Literature keeps falling through the cracks

[NormaElle]

We're about to start our third year of homeschooling, and literature is the subject that we just don't really get to. My school aged kids are now entering grades 1, 3, 5, 6, and 7 (plus a few littles).

 

I like SWB's concept of literature going along with the history cycle but we're struggling with it for a few reasons. One is that I don't think most of the adaptations for younger readers are that exciting or great. Another is that with several school aged kids, it's tedious to find versions for each kid (and the drama that goes along with reading levels and kids close in age). And then to make the time to do narrations and discuss....it's just very overwhelming. I don't see a practical way to combine anyone (again, competition and reading levels).

 

On the other side, my kids are all big readers. They tend toward "twaddle", which doesn't really bother me. We do a lot of reading aloud, and I mostly only read "good" stuff then. And we do a lot of the book suggestions in the SOTW AG.

 

So basically we're reading all day, both in school stuff and read aloud and on our own...

 

What are your thoughts about the necessity of literature as a formal subject?

[Peaceseeker]

I didn't do anything formal with my kids in the elementary grades. We just read lots of great books- some tied in with our history and some did not. For 7th grade I ran through the Figuratively Speaking workbook on literary terms and we are planning to discuss a few books in 8th grade in preparation for high school literature classes.

[regentrude]

Never did formal "literature" until high school. We read books and talked about the books. Occasionally the kids wrote about books. Our conversations were just that: conversations. Not scheduled as "school" discussions, not scripted, not required narrations. We simply talked about what we read, what was cool, interesting, puzzling. Both my kids did a lot of creative writing which, of course, was modeled on their reading, so they engaged with concepts like plot and character development and literary devices ontheir own terms.

 

 

 

Edited August 6, 2017 by regentrude

[8filltheheart]

I assign my kids several books to read every single day.  The books they read daily cross science, history, geography, classical literature, and more.  They spend the majority of their educations reading (writing and math not far behind).  We don't use textbooks until high school level science.  We rarely use textbooks for high school history.   They don't do worksheets, etc.  So reading and writing are the backbone of their educations.

 

We also don't follow a cyclical history pattern.  Their reading in history and literature may or may not have any relationship.  We definitely don't do adapted readers.  But, I also don't try to overlap content with my kids.  Each one of them is doing their own thing.  I find it way easier to focus one-on-one than trying to multi-level grade teach.

 

It is hard for me to imagine our homeschool without lots of reading, literature included.  But that is just how I function and it works for us. :)  

[Rosika]

Never did formal "literature" until high school. We read books and talked about the books. Occasionally the kids wrote about books. Our conversations were just that: conversations. Not scheduled as "school" discussions, not scripted, not required narrations. We simply talked about what we read, what was cool, interesting, puzzling. Both my kids did a lot of creative writing which, of course, was modeled on their reading, so they engaged with concepts like plot and character development and literary devices ontheir own terms.

 

Same here - not until high school, and basically just open dialogue. 

 

And we have a Mommy & Me "book club" as standing date. It boils down to about one meeting per school month to discuss that month's book. We read it independently of each other, and then meet to discuss it. Anyone in the family who read the book is welcome. Last year my son's friend joined us for many of the books. We go to the local apothecary and discuss over ice cream or coffee. These are books I love and couldn't wait to share with them. Many go along with school and history studies, but some do not.

 

I started this with my oldest (only) when he was in 5th grade and we wanted some 1:1 time away from the younger kids. It made him feel grown! We do it now, still, at 17. 

[fralala]

Same here - not until high school, and basically just open dialogue. 

 

And we have a Mommy & Me "book club" as standing date. It boils down to about one meeting per school month to discuss that month's book. We read it independently of each other, and then meet to discuss it. Anyone in the family who read the book is welcome. Last year my son's friend joined us for many of the books. We go to the local apothecary and discuss over ice cream or coffee. These are books I love and couldn't wait to share with them. Many go along with school and history studies, but some do not.

 

I started this with my oldest (only) when he was in 5th grade and we wanted some 1:1 time away from the younger kids. It made him feel grown! We do it now, still, at 17. 

 

I also found a "book club" the best way to begin assigning books in a way I was comfortable with and my kids could enjoy. Since they saw me going to book club and occasionally forcing myself to try to get into books I didn't like right away or wouldn't have chosen myself, they had a model of what I expected from them! Assigning books was a difficult first step for me to take, so afraid was I of infringing on the simple pleasure of reading. But I always try to tailor my choices to my kids' interests so they may be challenging but not totally without merit.

[NormaElle]

These are great ideas, thank you!

[happypamama]

I expect that my children are all reading daily from age appropriate books.  Once they're reading on their own, they don't necessarily get a choice in what they read.  They can read whatever they want in their free time, but I assign literature books that I want them to read, and they're required to read them.  Often, those correlate with history but not always.  Sometimes they choose from a list that I have made.  I'm also willing to have them quit the occasional book if they truly hate it because there are so few books that are must-reads.  I read aloud things that I want the whole crew to hear (or part of it, anyway -- I have an 11 year gap between oldest and current youngest, so sometimes things are boring for the olders or not appropriate for the youngers), but every child is required to do some reading on his/her own daily anyway.  For the younger grades, there's no formal program.  They read, and we discuss it, and that's it.  My middle schooler is going to do a bit of writing in reaction to his books, and my high schooler has formal essays on her books.

