**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 Cycle 1 Read Aloud: Four Days, 10 min each, and Cycle 1 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!
I’ve gone through this same list with my 15-year old daughter to ask what she has already read and what she would be excited for me to read aloud to hear and her 10-year old sister this year. It’s fun! Feel free to print this list and make notes on it and decide what is the best fit for your family!
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 1 Read Aloud: Four Days, 10 min each
Book Selection One: 34 DAYS
Choose One:
1- The Wind in the Willows
1- Black Beauty
1- Blue Fairy Book (½ of book)
1- The Red Fairy Book (½ of book)
2- The Lantern Bearers
2- The Ark
2- A Story of the Golden Age of Greek Heroes
2- Age of the Fable (Half)
2- A Book of Golden Deeds
3- Swiss Family Robinson
3- The Bronze Bow
3- Golden Fleece and the Heroes Who Lived before Achilles
3- The Golden Goblet
3- Tanglewood Tales
Or Choose Two:
1- Mr. Popper’s Penguins
1- Blue Fairy Book (¼ of book)
1- The Red Fairy Book (¼ of book)
1- The Story of Doctor Dolittle
1- Winnie the Pooh
1- Happy Little Family by Rebecca Caudill
1- Five Children and It by Edith Nesbit
2- Little Miriam of Galilee
2- Twenty One Balloons
2- Emily’s Runaway Imagination
3- The Black ships Before Troy The Story of the Iliad
3- Strawberry Girl
Book Selection Two: 53 DAYS
Choose One:
2- Dangerous Journey: The Story of Pilgrim’s Progress
2- The Iliad for Boys and Girls
3- Kim
3- Pilgrim’s Progress
3- Arabian Nights (Lang)
3- The Cat of Bubastes: A Tale of Ancient Egypt
Or Choose One from Column A and One from Column B:
| Column A (41-43 days) | Column B (10-12 days) |
| 1- The Little Pilgrim’s Progress 2- Hans Christian Andersen’s Complete Fairy Tales 2- Fairy Tales Too Good To Miss—Into the Woods 3- Mara, Daughter of the Nile3- Eagle of the Ninth 3- Outcast | 1- A Llama in the Family1- Rabbit Hill 1- The Light Princess 1- The Best Christmas Pageant Ever 1- McBroom’s Wonderful One Acre Farm (choose 2: 5 days) 2- The King of the Golden River (choose 2: 5 days) 2- Mystery of the Roman Ransom 2- Homer Price 2- Because of Winn Dixie 3- The Wonderful O 3- A Long Walk to Water |
Book Selection Three: 25 DAYS
Choose One:
1- Indian in the Cupboard
1- A Cry From Egypt
1- Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh
1- The Jungle Book
2- Odyssey for Boys and Girls
2- The Heroes
2- D’Aulaire’s Book of Greek Myths
2- Twice Freed
2- Aladdin and Other Tales from Arabian Nights
2- Detectives in Togas
2- The Gammage Cup
3- A Wonder Book for Boys and Girls
3- Snow Treasure
3- Victory on the Walls
3- God King: A Story in the Days of King Hezekiah
3- Wanderings of Odysseus
3- Hittite Warrior
Or Choose Two:
1- A Bear Called Paddington
1- The House at Pooh Corner
1- A Boy of the Pyramids: A Mystery of Ancient Egypt
1- The Second Jungle Book
2- Our Little Athenian Cousin of Long Ago
2- Our Little Spartan Cousin of Long Ago
2- Gods and Heroes
2- Triumph for Flavius
2- The Aeneid for Boys and Girls
2- In Grandma’s Attic
2- James and the Giant Peach
3- All for Love, or, The World Well Lost
Cycle 1 Read Aloud: 1 Extra Day per Week, 10 min
Select from this list for each additional 10 minute chunk of reading planned.
Book Selection One: 25 DAYS
Choose another book or two from Book Selection Three: 25 Days.
Book Selection Two: 3 Days
Choose One:
1- Aesop for Children (¼ of book)
2- Lassie Came Home
3- Hamlet (Lamb)
3- As You Like It (Lamb)
Or Choose One from Column A and One from Column B:
| Column A (1 day) | Column B (2 days) |
| 2- Hamlet (Nesbit or Coville) 2- As You Like It (Nesbit) | 1- Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams 2- Taming of the Shrew (Nesbit or Weiss) 2- The Tempest (Nesbit or Coville) 2- Taming of the Shrew (Lamb) 2- The Tempest (Lamb) |
Cycle 1 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
Paddington Books
Blaze Books
Form 2
Marguerite Henry Books
Ramona Books
Sarah, Plain and Tall Books
Tirzah by Travis
The Silver Branch by Sutcliff
Lantern Bearers by Sutcliff
The Victor by St. John
Twice Freed by St. John
Form 3
Gilgamesh the Hero by Geraldine McCaughrean
Warrior Scarlet by Sutcliff