Reading list for gifted homeschoolers

Most homeschooling children are avid readers. This is especially true when the homeschoolers happen to be gifted. Most gifted homeschoolers are not only bookworms; they are Book Eaters. It is not unusual to find gifted homeschoolers reading three or four books at the same time, in addition to the books they are using for their school work. It can become a problem to find books to stimulate your gifted homeschoolers and not expose them to too much violence or other inappropriate materials.

There are some good resources available to help you find age and reading level appropriate books. One of these resources is the book wizard from Scholastic. The website www.scholastic.com/bookwizard is a good place to help spark some ideas for new books.

In my experience, most gifted homeschoolers enjoy reading book series, so my first few suggestions are tailored for this.

I highly recommend the following books for gifted homeschoolers -

C.S. Lewis's "The Chronicles of Narnia". The series consists of seven books. The most popular of these, thanks to the movies, are The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, and Prince Caspian, but all of the books in the series are wonderful and enriching.

J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Ring" series. Again, the stories build off of each other and are engaging.

Trenton Lee Stewart's "The Mysterious Benedict Society" and "The Perilous Journey of the Mysterious Benedict Society".

Mark Twain's "Huckleberry Finn" and "Tom Sawyer", but as with all books, read these first to make sure you find these appropriate for your own children.

"Little Women" and "Little Men" by Louisa May Alcott is a good choice that also gives a picture of life in America during a different time period.

"The Indian in the Cupboard" by Lynne Reid Banks is also a great book. Plus, there are numerous resources online to further a study of this book.

"Island of the Blue Dolphins" by Scott O'Dell.

"The Penderwicks" and "The Penderwicks on Gardam Street" by Jeanne Birdsall are both excellent choices.

The Eragon series by Christopher Paolini is also intriguing and engaging.

My Book eaters are working their way through the Inkheart series, currently. So far, it is going quite well.

For younger readers, the Encyclopedia Brown series by Donald J. Sobol will spark problem-solving skills.

Laura Ingall Wilder's "Little House" series, particularly "Little House in the Big Woods". While these may not be particularly challenging for strong readers, they do offer a realistic picture of life in America during its frontier period and are great jumping off points to unit studies about life in America.

Branch out into non-fiction as well. Science, history, and autobiographies are excellent choices, especially if your reader is a linear thinker.

This certainly is nowhere near an exhaustive list, but it will hopefully give you some ideas and a place to start from.

As with all books, certainly read these first and then discuss them with your children as they are reading them.

I also recommend creating a reading journal with your child to keep track of what they have read and their reactions to the stories. This will also give you ideas of what to put on the reading list according to their interests. Some tips for helping your child create a reading journal can be found here:http://www.ehow.com/how_4542936_help-child-reading-journal.html

in an eHow article "How to Help Your Child Create a Reading Journal"