When I resolved in January to read, I wasn't kidding!

The funny thing about reading is this: once you commit to read more, it becomes a bit of an addiction. I can't wait to finish a book so I can start the next one, and I find myself relishing quiet time to read.

And here's the even BETTER thing about reading: I'm watching my whole family hop on board the reading train, too. There is so much to be said for modeling a behavior you want to see in your children.

(Check out the summer reading list for kids on the blog, too!)

The list of suggestions for this summer include everything from classics to great beach reads, with a few powerful works of nonfiction thrown in, too. And yes, there are 26 books on this list - and I'm doing my best to read ALL OF THEM this summer! (It's good to have goals, right?)

Actually, I am going to be driving my oldest to and from her first job this summer - and I think I might be doing a lot of audiobooks and a lot of waiting and reading.

Here's to a WONDERFUL summer of reading!

Non Fiction

Screens & Teens: Connecting With Our Kids in a Wireless World

Why Can't We Just Play? : What I Did When I Realized My Kids Were Way Too Busy (Put this on the TOP of your list -- I laughed out loud and could see myself in so many parts of this book!)

How Dante Can Save Your Life

The Vanishing American Adult: Our Coming-of-Age Crisis--and How to Rebuild a Culture of Self-Reliance

Consuming Kids: The Hostile Takeover of Childhood

Comfort Detox: Finding Freedom from Habits That Bind You

*Because we have been doing some driving this summer, our Audible subscription has come in quite handy. My husband and I took a trip to the beach for our anniversary and completed How Dante Can Save Your Life -- this is one of our all time favorite books.

Big Summer Reading List for Moms: How Dante Can Save Your Life

Classics

(I just finished Persuasion - what a lovely Jane Austen book it is. Her last book, the title was actually assigned to it by Jane Austen's brother after her death. I think it's a GREAT place to start if you're hesitant to read the classics!)

Persuasion - FREE for Kindle

The Mayor of Casterbridge - FREE for Kindle

Dante's Inferno

The Island of the World

Historical Fiction

Lincoln in the Bardo

A Gentleman in Moscow

Lilac Girls

Before We Were Yours

The Second Mrs. Hockaday

Half Broke Horses

City of Light

Ross Poldark, Poldark #1

Books for Continuing Education for Homeschool Parents

Beauty in the Word: Rethinking the Foundations of Education

The Core: Teaching Your Child the Foundations of a Classical Education

I've been trying to vary what I read - sometimes it's just fun to pick up a book that doesn't make a profound statement and that isn't hard to read. Those are my beach reads, and I must say I'm hooked on Liane Moriarity! In fact, I read Big Little Lies in just one day at the beach recently!

"Beach Reads"

Memoirs

The Bright Hour: A Memoir of Living and Dying

When Breath Becomes Air

Books for the Big Summer Reading List for Moms

I'd love to hear what you are reading! Share it with me in the comments below!

Do you ever find yourself stumbling into a unit study?

This recently happened in our home. Finding one sweet book about Benjamin Franklin at a used book store led to asking the librarian to help us find further Ben Franklin resources, which led us to more and more resources.

Unit studies often snowball like that and I LOVE it!

Our simple Ben Franklin Unit Study has been a lot of fun.

*This post contains affiliate links - please see my Disclosure Page for more details.

Keep The Unit Study SIMPLE

I don't like to plan too much for a unit study because then I feel like a failure if we don't accomplish it all. Less is more, and sometimes a few beautiful resources go a long way.

Honestly, our unit studies kind of plan themselves - I let my children lead me into what interests them. (and the rest is history!)

Books About Ben Franklin

Ben and Me - This sweet book is told from the perspective of Ben's mouse, Amos. It's so informative, humorous, and satirical. I found that BOTH my sixth and second grader loved it. This is what started our interest in Ben Franklin.

Electric Ben - Our local librarian recommended this book to us - it had just arrived at the library. It is a picture book, but full of hundreds of details and appropriate for upper elementary and even some middle grade students. We read several pages each night and finished the book in a week.

Ben Franklin and His Magic Squares - One of the most fun things to do when studying Franklin is Magic Squares. This book shows what they are all about and tells why Franklin was led to develop them in the first place. This book was a thrift store find and I think it was a lucky find at that!

You can also find Magic Squares to play on the computer.

Now and Ben: The Modern Inventions of Benjamin Franklin - Kids love to learn about inventions, and this book is a great picture book for just that.

Who Was Ben Franklin?: This series of books is always a go-to for me when helping kids learn about a historical figure. They are short, sweet, and can be used as a read aloud or read alone.

Hands On Inventions

Kid Inventor, Basic Electronics Kit - This kit was handed down to us (by my same friend who initially loaned me all those great homeschool books!). I am so thankful for this. The kids have been having lots of fun with it.

Snap Circuits - Doesn't it seem like all homeschoolers should have a set of these? I think it's a law or something. We have two sets and use them often!

Snap Circuits RC Rover: This is especially fun if your child likes Snap Circuits.

ZOOB Inventor's Kit: ZOOBS are such fun for kids -- this inventor's kit is great!

Copywork

Using Notebooking Pages new copywork feature I am making copywork pages of Franklin's most famous quotes.

I have a great little book - Sayings of Poor Richard, but you can also find a lot of Franklin Quotes online.

Music - The Glass Armonica

Of course we gravitate towards Franklin's musical invention, the Glass Armonica. We read a great article from PBS about his invention.

This is a wonderful video to watch, too:

We've been listening to Mozart, Beethoven, and Haydn - three composers who wrote music for the Glass Armonica. This has gone along quite nicely with our SQUILT Music Appreciation studies - specifically Volume 2, The Classical Era.

You could continue to let this Benjamin Franklin unit study expand and expand.

For now, we have gotten our feet wet with Ben Franklin, and when we get around to that point in American History to study him we will be ready to go DEEPER.

At this young age I think it's about cultivating a curiosity and a love for great figures from history, so that one day my children will want to find out MORE and be able to converse intelligently about that person and their place in history.

Have your children studied Ben Franklin?

The Big Summer Reading List for Moms