 

If you're not getting to literature, audio books can also be a good thing.  I often give my younger kids audio books to listen to in their room while I'm working with older kids.  Two of my kids are extremely strong auditory learners, so they enjoy audio books, but that's also no substitute for reading on their own.

[JudoMom]

My boys do a lot of reading for school.  From the time they stop phonics, I assign them books to read.  Sometimes they coordinate to history and other times it's just good literature.  They read what they want when it's not school.

When they're younger, I try to remember to ask them what they're reading.  We don't do formal narrations.  When they're older, I try even harder to ask them what they're reading or have them write something down.  We use Old Western Culture for high school, and by then they're learning from Wes and answering questions and writing papers about what they're reading.  I'm not good at discussing literature, so while it'd be better to have discussions, it's hard for me.

But, I think it's important for children to read good literature in addition to hearing good literature, so I'd recommend you add good books for your children to read themselves to their school days.

 

[CherryBlossomMJ]

This thread has been so valuable for me to read. My daughter, just turned eight can read anything and is taking forever with just one Literature guide. I haven't been able to give myself permission to just let her read like crazy until late Middle or high school. It definitely would release some tension in our school day. She loves Reading but it is the picking apart that she just doesn't favor.

[SilverMoon]

Literature is a primary focus of my homeschool, but it does not look like formal lit class, beating a book to death, study guides, history correlated perfection, and so on. It looks like reading really good books and discussing them with mom and siblings. If the day is going to be rough or cut short the prioritized subjects are lit, math, and Spanish. We also read tons for history and science, and I read aloud to all of them regularly.

For my rising first grader that looks like reading a picture book to mom and talking about it. "Toad is so silly!" "He sure was! What would you have done if you were Frog?" His copywork might come from that book and I might pick a new-to-him word or two to discuss with him.  Kids who still needed to work on reading skills in 1st weren't expected to do this. 

 

For my rising 4th grader it doesn't look much different. I chose a specific collection of books to be her lit for the year and put them all on a shelf together. She is free to choose whichever book she wants from that collection. She leads the discussion or I keep asking questions until we're both satisfied. I do not ask basic comprehension questions but rather getting her to think questions. Asking about characters motives, etc (There's a SWB handout somewhere on the website that has a suggested list to get you started. Or you could read Deconstructing Penguins for yourself.) I made no attempt to correlate any of those book choices to her history or science, but instead chose high quality children's literature. I went for a variety of skill levels, lengths, and genres.

For a 7th grader I'd add in some Figuratively Speaking with you to cover some lit terms. It's lightweight, fun, and effective.

Edited June 17, 2022 by SilverMoon

[Bluegoat]

I think it's fine not to do anything other than read for literature in elementary school, and even middle school to a large extent.  If you are finding you just don't get to it, which isn't a surprise with a big family, I would not worry about planning to write papers or do narrations.  Save those things for other topics.

 

I would insist on assigning some books or book choices and not just allowing them to pick, especially if they are not reading great stuff.  It seems to me that what happens is that many kids will get to a reading level, maybe around grade 5 or 6, where they enter kind of a holding pattern.  They may mature as far as topics after that but they aren't really more difficult in terms of reading.

 

For some reason, schools seem to think that reading level is just fine.  And - maybe it is, if that is what that child is capable of.  But many are capable of becoming better readers.  And that takes practice reading more difficult books.

 

I would tend to insist on daily time spent reading something that is in some way challenging.  I'd likely pick the books myself or give a few choices, and try and create some variety and make sure you include some of the classics at the time your students are at the right age to read them.  So, poetry or drama as well as novels, different genres, and so on.

 

I don't go out of my way to coordinate lit and history.  If there is something that is really good, and it lines up, by all means use it!  In the course of a school year I will try and find one or maybe two novels that are set in the time period, and usually there is at least one that is appropriate and really a good book.  But there are too many good books that don't fit the history cycle to allocate more than that, IMO.  This year my dd9 is going to be doing ancient and medieval British history, and we will read The Door in the Wall.  But I am also going to give her The Secret Garden because I think she will love it and she is just at the perfect place for it to be interesting and a little challenging, without being frustrating.  And it's a classic book.

[NormaElle]

It turned out the best solution was to find a theme for each kid, and find good books that fit. Then I just gave them the first book on their list, and they were off! I guess they just needed a gentle push.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions! We are also doing a book club for my kids in grades 5-7. Looking forward to a very literary year. :)

[nixpix5]

Same here - not until high school, and basically just open dialogue.

 

And we have a Mommy & Me "book club" as standing date. It boils down to about one meeting per school month to discuss that month's book. We read it independently of each other, and then meet to discuss it. Anyone in the family who read the book is welcome. Last year my son's friend joined us for many of the books. We go to the local apothecary and discuss over ice cream or coffee. These are books I love and couldn't wait to share with them. Many go along with school and history studies, but some do not.

 

I started this with my oldest (only) when he was in 5th grade and we wanted some 1:1 time away from the younger kids. It made him feel grown! We do it now, still, at 17.

I love this idea so much!