Book list for an eight or nine-year-old boy

I pulled Isaac's "Books I've Read" binder in order to post this reading list, and I had to chuckle when I looked at his entries.  You can easily see what he was into this year as you glance at the list below.  I asked him, "Bud- is this all you read?  Did you forget to write down some other titles?"  He says he probably did, and I think that's true. Oh well.  Here's what we do have:

[Again, these are the books he chose to read this year, in addition to what I assigned for him.  (His Assigned Reading list is posted here.)]

Ben and Me, Robert Lawson
Redwall, Brian Jacques
Mossflower, Brian Jacques
Mattimeo, Brian Jacques
Mariel of Redwall, Brian Jacques
Salamandastron, Brian Jacques
Martin the Warrior, Brian Jacques
The Bellmaker, Brian Jacques
Outcast of Redwall, Brian Jacques
Pearls of Lutra, Brian Jacques
The Long Patrol, Brian Jacques
(oh, look!  something different!)  The Mystery at the Alamo, Gertrude Chandler Warner (Boxcar)
The Silver Sword, Ian Serraillier
Frederick Douglass Fights for Freedom, Margaret Davidson
Friday the Arapaho Indian, A.M. Anderson
Marlfox, Brian Jacques
Bull Run, Paul Fleischman
The Legend of Luke, Brian Jacques

I have not read a single Brian Jacques title (nor do I particularly desire to), but Mark did read the first book to proof it before Isaac read it, and we've had several friends (and my two brothers) recommend them to us.   My personal favorite from his list is The Silver Sword- one we've read before as a read-aloud but one he decided to read on his own, too.  It has been republished with the new title Escape from Warsaw if you're unable to track it down by the original title.

I asked Isaac which Redwall book was his favorite and he said: "the two that are really my favorites are The Pearls of Lutra and Salamandastron."  The reason he likes The Pearls of Lutra is that "there are a lot of riddles in the story to figure out."  Salamanastron was a favorite because he really liked some of the characters.  I asked him to describe what the books are about for boys (or parents) who may not be familiar with them.  He said, "Redwall is an abbey that has squirrels and mice and voles and shrews and otters and hedgehogs and there is usually a badger or two.  Usually in the book there's a bad guy (usually a rat, ferret, stote, weasel or wildcat) and he attacks the abbey or sometimes he (Brian Jacques) makes it far away and the "people" of Redwall have to travel to get there and defeat the bad guy."  So, sort of a good versus evil, animals-that-talk type of book, from what I gather.  Lots of adventure and suspense. 

Cursive: What we do

At the beginning of this year I vacillated on whether or not I should require Isaac to learn cursive.  I mean- yes, he has to learn to write his name in cursive, but is it necessary for boys to learn cursive?  Mark encouraged me to go for it, and I'm glad we did.  The first several letters were fairly painstaking for him, but he actually really likes doing it now, and I think it's been good for him overall. 

I printed out the Alphabet Tracing Guides from this site - one uppercase and one lowercase- and refer to them as a guide.  Each week I present a new letter on the dry erase board and we practice it together.  Isaac has to form at least three good letters and Ella at least five.  (Of course, Ella would happily do forty-five!  :))

We did the letter P today, so we're making good progress through the alphabet!

Isaac's page: I'm so proud of him!

Ella likes me to circle my favorites of her letters.

Ella has beautiful penmanship. 

Assigned reading list, 3rd grade

Assigned reading list for Isaac, 3rd grade: American History

{for History}

o choose a book on Benjamin Franklin, read it, and then tell us about it!
o The Look-It-Up Book of Presidents (Wyatt Blassingame), read about our 2nd, 3rd and 4th Presidents!
o Tippecanoe and Tyler, Too! (Stanley Young)
o Great Inventors and Their Inventions (Frank Bachman) > choose 2 inventions to read about, then do a written narration, with drawings
o Johnny Appleseed (David R. Collins)
o The Story of Davy Crockett (Enid Lamonte Meadowcroft)
o The Look-It-Up Book of Presidents (Wyatt Blassingame), read about James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, and Andrew Jackson
o Sam Houston: The Tallest Texan (William Johnson)
o Tad Lincoln: Abe’s Son (LaVere Anderson)
o  Wait for Me, Watch for Me, Eula Bee (Patricia Beatty) OR
    Three Against the Tide (D. Anne Love)
o Mr. Lincoln’s Drummer (G. Clifton Wisler)
o  Johnny Texas (Carol Hoff)  *we also have the next book: Johnny Texas on the San Antonio Road, if you like the first one!
o Friday the Arapaho Indian (A.M. Anderson)
o The Children Who Stayed Alone (Bonnie Bess Worline)
o Custer’s Last Stand (Quentin Reynolds)

{other “just for fun” books}

o Christian Liberty Nature Reader, Book 3
o The Sign of the Beaver (Elizabeth George Speare)
o Wheel on the School (Meindert DeJong)
o The Sugar Creek Gang (Paul Hutchens)
o Five Children and It (Edith Nesbit)