When our children were young, we read aloud to them and alongside them. Granted, we still do that a bit as they get older, but they also take up their own interests and reading adventures, and we parents don’t always have time to read those books ahead of time. So how do we connect with them and engage with what they’re currently reading?
Choosing Good Books
We want to make sure that our teens are reading books that are ‘acceptable,’ and every family is going to have their own criteria for what that means. It’s also important to remember that reading can help stretch your teen’s perspective, expose them to new worlds, and even teach about places, eras, and skills.
There are many places you can find booklists for teen reading, such as:
The Good & the Beautiful’s Booklist – spanning preschool through graduation, this booklist also gives a short summary and merits of the book
Read Around the World – geared toward elementary and middle, these books help to develop an understanding of what it’s like for people who have a different race, culture, religion, or socio-economic status.
Audiobooks for World History – audiobooks count, too! These cover fiction set at different eras in world history.
Without knowing the plot and characters, it can feel intimidating to discuss the book with your teen, so how do you engage?
Cliffnotes – These were handy when you were in college, and they’re handy now, if you can find one for the book your teen is reading. If not, simply go online and find a book reviewer who has written about the book. You’ll find the summary, character introduction, a little commentary, and probably a spoiler or two.
Skim the Book – Read chapters one and two, skim the middle, and read the last two chapters. Not effective if you’re going to be tested, but it will give you a good feel for the flow of the story.
Read the Book – Granted, you probably don’t have time to do this for every book, but choose one of the books your teen is reading and read it, too. This not only allows you to talk more in depth, but is something that will show your teen how committed you are to what they are interested in.
Watch the Movie – We’re not being tested, so it’s not cheating. Be aware, however, that the movie plot often deviates from the book plot, so you may get a slightly different story.
Ask the Question
One of my favorite things about homeschooling teens is how the conversation naturally flows throughout the day. Well…maybe not before lunchtime, but that’s only because their brains are still sleeping. Just as the day ebbs and flows, hitting both the important and the minutiae, our conversation about their books takes the same track.
Start by asking how the book is coming along. This opens up the floor for whatever they want to tell you…which might be the entire plot and how it relates to something else they saw or read…or it might be, “fine.” (If you have boys, I know you’re feeling me here.)
Follow up on their response. If you got the “fine” answer, you might ask for a little more information. What’s happened in the book since you last checked in? What do they think about the story so far? These questions are designed to elicit more than a one-word response…
Challenge their opinions. Whether you agree with them or not, one of the things we get to do as parents is teach our children to think critically about their own opinions and learn to defend them, but we do so from a place of love and support. This is a way to dive into deeper conversations about your family’s beliefs, too.
Compare and contrast. How does the book stack up to another one they’ve read? Is it derivative? Is it outlandish? Is there a certain theme to the stories they gravitate toward? Does it relate to any current events or recent movies?
Peer Engagement
When I think ‘book club,’ my mind gravitates toward my grandmother and her friends sitting around sharing cookies and tea in the afternoon and, quite frankly, doing more discussing of what’s happen around town than what’s happening in the pages. BUT…a book club can for teens can actually be a lot of fun (albeit still devolve into chattiness)!
When teens discuss books with other teens, they get the perspective of someone their own age, rather than an adult who has a different life view and wisdom set. They get a chance to bond with a friend over something they book really enjoyed, or hated, or maybe disagreed over and ended up having a controversial, yet enlightening, discussion. As part of a book club, you can use novel study units for discussion prompts, hands-on activities, and additional background learning. These are perfect for a co-op or small group setting!
Virtual book clubs are another option for peer engagement. Each month Literary Adventures for Kids hosts an interactive book-of-the-month club. Students delve deeper into a novel, discuss various aspects (symbolism, foreshadowing, and even just how the weather is looking that day around the country), and make peer connections with other homeschooling teens. Additionally, each month students are invited to embody the book through dressing up for the live meeting, such as in this one about The Hobbit.
The Encarta World Dictionary defines religion as “people’s beliefs and opinions concerning the existence, nature, and worship of a deity or deities and divine involvement in the universe and human life.” In a world that is constantly struggling for peace, having a better understanding of belief systems and values can help us to understand different people and cultures…which may lay the foundation for a thoughtful progression amid a multitude of complex cultures. Studying world religions can lead to a better understanding of the relationships between religion and politics, economics, and social structures..
This tale of the Roman invasion of ancient Britannia remains one of G.A. Henty’s most popular novels of all time. Join Beric and his best friend Bodouc as they live the adventure of a lifetime – captured by the Romans, trained as gladiators, and placed in the service of Emperor Nero himself! When the story of a mysterious “Christus” begins to circulate the Roman Empire, Beric and Bodouc are forced to confront their pagan past. Will the two young prisoners be able to overcome their thirst for revenge and discover the source of true forgiveness?
