Welcome to the kick-off of Inspired Wednesdays! If you have a post about an encouraging activity, project, or trip that you've taken, please link up below and add a link back to this post. Either way, please read on to find out more about a fun activity that we enjoy here in our nest, and be sure to hop over to Where He Leads, We Follow to check out Stephanie's Inspiring Wednesday post, too. :-)
As we considered homeschooling as an option for our family, I knew that I wanted to provide fun and exciting ways for our kids to interact with literature. I knew that we would read often, together and separately, and would read books of all kinds, but I wanted our children to build personal connections with the characters, the setting, and the information provided in the stories.
Thus began our daughter's book club. We read and select books a few months in advance, and then the group meets monthly for a few hours on a Thursday afternoon. We try to do what the main character does in each story: we dress up, cook, play outside, or whatever s/he does. So far we've gone on safari, hosted tea parties, cooked apple butter, and sewn pillows!
This might sound like a lot of work, and in some ways, it is; but it's fun work, and we're building a love of learning, of literature, and a love of of history into our daughter, as well as establishing some great friendships. After the first few events, it became less work and more fun. We all look forward to book club Thursdays!
The best part is that you decide how it works. Once a month too often? Try once each season. Maybe you have a group of friends with children of similar ages, and you all want to take turns hosting. Maybe it would work best for you to have your book club just during summer vacation. Maybe you have older children who can take on a large portion of the planning themselves, or maybe you want to work without a set schedule and have a meeting whenever the spirit leads you. Be creative!
You could also have a club with a theme. Have a pirate-lover in the home? Read through a selection of fiction and non-fiction pirate books. Is your child into nature? Read books of explorers, field guides, and fiction adventure. The possibilities are endless!
Establishing a book club for your children is easier than you might think. To get step-by-step directions and printables to use when planning your club events, visit my my new Teachers Pay Teachers store and download a complete planning guide for FREE!
Life with Lily by Suzanne Woods Fisher was our most recent book club selection, and the girls ranked it as their favorite book read so far. To get you started, we're giving away a copy of this wonderful story! Enter using the Rafflecopter widget below - this is one book you won't want to miss.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Come back on Friday a list of some great book club possibilities. In the meantime, link up your fun and family-friendly ideas below! We'd also appreciate a link-back with our handy-dandy button below. If you're not a blogger, we'd love to hear your inspiring tip in the comments.
I love the idea of the flexibility - if once a month is too much, then once a season. I think all women (not just homeschooling moms) tend to get caught up in the vision of The Perfect Way and decide if we can't achieve that, then there is not point doing it. Now, some things of course, do need to be more perfect than others....I want my surgeon to do the job exactly right, and I want people who are parking in parking lots to be within the lines and not just say "oh close enough!" with the end result being that our lot at work only fits half as many cars as it should..... : ) (ask me why that example sprang to mind!) but, I think we miss out on a lot of joy and fun because we are afraid to be "not perfect". Thanks for the giveaway - if I am lucky, my niece gets a new book! : )
ReplyDeleteWhat a cute idea! We have story time in the park that we host each summer, and I love this idea for older kids as they reading more complex books. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteLindsey @ GrowingKidsMinistry.com