**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 4 Read Aloud: Four Days, 10 min each
Book Selection One: 34 DAYS
Choose One:
1- The Railway Children
1- Ginger Pye
1- Pinky Pye
1- Blue Fairy Book (½ of book)
1- The Red Fairy Book (½ of book)
2- The Remarkable Journey of Prince Jen
2- The Princess and Curdie
2- Where the Red Fern Grows
2- Caddie Woodlawn
3- Treasure Island
3- Adopted by Indians
3- Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
3- Around the World in 80 Days
3- Across Five Aprils
3- Lad, a Dog
Or Choose Two:
1- Little House in the Book Woods
1- The Incredible Journey
1- The Tale of Despereaux
1- Blue Fairy Book (¼ of book)
1- The Red Fairy Book (¼ of book)
2- Thimble Summer
2- Brady
2- Red Sails to Capri
2- The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
2- Centerburg Tales
2- Devil’s Arithmetic
2- Blue Willow
3- Island of the Blue Dolphins
3- Number the Stars
3- The Pushcart War
3- Letters from Rifka
Book Selection Two: 53 DAYS
Choose One:
2- Little Men
3- Anne of Green Gables
3- The Hobbit
3- Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates
Or Choose One from Column A and One from Column B:
| Column A (41-43 days) | Column B (10-12 days) |
| 1- Farmer Boy1- Little House on the Prairie1- Little House of Plum Creek2- At the Back of the North Wind2- Rifles for Watie2- Swallows and Amazons2- Jo’s Boys3- The Yanks are Coming3- Roll of Thunder, Hear Me Cry3- Kidnapped3- The Wouldbegoods | 1- The Enormous Egg1- Lumber Camp Library (choose 2: 5 days)1- Shoeshine Girl (choose 2: 5 days)1- Little Riders (choose 2: 5 days)1- Sarah, Plain and Tall (choose 2: 5 days)1- Skylark (choose 2: 5 days)2- The Mouse and the Motorcycle2- Betsy and Tacy2- American Tall Tales2- The Cabin Faced West2- Twenty and Ten (choose 2: 5 days)2- Ralph S. Mouse2- Mountain Born2- Cora Frear (choose 2: 5 days)3- Factory Girl (choose 2: 5 days)3- Behind Rebel Lines3- Goodbye Mr. Chips3- Freedom Walkers3- The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (choose 2: 5 days)3- Sing Down the Moon3- Stickeen: the Story of a Dog (choose 2: 5 days)3- Sounder |
Book Selection Three: 25 DAYS
Choose One:
1- Peter Pan and Wendy
1- The Trumpet of the Swan
1- Wild Robot
1- Understood Betsy
1- Traitor: The Case of Benedict Arnold
1- Gentle Ben
1- Caleb’s Story
2- Bound for Oregon
2- The Boy in the Alamo
2- Gone Away Lake
2- The Chestry Oak
2- Rascal
2- The Peterkin Papers
3- Boys in the Boat
3- The Boy in Striped Pajamas
3- Esperanza Rising
3- The Winged Watchman
3- Parallel Journeys
3- When My Name was Keoko
3- The Endless Steppe
3- English Fairy Tales (Jacobs)
3- Miracles on Maple Hill
Cycle 4 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- Aesop for Children (¼ of book)
2- Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes
2- Othello (Lamb)
2- The Comedy of Errors (Lamb)
Or Choose One from Column A and One from Column B:
| Column A (1 day) | Column B (2 days) |
| 2- Cymbeline (Nesbit)2- Much Ado About Nothing (Nesbit)2- Othello (Nesbit)2- The Comedy of Errors (Nesbit)2- Alls Well that Ends Well (Nesbit) | 2- Cymbeline (Lamb)2- Much Ado About Nothing (Lamb)2- Alls Well that Ends Well (Lamb) |
Cycle 4 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
Keep the Lights Burning, Abbie
Rebecca Caudill books
Form 2
Return to Gone Away Lake
Kate Seredy and the Midnight Express
Betsy and Tacy books
Little House books
Narnia books
Ralph books by Beverly Cleary
Ralph Moody’s Little Britches series
Form 3
Unknown to History (Yonge)
Lorna Doone
The Complete Angler (Walton)
Anne of Green Gables books
Rilla of Ingleside (about WWII)
Little Women books
The Thurber Carnival
Christy
Bonanza Girl
Once On This Island
Strangers in the Land