American Literature and Composition

In high school it is often common to combine the study of literature with a composition class. We decided to take this approach and have our children write articles, essays, or reviews on the classics that our youth read. This not only cements their thoughts and what they learned, but gives practice in writing, grammar, and spelling.

Our youth choose from this list to create the 100 hours required for our state in a 1 credit class. Basically, I have them choose from this list and write about what they read.

American Literature

• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
• Jo's Boys by Louisa May Alcott
• Little Men by Louisa May Alcott
• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
• Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingles Wilder
• Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingles Wilder
• Pollyanna by Elleanor Hodgman Porter
• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
• The Deerslayer by James Fenimore Cooper
• Where the Red Fern Grows by Rawls Wilson
• Man of the Family by Ralph Moody
• The Sackett Series by Louis L'Amour (link has reading order)
• Old Yeller by Fred Gipson
• The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper

There are so many classics that could be added to this list as you see fit. If my children have a book they would like to use for this "class" then I typically look into it, read it myself and ask the child why they feel the book is a classic. If the book makes the classics list, then we use it!

NOTE: These books are chosen from the Thomas Jefferson Education for Teens list.