YAY! This idea has been brewing in my head for a few months and it’s finally time to put my plan into action. I’m starting up a family book club here on A Mom with a Lesson Plan. Reading is an important part of how our family connects. We love being excited about a good book together. It leads to so many discussions and it’s a great way to make sure we’re getting in extra quality time.
Since this is the first time I’ve ever hosted a book club, I would love your opinion on how it’s going. You can let me know what’s working and what’s not at amomwithalessonplan@gmail.com and maybe together we can come up with a fantastic family book club to repeat again and again.
What is a Family Book Club?
The idea of a family book club is to read one book together as a family. At our house, I try to keep the book near at all times so I can grab it and start reading when the kids are playing quietly. (I have very active kids, so reading time rarely looks like us all snuggled on the couch.) If your kids are reading already consider taking turns reading. Keep in mind their reading level, if the books are a little above their level, you may want to wait a while for that.
The Book
We’ve decided to start with The Secret Garden
If you have a boy or boys, please don’t pass on this because of the book choice. Big M (now 9 years old) can’t get enough. We started a bit ahead of all of you so that we can get activities prepared, and he is the one who begs me not to stop. I know that the older he gets the less likely he will be to pick up a book called The Secret Garden, I’m so glad I have the opportunity to offer it to him now.
The Details
The official start date of the Family Book Club is Saturday, September 27. That should give you enough time to get your hands on a copy. Every Saturday I will assign 4 chapters to read over the coming week. I’ll include an activity or some discussion questions to help expand on what your reading as a family. Doesn’t that sound like fun!?!?
I would love for you to leave me a comment letting me know that you and your family will be reading along!
![30 Fantastic Gifts for Siblings That are Fun to Share](data:image/svg+xml;utf8,<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="150" height="150"><rect width="100%" height="100%"><animate attributeName="fill" values="rgba(153,153,153,0.5);rgba(153,153,153,0.1);rgba(153,153,153,0.5)" dur="2s" repeatCount="indefinite" /></rect></svg>)
I would love to do this but my daughters are just over three and a half. Do you think this chapter book is too advanced for them? I would likely read while they were playing.
I started reading chapter books to M and M when Little M was 3. It felt like a great time, but would depend on the kids. The beginning of The Secret Garden talks about how the main character loses her family. I didn’t feel like it was any more descriptive or scary than a normal princess story. I would say go ahead and join us!
Love this idea! Love this book. Remember reading it as a kid. Hoping our book store had a copy of it.
How do we get questions and stuff you post. Will you email it to us?
You can check in every Saturday or sign up for emails. (You will recieve everything I post, including Family Book Club) –> http://mad.ly/signups/109258/join
I have 3 boys: 5.5, 3.5 and .5! We are very excited to do this! We love this story and are looking forward to the activities. Please tell me more about the Classics Starts versions. Thank you for the great idea.
What do you want to know Michelle? If you click the link in the post it will take you to the Classic Starts version on Amazon.
I’m excited to join in with the family book club! Great idea!
YAY!
I love that idea of keeping the book around to read when they are playing quietly.
Thank you Sarah, it makes a huge difference for us.
Great idea! http://Www.goodreads.com would be the perfect place to host your discussion.
I love it! I think we even have a copy already! 🙂
YAY!
I just finished reading this book (original version) with my 7 year old. He loved it. We might look at the activities that you post to follow along otherwise I will try to participate with your next book club choice. I love the idea!
Thank you Melisa! So glad to hear I’ve picked a good one to start with.
We love family book clubs and have been doing them monthly this year. It’s such a great bonding experience for the whole family!
I’m really excited and hope my daughter will be. This was one of my favorite books as a kid 🙂
Love, love, love this idea. My family live in Western Australia and will be joining you for this awesome online activity. I wasn’t able to get the exact ‘The Secret Garden’ book that you posted so we will just modify our plan where we need to 🙂 I have 2 girls aged 12 & 8 and 4 boys aged 7, 5, 4, 2 that I will be doing this with. Thank you. So excited!!
This is a fantastic idea! I still have my copy of The Secret Garden from when I was a young girl. I can’t wait to dive in with my almost 6 year old.
We’re going to join you! I have a 10 yr old boy & 8 yr old girl! So excited to start reading tomorrow! 🙂
Yay! Happy reading. 🙂
I just found your blog searching for ideas for Family book clubs. I’m a little late for this one but I plan to start anyway. I have a 10 & 3 year old boys.
Thanks!
That’s great Tarryn! We are starting Family Book Club round 2 on November 22. We will be reading A Ghost Tale for Christmas Time (affiliate link). You can hop in where we are or read The Secret Garden.