American History Reading, September 2014

American Historical fiction is one of my favorite things to read with my kids. There are just so many options out there that I admit to being a bit paralyzed when I've been trying to come up with reading lists for this year. As of right now, I've just given up on the actual list (unheard of for my normal nature!) and am just picking books as we need them and as they tie in with our studies.

Of late:



I've read Sam the Minuteman and Paul Revere's Ride with the littler girls. I am (slightly embarrassed) to say this might be the first time I have read the Paul Revere poem in it's entirety. I would have thought I had read it before as familiar as I was with the famous first lines

Listen, my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.

And then there's a line about one if by land, two if by sea and my memories stop there. : ) We'll be giving this a re-read before shelving it for the year. I've also found a reading on YouTube I'll have the whole crew listen to as well. (See also: Andy Griffith telling the tale of Paul Revere. Definitely checking this one out as well). : )



Pedro's Journal was our first back-to-school read-aloud, following our fun summer of sequels. This is the story of Columbus' journey as told through the journal of young Pedro, a young boy chosen for the journey because of his ability to read and write. With short chapters, this book gave a great feel for what it would have been like to travel with Columbus - the stressful sea voyage, first impressions of the natives they encounters (and Pedro's thoughts of Columbus' treatments of them), and a myriad of other details related to sea travel and exploration.



I've also pulled this resource off my shelf and am planning to utilize it quite frequently this year. I bought this at a homeschool seminar well before N1 was even in kindergarten and we dog-eared the pages of this little guide most of her K through 2nd grade years. I was hunting for an age appropriate book for N1 for independent reading - one that neither of us had read - and just needed some inspiration and help with the decision making.



We settled on Johnny Tremain and we'll be reading it together on our respective Kindles. N1 is a big fan of audiobooks as well so I splurged the extra $3+ and bought the accompanying Audible recording which she can listen to on my Kindle. I've never read this Newberry winner and am excited to read it with her. N2 is currently engrossed in all things Roald Dahl and is reading Matilda. Not exactly a tie-in with our American History studies, but I'm okay with that. : )