FUN-schooling in the Summer with Literary Adventures

We LOVE using the combination of a Charlotte Mason / Unit Studies approach to homeschooling. It’s the base of our curriculum, our school days, and all of the novel studies we love to share with you!

As you read this, we’ve already purchased our own Literary Adventures’ Online Book Clubs membership and begun working our way through the titles.  It’s amazing to me that there isn’t any crossover between the ones that are featured in the book club and the ones we’ve used for the novel studies.  That’s just a testament to how much good literature you can find to use for educational and entertainment purposes!

The book clubs are hosted through Teachable, and are designed for students to work independently.  Each book club is made up of 8 parts that are designed to be a month-long literature study.  They are designed for students ages upper elementary through high school.  The novel is the base of each unit, and there are grammar, spelling, and writing activities at the beginning of each lesson.

The Literary Adventures’ Membership includes 44 books (as of May 2020, and there are more to come) – with 20 elementary books in the Nature Club, 2 elementary mini-courses, and 22 elementary and middle grades books in the Literature Club.  Some of those 22 are more appropriate for the middle and high school range, and we’re going to give you a sneak peek inside one of them!

Some of the already-available clubs for middle and high school are A Wrinkle in Time, Bud, Not Buddy, and Number The Stars, but when my boys saw House With a Clock in its Walls, they agreed it was the one they wanted to do first!  Just as a heads-up, the publisher is planning to add American Literature and British Literature courses for high schoolers by next school year, so stay tuned…

Each book club includes:

• Rabbit Trails (several in each lesson) – Diving off of themes from the novel, meander down paths about pop-culture, history, biographies, poetry, music, and more.
• Magic Dust (several in each club) - These hands-on projects will take you into the book through science, art, games, and more.
• Vocabulary & Grammar (one per lesson) – Copywork and dictation to help with spelling and grammar, plus literary elements, are included here.
• Party Time! (one per club) – This is the last lesson of each club, and includes ideas for food, decorations, and activities to celebrate the novel!

When you first log into your account, you'll see all of the book clubs available and how far you have progressed on each.  As we made our way through House With a Clock in its Walls, we enjoyed exploring MANY different rabbit trails!  Some of these included sports history, how to dance the Foxtrot, astronomy, and Mayan history.  Much of the unit adventures are done via embedded videos and external links to further reading.  What's nice about this is that it's already been pulled together and vetted for you.

One of my son's favorite parts about this particular book club was the Bonus Material (often included in clubs) that featured Jack Black and Led Zeppelin.  He loves classic rock and was thrilled to get a chance to include that topic in his regular school work!

Want to try it out?  You can access a completely FREE course from both the Nature Club and the Literature Club for a limited time!