The troubles in the district of Tiberias, the march of the legions, the sieges of Jotapata, of Gamala, and of Jerusalem all come to life. In this impressive and carefully studied historic setting, you will follow a lad, John of Gamala, who passes from the vineyard to the service of Josephus, becomes the leader of a guerrilla band of patriots, fights bravely for the Temple, and after a brief term of slavery at Alexandria, returns to his Galilean home with the favor of Titus. The fall of Jerusalem is brought to life in this classic.
By gaining a greater understanding of the cultures and beliefs of people around the world, children build respect and tolerance for the differences that make each of us unique.With objectivity and accessibility, this title in the Kids Book of series looks at the histories, scriptures, places of worship, religious leaders, gods and major festivals that are the foundations of many of the world’s religions.
Over 7 billion people live on the earth, and 84 percent of them describe themselves as being religious. Few topics incite such passion as religion. What does that mean? Why are humans invested in ideas that may never be proved? Why has religion played such an important role in history?
Although the people we study in history lived decades or even centuries ago, their actions impacted how we live our lives today. Names, dates, facts…these are some of the things that I hear students complain about when they talk about disliking history. It’s too confusing…they can’t put it into context. A visual display, however, can help tie everything together in an easier-to-digest format! Our two favorite, visually-appealing ways to link historic events include this book (fantastic for those with small spaces) and this wall chart (for those with a dedicated homeschool area).
But it’s not just faceless names and random dates; history is full of transitional events that have altered the world’s story. By learning about different eras, you start to see what changes might happen in the future and what would drive that change. For example, learning about the fall of Rome teaches you that even the most powerful society can fall apart—and what happens to cause that crumbling.
By studying history, humanity has a chance to learn from its mistakes, theorize about alternative options based on correcting past mistakes as it moves forward with future events. After all, history rhymes…so it’s likely that there will be a chance to act differently in the future.
There are five concepts – or 5 Cs – of history. These are at the heart of every question historians ask as they seek to better understand the past, and they include (from most easily understood to the more complex): change over time, causality, context, complexity, and contingency. The strangeness of the past enables us to step back and look at our society and ourselves from a new perspective—indeed, we might start to look a bit strange to ourselves! (Think not? Check out Motel of the Mysteries)
Geography gets a bad rap for being boring, but usually that’s just because it’s not being taught in an engaging way. After all, who wants to look at a bunch of maps for places they’ve never been (or possibly never even heard of) and think about people and things they will never see? To really get kids interested in geography, you have to bring it to life!
Why study geography?
Geography is the study of humans and people through space, throughout time, and how those spaces have shaped history. Every place has a history behind it, shaped by humans, earth, and climate. By studying geography, we gain meaning and awareness to those places, which also puts history in context. It helps us see the why, when, and how of what happened in history. Learn more about History, Mythology, and World Cultures.
Studying countries also helps with spatial awareness and mapping skills. If you don’t know where a place is, or the physical context of the area, how can you understand what is being reported on the news? Learning about land, resources available, and how that has shaped a culture of today helps you understand the uniqueness of each local culture.
Geography helps us to explore and understand the differences in cultures, political systems, economies, landscapes, and environments across the world. By understanding these things, we can explore the connections between them. As we learn how all people are interconnected, it makes the world a little bit smaller, making us care just a bit more about our fellow man…even if he is halfway around the globe.
Studying the civil rights movement helps students to better understand American history, making connections between the past and the present. Though the struggles have changed, the song remains the same, and we want a new generation to learn these principles of civics and how to be an active member of society.
The most well-known of the civil rights movements started in the mid-fifties and went into the late sixties. The goal was to eliminate racial discrimination and segregation in the United States. The civil rights movement had its origins in the post Civil War / Reconstruction era and was a in response to the Jim Crow laws prevalent during the time immediately after the abolition of slavery. Over the course of the century, various less successful civil rights movements were formed, but the one started in the 1950s saw the most success. Most of the movement’s members tried to employ forms of nonviolent mass protest and civil disobedience. These entailed things such as boycotts, sit-ins, and marches through public places.
Civil rights exist to protect individuals’ freedoms. These include freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly, privacy, and they protect individuals from being discriminated against based on race, age, gender, religion, and social class, etc. Also included are political rights such as right to fair trial, due process, self-defense, and the right to vote. These are freedoms which are called by many basic human rights and should not be infringed by any movement or agency. Many people have differing opinions on what are considered basic human rights, but human rights as we define it in a public setting are comprised in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This document was written in 1948 and includes definitions of various such civil and political rights.
Interactive Curricula
These online literary guides have everything you need to study the book. They include vocabulary, grammar, free-write questions, videos, rabbit trails, and project ideas.
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