Recently I purchased a copy of George Washington’s World by Genevieve Foster. The recommended reading level begins at 4th grade, yet is seems like excellent read-aloud material. Is there a compelling reason why I should wait until my knowledge-level children are older before using this as the backbone for a history timeline? Pamela, Chicago
I suggest that you might want to ignore reading levels. Here is the rule I followed — if I liked the book and wanted to read it, then I read it aloud to my children, no matter what the reading level was. The summer of 1981, the year Ava was born and Nathan our oldest was 5, I read aloud through the works of Jules Verne. Oh, that was fun! Laurie
We are nearly finished Augustus Caesar’s World by Genevieve Foster and my kids love it. We read it aloud one or two chapters at a time. My ten year old begs for more. 6 and 7 year old enjoy it and though 4 year old sits quietly and I don’t really now how much she is getting she is right in on the pretend that they do relating to this book.
My then 8 year old daughter and I listened to Around the World in 80 days on audio and loved it. We were preparing to move and I painted and painted and painted. When the littles went down for naps I painted and we listened. I want to read more of Verne’s works.
This question looks familiar, Laurie! From a long time ago, perhaps? =)
As it turns out, I wasn’t very pleased with the humanist worldview I perceived in “George Washington’s World,” so we never used it in our study of history. I know a lot of good people will disagree with me on this point, but I feel like it’s at least worth mentioning.
Thanks for your help! =)