Ideas for kid's book club...

[linders]

I'm considering putting together a new class for our homeschool co-op next year, a kind of book discussion group for the elementary kids. My DS7 would love to have some other kids to talk books to (most of his neighborhood buddies limit their reading to Captain Underpants and Pokemon, if that). He reads at a 3rd grade level and I was thinking of keeping the reading level at about 2nd-3rd. About a Little House on the Prairie level, maybe. Kids would read outside of class, then we could have a couple of topics each week to discuss.

Do you think there are kids out there (besides my DS) who would like something like this? Or does this sound just too blah for kids? Has anyone tried this? Advice? I'll sound out the co-op members, too, but hoped for your input. Any ideas on books that would (1) appeal to a range of kids and (2) not be controversial? For example, although we have read all the Magic Treehouse books, I know some avoid those because of the "magic" element.

Thanks for your thoughts!

[workingmom]

We just started this for my ds age group. He's actually 6 but reading at a 2-3rd grade level so I wanted to encourage him. The first club event we did it at a roller skating rink, and spend very little time on the "actual discussion" Because the age range we have is 6-10 I had each boy bring a book they just finished reading or are currently reading and had them each say something they liked about their particular book/something new they learned. One problem we faced was that many of read so of the books. Of course most of the boys discussed the MTH series. Now there is much more interest and some moms of 5 year olds are insisting to join. So I'm thinking to have it the same day but when we do the book discussion break it into two circles the 5-7 and the 8-10.
We have one planned this Saturday in our back yard. We are going to decorate the playyard with its "tree house" to be like the MTH one and put books in it. Also we have sports and bicycle riding planned. My main goal was still wanted to make it fun for the boys and ease them into discussions about plot,character etc.
We also had some discussion about the MTH and MSB being "magic" and just briefly discussed to my son the religious meanings behind it and the book is just make believe and in real life we don't believe in magic. I'll get into it later when we asks more questions. I just felt that its a great series to keep them engaged and doesn't have some of the other social issues like dating etc that is really not appropriate for a 6yo.

I'm curious to see how others coordinate the same book for the groups. We hope to move into that.

Also while the kids are playing I usually present a 3 minute review of reading resources/comprehension websites etc for the moms. The last one I made a small handout with resources and distributed it to the moms.

[Sunshine Mama]

We organzied a book club using the Magic Tree House series this year. They're great for unit studies. For instance, for Hour of the Olympics we would review highlights of the book, then discuss info on Ancient Greece, the first Olympics and current Olympics. The kids color a page related to the topic while we're discussing their book (helps with the wiggles, lol) and then we did some games that similar to Olympic games....relay races, etc. We even tried out three legged races. THat was a hit! Games just sort of evolved into our book club and have now become one the favorites. It works good b/c book club is one of the few times where we have an organized group of homeschool kids - a perfect time to play all those games that you can't usually play at home when its just your kids (ex. Duck, Duck Goose, Bingo, charades, hot potato). Anyway, I know MTH is below the reading level you want but just chiming in to say we love our book club! I'll be watching this thread for ideas on books for next years book club!

[scrapbabe]

I did a book club from boys 8-12. We read the Childhood of Famous American's series and other good fictional history books (Landmark, Sowers). We met twice a month. The first meeting we did an activity based on the book. For Ben Franklin we did a printing press. For Columbus we made wooden boats and learned about latitude and longitude on a map. The second activity of the month we had a discussion about the book, and an activity planned by one of the boys (it could be anything he liked, didn't have to be linked to the book).
A friend of mine did a girl's group and they read the American Girl series. They did the same kind of thing as our group.
It was so much fun. I ran it for two years, and then one of the mom's took over this year as we were planning to move. It was one of the best things I've done for our homeshool!

Smiles,
Shalynn

[nutmeg]

Our support group has a book club. We meet once per month in members' homes to discuss, do a craft or project, and (of course) eat. :)

We do not limit to particular ages or reading levels. Kids may read the book themselves, or the family may enjoy it is a read aloud. We choose books that are mid- to upper-elementary level.

What we do wouldn't exactly be comparable to a co-op class, though.

[JennW in SoCal]

My kids were in a book club for several years when they were younger and they loved it. The club included kids from ages 5 to 10 or so, it met once a month, and there was a wide range of books covered. Some of the books were more challenging so that I had to read them aloud to my kids.

The discussion included some review of the plot and characters and some open ended questions. The kids loved it, there were occasionally related crafts or activities. A friend who ran an a different book club for older kids used to let the kids fiddle with play doh or pipe cleaners during the discussion time -- keeping fidgeting bodies busy so the minds could be free to think.

I say go for it, and you'll find lots of families eager to join. You can have several titles in mind to start with, but be open to book suggestions from other families.

