oldest, who has ADHD and writes in chicken scratch, has excelled in comparison to other kids his age. It makes me quite proud. This summer, we are going to put those reading skills to their paces. 

My husband and I decided to home school. This past year has been horrendous as far as public school goes. And I, for one, was fed up. Truthfully, it is a shame we didn't start sooner. My oldest sons grades began slipping and he spent more time telling me what other kids were doing or saying than he did on what he was learning academically. At 12 year old, he can tell me more about porn, watching banned videos on YouTube at school, or evolution and how his teacher says things that make me a liar than he can about fractions and division. My 8 year old spent too much time hanging with a girl who had "family troubles" according to their teacher. She started smart mouthing the teacher and then me. Stopped doing her homework. Stopped caring about the answers she put down. After all, her 'friend' did it, so why couldn't she? Hmm... Because your Mama won't put up with a brat child! 

                            The beginning of our historical adventure lies within these pages.

I could go on, but this post isn't so much about that as it is about my first step into this new journey. Which starts this summer. Home schooling isn't usually done according to mainstream school schedules. It is done with the parents schedule in mind. Which means summer can be a great time to do school work! We are going to learn how to write proper book reports. And the first one is going to be on.... drumroll please... Pirates! Yep! This nerdy Mama is going to teach them some history. Starting with pirates. What they did, who they were (the notorious ones at least) and why they were such a cool big thing in their time. My mom sent a great book to get us started. She also sent the Pirates of the Caribbean movie - Dead Men Tell No Tales. It was the only one I didn't have. I'm thinking a marathon might be in order. She also sent Treasure Island for us to read together and the movie to watch. It has that one actor from Lord of the Rings in it... I only think of him as Frodo Baggins now... Anyhow, we are going to sorta have a learning party. There was even a board game included. All this will be followed by a book report. I think kids learn best when they are immersed and having fun. I know I did. The things I remember from my school days were the things I genuinely enjoyed. Still do! Pirate history is going to be their first lesson.

To add to the fun, I think these movies give a decent representation of piracy. 

Except with Captain Jack Sparrow...

What about you? What books are you reading? Are you participating in any challenges? I'm also participating in Goodreads summer reading challenge. For that one, I set how many books I want to read this year. Then I enter each book I read. I also prefer to leave a review on each one. I'm over the halfway point already. I think I low balled my goal and need to up it. Again. But that is how a bookworm rolls! Leave me a comment below and let me know. I love hearing from you guys!