Inspired by reading challenges offered by many public libraries but limited to people in those specific communities, GSHE is hosting a 2023 Reading Challenge for NH’s homeschool community!
It is just for fun, to help young readers explore new authors, subjects, and genres. Our monthly challenges are very broad so families may choose whatever book they wish and feel is appropriate for their children.
We announce each challenge in our monthly newsletters – they usually go out around the 13th or so. This is where you will first see our monthly reading challenge, as a bonus to our subscribers. Sign up for our newsletter at our website; there is a box in the right-hand column that says “join today” and pop-up boxes to register. If you have any difficulty, email us at info@GraniteStateHomeEducators.org and we will register you. 
Participants are not required to write book reports, give oral presentations, or complete formal projects, and families are free to incorporate our reading challenge into their child’s learning as they see fit. We have a simple 2023 GSHE Reading Challenge log that families may print out to keep track of their child’s participation, if they wish. It can be part of your child’s homeschool portfolio!
PARTICIPATION RULES
Parents/guardians may send GSHE one submission per month per child – include the child’s name and age along with what book he/she read. Email us at info@GraniteStateHomeEducators.org with “Reading Challenge” in the subject line so we can more easily keep track of everything. Submissions are due before the next month’s challenge is announced.
Each month’s participation is another chance to win! For example, if your child reads something each month, that is 12 opportunities to win one of our prizes. If a child participates in six of the monthly challenges, that is six chances to win.
For kids that are not reading independently, audio books and books you read together are perfectly fine. All reading abilities are welcome to participate.
To help motivate kids to participate, we would love to have photos to go along with the monthly submissions that we can use in our monthly newsletters.
At the end of the year, we will award $25 Amazon gift cards to FOUR lucky winners!
Let’s get started!!
For March, the reading challenge is to read some fairy tales.
Fairy tales have an important role in literature: they cultivate the imagination; address moral lessons and values; speak to basic human conditions such as love and loss, good vs evil, responsibilities and consequences; impart lessons of hope and redemption; and share fundamentals of how the world works. They can teach children a variety of important lessons in simple ways that are easier for them to understand and remember, such as how to solve problems and be resilient.
They may also be one of the earliest types of literature introduced to young children and many originated as oral stories passed from one generation to another. Because these stories are relatively brief, they are accessible and memorable.
Fairy tales often have multiple variations, perhaps because many originated as oral stories, so it could be an interesting study to read different versions of Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, or Rumplestiltskin.
Although many fairy tales are introduced to children, they have deeper and richer meanings that make them appropriate for older readers, too. The layers of meaning are what make fairy tales enduring and culturally significant.
Fairy tales also are found in all cultures and span the centuries – Ancient Greek and Roman mythology may be the oldest examples. There are anthologies of Irish, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, and African fairy tales and folk stories. It might make an interesting study to read several from a variety of cultures.
Hope you enjoy this month’s challenge!
SUGGESTIONS
Fairy Tales by the Brothers Grimm
Aesop’s Fables
Arabian Nights
Beauty and the Beast
Cinderella
Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Greek and Roman mythology
Into the Woods
Jack and the Beanstalk
Little Red Riding Hood
Mother Goose
Peter and the Wolf
Rumplestiltskin
The Princess Bride
The Three Billy Goats Gruff
The Three Little Pigs
