Summer Reading Fun...

As part of Sonlight's 25th Anniversary Blog Party, I thought I'd share some of our favorite summer reading and learning activities.  We typically have a family read aloud going throughout the year.  Summer is a great time to continue this tradition by reading living history, science, and literature books that you didn't quite get to during the school year.  This is also a time I throw in a few classic literature pieces. 

I draw these additional book ideas from Sonlight Reader and Read Aloud lists as well as from Ambleside Online's Free Reading Lists.  When looking at the Sonlight and Ambleside lists, don't box yourself into a certain year or grade.  I choose books above and below our kids grade level.  We usually do our family read aloud in the evening or at bedtime. 

Our Family Summer Read Aloud Recommendations

Gentle Ben by Walt Morey

Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome

The Chestry Oak by Kate Seredy

The Burgess Bird Book for Children by Thornton Burgess

A Little Princess by Francis Hodgson Burnett

Cabin on Trouble Creek by Jean Van Leeuwen

Kildee House by Rutherford G. Montgomery

Mountain Born by Elizabeth Yates

Follow My Leader by James B. Garfield

Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher

Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Children of the Covered Wagon by Mary Jane Carr

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

Little Britches by Ralph Moody

Our 2015 Family Summer Read Aloud List

Abraham Lincoln by James Daugherty

All Set Sail by Armstrong Sperry

The True Adventure of Daniel Hall by Diane Stanley

Thimble Summer by Elizabeth Enright

Gone Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright

Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank B. Gilbreth, Jr. 

Other learning activities our family enjoys during summer are nature study, softball/baseball, gardening, and  campfires.