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Having a large family, we go through multiple books to start the processes of reading.  Every child that begins to read, it seems I do an internet search and try and get all the easy readers so that I can order them from our local library.  With each child, it takes me time to get them ordered and then receive them only to find that they are too hard of a level, it can get frustrating.  Well with my 5th child, I finally got smart….I decided to make a list of the beginner readers and next step readers that we ordered so that it would be much easier every time a child would start reading.

We start our children out on basic phonics program–included in the free kindergarten school course.  I then start them out by doing easy reader books that we read each and every day.  These books listed are easy enough for them to become independent readers with repetitive words but short stories not to overwhelm them.

Bob books are typically one of the first “books” we introduce to our children to read.  Very simple text as you can see.

We typically go onto Dick and Jane books next as they are really easy as well.  We have this hard book copy that has multiple stories in one, but at the library they sometimes have them all separate.

McGuffeys Eclectic Primer is another great resource for beginning readers.  You can get these online for free to read.  If not your local library should have a copy.

Here is my list of beginner reader books.  Most all are from Margaret Hillert.  I prefer older books as they usually portray a simpler lifestyle without all the flash to “convince” my children that reading is fun:)

 

Do an author search on your libraries website to find what books they have of hers.  Here are some we enjoy.

     The Snow Baby

Lets have a play

Take a walk, Johnny

The magic beans
The three bears
The yellow boat

Up, up, and away

City fun

The purple pussycat

The little cookie

A house for little Red

The little runaway

The boy and the goats

Come play with me

The little cowboy and the big cowboy

Four good friends

The funny baby

Away go the boats

The baby bunny

Why we have thanksgiving

The ball book

 The birthday car

The funny ride

Not I, not I

What am I?

I like things

Oh Cats! By Nola Buck

How many fish? by Caron Lee Cohen

Hot Dog by Molly Coxe

Bears on wheels by Stan and Jan Berenstain

The foot book by Dr seuss

The Berenstain bears and the big red kite

The berenstain bears and home sweet tree

The eye book

In a people house

Mitten series

The ear book

Go away dog

Pie for chuck by Pat Schories

Inside, outside, upside down

I know there are many more books out there.  When you start searching for one, you typically can find more like it.  These are just ones that I order for every new reader.  I’m keeping a record so that my life is easier.  Hope you can use some of these for your beginner reader.

Okay, who says that only children who physically go to school should have a back to school party?  I think we should have one for our children that are at home as well:) To celebrate school in pajamas and days of NOT having to get up and catch the bus:)  Or for the moms…..celebrating less crowded grocery stores during the day and the parks not being so busy.

Over the last year since we have moved here, we have started a small homeschooling group at our local library.  Our librarian was homeschooled herself and she knows it is hard to find other families to socialize with.  We started it and had two moms:)  There were times it was just me and the other mom for many of our gatherings, but that is okay.  We kept at it and now we have 6 families that get together and hang out.  You have to start somewhere.  It has been nice getting to know the moms and letting our children foster relationships with each other.  Good times.

We have been talking at our weekly gatherings about things we can do for the upcoming school year. One of those ideas has been a back to school party at our local library.

Here are some ideas we will be doing…….

Since we are incorporating the library……….you need books.  How hard is it to find back to school books for homeschoolers?!?!?!?  There are many older children books written in chapter format about children that are homeschooled, but for those younger children, is there any books out there??

I came across this book and love it.

It is called This is My  Home This Is My School by Jonathan Bean

It has great illustrations and is easy to read.  I have found a few others, but they are mostly written with lots of words and I have found that they do not keep the readers attention as much.  But this book has been great!

It is a fun book…..search your local library for it…it is something I will recommend to other homeschooling families to have on their bookshelves.

Some activities we have planned:

We will do an ice breaker game with M&Ms or some other small items in a bowl.  For every item they take, they will have to say something about themselves.  This will give them an opportunity to practice Speech skills in front of a small group.  We won’t tell them what they are doing, when they take the items:)

What is a party without food?!?!? My friend Summer, came up with doing Emoji cookies for the party.  Make simple round, cut out cookies and provide the children with yellow frosting, round candies, sprinkles, and candy eyes.  Let them create an emoji face.

We will also play find a friend Bingo using this printable.

bingo

This will be a good conversation starter for the children as well….Would you rather…… printable

would you rather

Here are some others to print off and include in a packet for them to work on at the library or to take home to do some extra pages

for the younger ones….. name boxes

how many letters in my name

a letter to mom

letter

since we are doing the emoji cookies….we did an emoji story printable

story

I thought we would do a self portrait at the beginning of the year and tell the moms to save this and then we can do one at the end of the year.  Something to keep to show children’s progression in drawing.

portrait

You have to have a word search for back to school

crossword

and finally a page to have them write bubble letters of their names and then fill in different characteristics about themselves

bubble letters

We also have  huge poster size pieces of paper that Tammy is going to write an All About Me Poster for them to fill in.  We did mini versions of these back in the day that I got from Oriental Trading.  It has the children list their favorite foods, how old they are, favorite books, movies, how many people in their family, etc.  Something that they can fill in and decorate and showcase at home.  I will tell the moms to take a picture of it to hold on to for something to look back on as they are older.

Here are some other ideas to measure visual progress in your child’s learning goals.

*Do these at the beginning and at the end of your school year*

Take a photo in the same place to see how they have grown.

Have them copy a sentence to see improvement in their writing.

A quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.—contains all 26 letters of the alphabet.

Do a fitness test—how many sit ups, push ups, or pull-ups can they do in 1 minute.  How long does it take them to walk/run one mile?

Keep a record log on the wall of all the books they have read this year.  Use foil stickers and have them “rate” the book on a scale of 1-5.

Here is a free printable–use cardstock for durability

book log

Hope you can use some of these ideas in  your own homeschool to have a mini celebration for back to school.  You still have plenty of time…..enjoy those summer days:)

Have a wonderful day and remember to smile and be a joyful Momma!