Just started homeschooling my son i think i have the basics covered except for some literature...

[Chula13]

what books would recomend for a middle scool age boys to read?

[moominmamma]

I'd recommend whatever books grab him, inspire him, fire up his imagination, get him excited about reading. Take him to the library, let him browse, throw some possibilities his way, see what he gravitates to. I would also continue to read aloud to him. If you have books you are passionate about sharing with him, share them that way. Let his independent reading be interest-driven and self-motivated.

Miranda

[Fillyjonk]

uh...I dunno, whatever they want. My 9 year old loves anything with magic in, so harry potter, the hobbit (likes the lord of the rings but not with the same intensity), wizard of earthsea, myths and legends, the northern lights trilogy, diana wynne jones, the narnia books, roald dahl. Some of these I introduced him to but mainly took himself off to the library and browsed, which he loves doing. I'm sure I've forgotten some books in there-and I dont know everything he's read, only what he wanted to talk about- but my point would be, I don't know how much point there is reading because you are supposed to.

Oh he also really liked Swallows and Amazons, the Laura Ingalls Wilder books (which we balanced with serious discussion about the Native Americans and colonisalism, especially given that we are not in the US) and the My Side of the Mountain trilogy, when he was a little younger.

All that said, a while ago we worked through a pretty good book, "deconstructing penguins" (got it from amazon), which goes through the basics of literary construction, but in a very nice way, we used to both read the suggested book and then discuss them at the coffee shop and it taught him the basic language of stuff like plot, character, etc. But it didn't teach him about plot, character etc, reading with interest did that-it just taught him the words to use. I'll certainly be doing it again with my younger kids when they hit nine or so.

Edited by Fillyjonk - 2/22/13 at 1:33am

[Chula13]

Thank you ladies, I really appreciate your insight.

[1jooj]

I'd definitely try encouraging a few different "types" of books. My middle schooler likes fantasy fiction, of course, but through our family read-aloud time, realized he really enjoys Mark Twain, and that opened him up to classics in general. He still likes to read his fan-fiction sagas, but isn't turned off by the idea of something different now and then.

[christinemm]

I have two sons who are now 15.5 & 12.5. You didn't say what age your son is. First let him pick books that he likes, whatever it is he likes, fantasy, nonfiction, realistic fiction, whatever. Look at book list books or just what comes up on amazon "customers who liked this book also bought" is a great way, or ask your librarian "what is like X book?"

However by grade 6 you might want some gentle literature studies. I recommend the gentle Brave Writer Arrow. You can buy one book study at a time to try it. I think there is a free sample too so you can check it out for free. This starts the way of literature analysis but it's a more gentle discussion with Mom. They sell it also as one a month, that may be too much when starting out for some families. What I am saying is maybe 3-4 in a school year starting in grade 6 as mandatory reading, you pick titles that you think he will like and avoid ones that you suspect he'll dislike. And let all the rest be fun fiction reading. Actually you could do those lit studies as read alouds bc you should also read the book you will discuss...

My kids read before bed every night for 30-60 minutes at that age. They read to unwind. They have not done so well when we got ebooks for Christmas in 2011, I think the blue light is the culprit, it supposedly keeps the brain too awake and alert, and the Kindle apps that they got free, so they were using the ebook reader to play video game apps instead of reading. Sigh. We don't have computers or TV in their bedrooms. I am trying to get them back to reading paper books in bed at night again as it was so good to unwind and to enjoy a book.

Good luck.

[Chula13]

Originally Posted by christinemm 

I have two sons who are now 15.5 & 12.5. You didn't say what age your son is. First let him pick books that he likes, whatever it is he likes, fantasy, nonfiction, realistic fiction, whatever. Look at book list books or just what comes up on amazon "customers who liked this book also bought" is a great way, or ask your librarian "what is like X book?"

However by grade 6 you might want some gentle literature studies. I recommend the gentle Brave Writer Arrow. You can buy one book study at a time to try it. I think there is a free sample too so you can check it out for free. This starts the way of literature analysis but it's a more gentle discussion with Mom. They sell it also as one a month, that may be too much when starting out for some families. What I am saying is maybe 3-4 in a school year starting in grade 6 as mandatory reading, you pick titles that you think he will like and avoid ones that you suspect he'll dislike. And let all the rest be fun fiction reading. Actually you could do those lit studies as read alouds bc you should also read the book you will discuss...

My kids read before bed every night for 30-60 minutes at that age. They read to unwind. They have not done so well when we got ebooks for Christmas in 2011, I think the blue light is the culprit, it supposedly keeps the brain too awake and alert, and the Kindle apps that they got free, so they were using the ebook reader to play video game apps instead of reading. Sigh. We don't have computers or TV in their bedrooms. I am trying to get them back to reading paper books in bed at night again as it was so good to unwind and to enjoy a book.

Good luck.

I really appreciate you telling me about brave writer i had never heard of it before, my son hates writing so hopefully something like that will help. My son is 12  He hasnt been reading too much lately other than the diary of a whimpy kid books but those are way tooeasy and hes done with them in a day plus hes read them all. he likes facts a lot just knowing about things makes him happy so im thinking some non fiction would be better for him. Thanks again

[Chula13]

I don't supoose you guys know og any other online programs likebravewriter do you? Ideally things for science and math?

[moominmamma]

Have you looked at khanacademy.org?

Miranda

[SundayCrepes]

When I am looking for books for my kids I check out the reading list at www.sonlight.com. It is a Christian site and we are NOT Christian. However, they have really great books there. I read about them on amazon and then decide if they're appropriate for our family. Your son is significantly older than our kids so he would have more say, but perhaps he would be interested in looking at their website to see which books interest him.

[moominmamma]

Another non-Christian who thinks Sonlight's novel list can provide some excellent ideas and inspiration. 

Miranda

[Nazsmum]

sonlight = great books

[rachelsmama]

Middle school boy?   Lord of the Flies for sure, with lots of discussion.