The Homeschooler’s Read-Aloud Guide {book lists, websites, and more!}
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Reading aloud is something that has been a part of our homeschool for years. I have gathered here a huge collection of resources to help you begin to implement a read-aloud time in your own home, whether you homeschool or not!
Our Read-Aloud Time
We have enjoyed read-aloud times each day pretty much from the beginning of our homeschooling journey, way back in 1998! I remember cuddling on the couch with my then kindergarten daughter and newborn son, nursing my son and reading the Little House on the Prairie series to my daughter. Those were our humble beginnings and we loved it so much, we have kept it up all these years.
Afternoons have been the best time for our family to have read-aloud times. The “littles” would nap during our read-aloud time, and I remember how anxious they were to be old enough to join us! Of course, I read picture books to them another time, but they were anxious to listen in on the “big kids” reading time too.
It has amazed me over the years to see how engaged even my little ones can be when sitting in on our read-aloud time. Books that I thought would be over their heads, were being absorbed and somewhat understood!
My youngest just turned 7 and he is my talker. His vocabulary is amazing, even though he is struggling to learn to read still. I attribute his vocabulary skills to the years he has sat in on our reading time. He loves books and will sit and just look through them. Just wait until he learns to read! There will be no stopping him!
Why This Read-Aloud Guide?
While there is much more I could share about having a read-aloud time, when to read, how to schedule it in your day, etc., I wanted this post to be a guide to resources you can use to find great books to read. Your local library is full of great books, if you only know where to find them. My prayer is that this guide will point you to some resources that will make choosing books much easier. Enjoy!
Books of Lists
Read for the Heart – A wonderful book by Sarah Clarkson that has lists and brief summaries of tons of great books! Excellent resource! I take this one to the library with me.
All Through the Ages – This is another excellent resource for great books to read! This book is organized chronologically and by region, making this a wonderful resource for finding great books for your studies!
Honey For A Child’s Heart – Another wonderful resource with lists and summaries of great books to read!
The Read-Aloud Handbook – Another book of lists of great books to read.
The Read-Aloud Treasury series – This isn’t actually a list of books, but a series of Kindle books I have published with a ton of great books to read.
Lessons From History Series – This is a wonderful series of books for your history study that not only includes book lists, but activities and timeline figures! It looks like the Lessons from History site is no longer online, but I found the 6-book set available here for sale. You can also find some of these on Amazon.
Websites With Book Lists
Storyformed.com – This is Sarah Clarkson’s new site with booklists and a library of book reviews and recommendations. Go check it out!
Ambleside Online – This is a popular free curriculum site that has reading lists for each grade. I know many homeschoolers who use their lists to find great books for their kids to read or to read aloud together.
Simply Charlotte Mason – This is another popular free curriculum that has reading lists you can use.
The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim TreLease – I’m not sure if this online book list includes everything in Jim’s book, The Read-Aloud Handbook, but there are some great lists of books here to take a look at!
1000 Good Books List – This was my first list that I used when we first started homeschooling. I am so glad it is still available online! I printed out this list and put it in a binder. I then took it to the library with me to find books to read aloud to the kids. When we read a book, I wrote the date beside the book. It was great!
Audio Books
Librivox – A popular resource for free audio books!
Books Should Be Free – This is a wonderful resource to listen to great books online or download them.
My Audio School – There a bunch of free books you can listen to online, or pay the membership to listen to all of them!
Free Classic Audio Books – This site is not as user-friendly, but has a ton of audio books you can download.
Lit2Go – This is kind of a neat site. You can listen to the books online, download the mp3, or a PDF file!
My Posts on Read-Alouds
Living Book List for Science – This is a list I found on an old forum, but it is full of great science-related books to read!
Christmas Read-Alouds – A list of some of our favorite Christmas books to read aloud.
Historical Read-Alouds for the Younger Crew – A list I put together with some great history books to read to the younger ones.
Some of our Favorite Read-Alouds – Another post with a listing of some of our favorites.
Need some awesome summer reading material for you and your kids? – This is a post about the Yesterday’s Classics ebook bundle filled with great books to read.
Trailblazer Books – A post about how you can get the Trailblazer ebook series for only $0.99 per book! We found a few of this series in our library years ago and fell in love with the series! I have this set and love having it on my kindle to read to the kids.
Old Homestead Tales (Excellent Living Books for Science – FREE) – A post with the link to the Old Homestead Tales online! My son read all of these books (the softcover versions) and loved them!
Heritage History – My review of some of the Heritage History books. Another great resource for read-aloud books.
Some of our Favorite Books – Another post with some of our favorite books to read aloud.
This post is linked up at Mom 2 Mom today.
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