**This list is rough, and more details are coming soon!
I have always wanted STAR to be a “choose your own adventure” style curriculum. With that in mind, I have been studying literature like crazy–literature by Form (grade level group), literature by Cycle, and literature by word count. I started focusing on word counts because assigning chapters per week was not a consistent way of doing things. In our first year at STAR Homeschool Community, I saw that all chapter books are not equal, when parents thought the assigned chapters in Gone Away Lake felt way too long, compared to the other books we’d read that year. After that, I started assigning readings by page counts–but even that isn’t consistent, because one book might use a smaller font and a bigger page layout, and then it will take much longer to read than an average-sized book with the same page numbers.
Analyzing read aloud books has taken a lot of time, because I’ve researched the word counts for 491 books–so far!! Then, after finding the page number, I figured out how many 10-minute sessions it would take to read the book, allowing a couple of minutes for narration.
If you follow the Whole-Family Schedule for Purists (see Welcome & Getting Started), you will read aloud for 10 minutes at a time four days per week, and then 10 extra minutes on one of those days, for a total of 50 minutes over the week. You will want to choose books from Read Aloud: Four Days, 10 min each, and Read Aloud: 1 Extra Day Per Week, 10 min.
If you choose to do school for five days per week, you will want to make additional book selections in Cycle 1 Read Aloud: 1 Extra Day Per Week, 10 min.
The number in front of each book is the recommended form to read aloud to. Since I am a huge advocate for whole-family learning, I suggest choosing a book that you think all of your children will enjoy. I’ll be adding links and the author’s names very soon, and hopefully that will make your research a little easier.
I tried to choose several book options that are available for free on either Project Gutenberg, Heritage History, or LibrVox, though some of the books listed will need to be purchased. I will mark the free titles in the near future!
After you choose the books you would like to use this year, divide out the pages by the number of days listed. For example, for the First Book Choice, divide a single book’s pages by 34, or divide two book’s pages by 17.
Feel free to comment below with questions!
Cycle 2 Read Aloud: Four Days, 10 min each
Book Selection One: 34 DAYS
Choose One:
1- Five Little Peppers and How They Grew
1- Pollyanna
1- Blue Fairy Book (½ of book)
1- The Red Fairy Book (½ of book)
2- Robin Hood (Green)
2- Rolf and the Viking Bow
2- Calico Captive
2- Little White Horse
3- The Prince and the Pauper
3- Men of Iron
3- King’s Fifth
3- Harding’s Luck
3- Chaucer for Children: A Golden Key
3- Oliver Twist (Part-finish book during Book Selection Two)
Or Choose Two:
1- The Door in the Wall
1- Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
1- Blue Fairy Book (¼ of book)
1- The Red Fairy Book (¼ of book)
1- Stuart Little
1- Happy Hollisters
2- The Borrowers
2- Children of the Noisy Village
2- Children of the Longhouse
2- Justin Morgan Had a Horse
3- Penrod and Sam
3- A Single Shard
3- House of Arden: A Story for Children
Book Selection Two: 53 DAYS
Choose One:
2- The King’s Swift Rider (Part-finished in Book Selection Three)
2- Hereward, Last of the English (Part-finished in Book Selection Three)
2- The Legends of Charlemagne
2- Water Babies
2- Parables From Nature
3- The Betrothed (Part-finished in Book Selection Three)
3- The Story of King Arthur and His Knights (Pyle)
3- In Freedom’s Cause
3- Oliver Twist (Part-started during Book Selection One)
Or Choose Two:
Or Choose One from Column A and One from Column B:
| Column A (41-43 days) | Column B (10-12 days) |
| 1- Mary Poppins2- King Arthur (Green)2- Age of the Fable (half)3- Robin Hood (Pyle)2- King’s Fee (Sutcliff)3- Summer of the Monkeys | 1- My Father’s Dragon (choose 2: 5 days)1- Paddington’s Finest Hour1- Ellen Tebbits1- Through the Looking Glass1- Gooseberry Park1- The Sword in the Tree (choose 2: 5 days)1- Minstrel in the Tower (choose 2: 5 days)1- The Pied Piper of Hamlin (choose 2: 5 days)2- The White Stag2- Misty of Chincoteague3- Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!3- Otto of the Silver Hand3- Call it Courage |
Book Selection Three: 25 DAYS
Choose One:
1- The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
2- Don Quixote for Children
2- The King’s Swift Rider (Part-started in Book Selection Two)
2- Hereward, Last of the English (Part-started in Book Selection Two)
2- Good Master
2- Heroes of Asgard
2- My Side of the Mountain
2- A Little Brother to the Bear
2- Bambi: A Life in the Woods
2- Mary Poppins Opens the Door
2- Mary Poppins in the Kitchen
3- Crispin, the Cross of Lead
3- The Story of the Treasure Seekers
3- The Betrothed (Part-started in Book Selection Two)
3- Prairie Lotus
3- Phantom Tollbooth
3- The Travels of Marco Polo
Or Choose Two:
1- Viking Adventure
1- The Hundred Dresses
1- Henry Huggins
1- Otis Spafford
1- Pippi Longstocking
1- The Boxcar Children
1- Just So Stories
1- The Apple and the Arrow
2- A Basket of Flowers
2- Peter of New Amsterdam
2- Chaucer Story Book
Cycle 2 Read Aloud: 1 Extra Day per Week, 10 min
Select from this list for each additional 10 minute chunk of reading planned.
25 DAYS
Choose another book or two from Book Selection Three: 25 Days.
3 Days
Choose One:
1- The Littles
1- Aesop for Children (¼ of book)
2- King Lear (Lamb)
2- Measure for Measure (Lamb)
3- Rip Van Winkle
3- Everyman: A Morality Play
Or Choose One from Column A and One from Column B:
| Column A (1 day) | Column B (2 days) |
| 2- St. George and the Dragon2- A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Nesbit)2- A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Weiss)2- A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Coville)2- King Lear (Nesbit)2- MacBeth (Nesbit)2- MacBeth (Coville)2- Measure for Measure (Nesbit)2- The Winter’s Tale (Nesbit)2- The Winter’s Tale (Coville) | 2- A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Lamb)2- MacBeth (Lamb)2- Winter’s Tale (Lamb)2- Chanticleer and the Fox |
Cycle 2 Free Reading
Choose any of the books you have not used from the list above (go down a Form to make the reading easier and more enjoyable for your student). Or, choose from the following:
Form 1
Jim Weiss: King Arthur and His Knights
Form 2
The Borrowers Series
Mary Poppins Books
Henry Books by Cleary
Legends of Charlemagne
Knight’s Fee by Sutcliff
Beorn the Proud
Form 3
A Heart Strangely Warmed
Night Preacher
Ink On His Fingers
Champions of the Round Table (Pyle)
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court
The Chaucer Story Book