[MomOfOneFunOne]

I started a book club this year. I thought it went really well and I think I'll do it again next year.

I wanted a mother/daughter book club for 8 - 11 year olds so that won't exactly be what you're looking for but still, the ideas will work just the same, I imagine.

I chose the books and each girl and mom read the book over the month (we meet monthly). When we get together I (usually but sometimes another mom) lead a two-part discussion. At each meeting I would discuss a different literary device such as foreshadowing or character development or setting, et c. Then we would discuss that aspect of the book and then move on to a more general discussion of the book. For each book we'd discuss all the literary techniques we had discussed, add another one, and have a general discussion. We always read the same book. During the discussion we have a book/theme related snack and after the discussion we do a related craft or activity.

The snacks and activities have been geat. All the moms take turns. For Robin Hood (HOward Pyle) a mom made apple tarts and we had bows and arrows from the dollar store, drew a target on the white board, and had an archery contest. For Little Women we had Blancmange (it was gross, I hope the March girls did a much better job of that than I did!) and played Rigamarole and Truth as in the book. Oddly, one of the children's favorites was played after reading the All of a Kind Family series. In one of the books two of the girls (from a poor family) have some snacks that they've purchased with their own money. They sneak them into the bed and eat them when everyone else is asleep. To make the snacks last longer, they play a game of eating them: bite off the head (of the chocolate baby -- in our case gummy bears) and chew it 9 times b/f swollowing or (for our girls, eat the body but not head or feet, roll it over our tongue 6 times, chew it the number of years you are, swallow with your eyes closed all with both feet in the air. We each brought our own pillows and the activity mom brought blankets and made a bed in the library floor, turned off the lights and I tell you . . . I'm just astonished at how fun they thought that was. For Heidi we painted a big mural of both settings (on the Alm and in the city). That was one of our first books and that mural IS STILL being passed among the kids each one adding another thing (it has grown into some kind of competition!)

It was a fun book club!

Good Luck!



Until this month. This was supposed to be our last month and instead of choosing a book, I wanted to choose a theme. I have no idea why but World War II was chosen. For this club meeting each girl will read a book about WWII or a book that takes place during or was inspired by WWII.

[linders]

Wow, there are more people into book clubs than I realized! I love the ideas - talking about favorite books at the first meeting, something to do (e.g., Playdough) while talking, a few activities to go with. And your various book options were inspiring. I'm going to do it!

[Jenny in Atl]

I friend of mine did a great bk club a few years ago with the Carole March Mysteries. I think they are about 3rd grade level, maybe a little higher, but they are perfect for a bk club and activities. The kids really enjoyed it and I found increased their joy of reading.

[Langhaven]

I am working on the same idea but on the high school level. I happened to notice that Rainbow Resources has literary guides for Trailblazer books which are historical fiction for the elementary level - as well as other books too.

We plan to do a classic, and will have light assignments for each meeting. Each reader will do some research. One will be a historian and will bring one tidbit each week on what was happening during the time period that the book was written. One will be the "word nerd" and will bring several words that they read and didn't know to look up and define. One will bring several literary devices to identify and explain - etc. I think we have about 7 "jobs" each time to have small presentations on. I am really looking forward to this, and the hardest thing has been picking the classic that won't be too controversial for our readers (as well as light enough for summer so as not to think that they are still hitting school hard).

[Melora in NC]

We are members of a homeschoolers' book club, and we enjoy it very much. I think we currently have eight families in all, and there are usually around 12 - 14 kids at each meeting, ranging in age from six to (I think) twelve. We meet once a week, and rotate which mom leads the group in discussion. Recently we have added a second hour of activity after the discussion (so far we've done music, crafts, planning a wagon train expedition, and I am getting ready to teach two weeks of poetry).

The original idea was to read just "classics," but we've sort of settled on "good books which lend themselves to discussion." Our group happens to be all Christians of varous denominations, but we all seem to have similar ideas of what are acceptable sorts of books for our children to read and we haven't had any issues on that subject (yet). Some books we've read so far include
Shiloh,
Island of the Blue Dolphins,
The Secret Garden,
King of the Wind,
The Sign of the Beaver,
Caddie Woodlawn,
Sarah Plain and Tall,
Tuck Everlasting,
and The Wind in the Willows.
(Parents read the books aloud to the younger children -- I've read them all to both of my kids.)

A couple moms (myself included) have read Deconstructing Penguins to give us ideas for leading discussions, and we are talking about purchasing Teaching the Classics to help in this also.
I feel like the group has added a lot to our homeschool, even though it is time consuming. The discussion is often good, and the group offers chances for public speaking that my kids would not otherwise have.