How To Use Books About The American Dream In Your Homeschooling Curriculum

As schools shut down due to the effects of the coronavirus, many parents are choosing to homeschool their children. If you don't have a background in education and have little experience with homeschooling, you may find yourself at a loss. Basing your homeschooling curriculum about books is a wise choice that will allow your child to experience a variety of different viewpoints.

Books about the American dream are excellent at all times, but they may be particularly useful at this moment in history because they can affirm the greatness of the U.S.A. during troubling times. Here are three ways you can incorporate books about the American dream into your child's homeschooling curriculum:

1. Allow your child to choose their own books.

Identifying books about the American dream can help your child articulate the concept to themselves. Instead of assigning books, task your child with finding books about the American dream for themselves. You may need to provide additional guidance for younger children. You can accomplish this by giving your child a list of books about the American dream. Allow your child to look up the books on the internet to read the accompanying blurbs. From there, they can choose the books they're most interested in.

2. Keep your child on track.

Reading can be a time-consuming endeavor. Kids who don't enjoy reading may not be particularly motivated to finish a book, even if it's required for a school assignment. Give your child an adequate amount of time to finish their book. Older children reading more difficult books may require a month to finish one book, while younger kids may be able to finish their books in a couple weeks. Make efforts to keep your child on task. Assign short chunks of reading each day. Breaking the reading assignment into several smaller assignments can help your child keep focus.

3. Assign a book report.

Writing about a book can help your child better retain the information. Assign a book report to your child for each book they complete. Book reports don't need to be complicated. At its most basic, a book report is simply a summary of a book, along with additional thoughts recorded by your child. Instruct your child to write about the ways the book they read demonstrates the American dream. Critical thinking is a skill that will serve your child well through their whole life, and book reports are excellent tools for developing critical thinking.

If you are looking for a new way to teach english in your homeschool curriculum, consider including fiction books about the american dream in your schedule.