literature reading?

[thowell]

My girls and I have started Anne Of Green Gables. This is our first year HS so of course their first real exposure to the classics. We started off with something alot lighter like the Aesop's Fables and have moved into our first book. All is going well except they have a hard time understanding some of the words I read. They are having to stop me often and ask what does that mean? Is this a good aproach to this? I decided on the original publishing in order to get the full richness of the text. Should I go with something more updated? Is there a good study giude to help them? My 9 year old is really into the story my 6 year old is kind of just along for what she picks up. I just wasnt sure if I should stop through out the story to explain everything.:confused:

[gingersmom]

I make my son wait till the end of the chapter to ask questions.

 

You might have them write down any words they don't understand.

 

I like these for literature guides......

 

http://www.currclick.com/product_info.php?products_id=15628&it=1

 

http://litplans.com/titles/Anne_of_Green_Gables_Lucy_Maud_L_M_Montgomery.html

 

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/anneofgreengables/

[thowell]

thank you, any other suggestions?

[Melissa B]

I am currently doing Anne of Green Gables with dd9. We stop any time she has a question about vocabulary (or anything else.) We rarely get through a page without a question or two. But that has been how I have always done it with all of the kids since they were tiny so it seems natural to me. I imagine whatever you feel comfortable with will work. I chose the book for its description and vocabulary so I wouldn't use an edited version myself, but it really depends on why you are reading that particular book. I think six is a little young for the story or any study guide that would accompany it. The vocabulary and long descriptions would be too much for my kids at that age.

[Carol in Cal.]

Learning vocabulary in context is great for retention.

 

After explaining what a word means, I would then read that sentence over again so that they can hear the word used and know what it means.

 

I would also stop at the end of each chapter and quickly tell them what the chapter said. That gets them to the point of doing summaries later on very easily.

[Melissa B]

I was just skimming through CurrClicks freebies for the week and they have an Anne of Green Gables study guide. I haven't looked through it, but it is free and might be helpful.

 

http://www.currclick.com/product_info.php?products_id=23222&it=1&filters=0_0_0&free=1

[Garga]

Don't know if it's right or wrong, but we just stop and I explain as the questions come up. But my guys are only 4 and 6. Maybe when they're both older than 9 I'll make them hold their questions till the end. Until then...it just takes a long time to get through some books.

[SilverMoon]

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Edited June 11 by SilverMoon

[angela in ohio]

Anne is heavy on dialogue and description. I found that it bogged my dd down at that age, and she was used to classics. You might start with something with a quicker pace to warm them up even more. Little House on the Prairie is a good start (Little House in the Big Woods is the favorite here.)

[skaterbabs]

Even for your older child, right now you want to invest in them a love of learning. If they're really struggling with some of the language, then get a version that has been adapted for children. Barnes & Noble has a very good series of classics adapted for young readers. Better for them to learn to learn to love the general plot of a book than to get so bogged down with trying to understand the language that they don't get what's happening and don't become invested in the characters emotionally. I promise you, reading an adapted version now doesn't mean your DC won't find the original version two or three years (or months lol) from now and really enjoy "re"-reading it. Rather, they will say "OH! I remember this!" and read on. :001_smile:

[Julie in MN]

get a version that has been adapted for children.

 

Before I chose an adapted version, I'd explore all the wonderful literature for younger children. Have you read Beatrice Potter? Winnie the Pooh? The Boxcar Children (the first one)? I can't remember if Heidi is easier than Anne? The Courage of Sarah Noble definitely is. I just love the Daughters of the Faith series (we read the ones about the Mayflower & Harriet Tubman with MFW). Even picture books at age 9 can be lovely. Your young ones can experience the joy of "real literature" (i.e. not Barbie books) even with easy books :)

 

Happy reading,

Julie

[Rebecca77]

I'm reading this Annotated version someone recomended here recently. I'd be a little lost without it.

[lisabees]

Are your dd's experienced listeners? Have they grown up with you reading novels to them? If not, realize it does take some time and practice. Start with wonderful picture books. Then, transition into short novels. Go out and buy Jim Trelease's Read Aloud Handbook - read it and refer to it, over and over. Here's selected books listed on his website...

 

http://www.trelease-on-reading.com/rah-treasury-intro.html

 

Instead of a novel filled with heavy dialogue, pick one with some adventure. After a few short novels, try out the Poppy series by Avi or something by Kate DiCamillo.

 

If a book isn't working, put it away for later. The kids won't remember; they'll be glad to hear a book they love. That's what they'll remember!!

 

Enjoy!!

 

Lisa

[skaterbabs]

Before I chose an adapted version, I'd explore all the wonderful literature for younger children.

 

 

That's certainly one option, but I wouldn't say it's superior to using adapted versions of more difficult works. sure, *some* adaptations aren't very good, but some are excellent and are a wonderful introduction to stories that are well within the child's grasp plot-wise but have vocabulary and syntax that is too difficult.

[momco3]

We read most things in the original (if it written originally in English). A few things--- like Shakespeare-- I try to find an adaptation first that has a similar cadence (liek Bruce Coville for Shakespeare) and some of the vocab, and then we transition to the original.

When they ask for vocab, I explain about 90% of the time, and then the other 10% I ask what they think it means based on context... little by little, they're realizing they can figure a lot of it out.

[nmoira]

Before I chose an adapted version, I'd explore all the wonderful literature for younger children

I heartily agree; adapted versions might familiarize your children with the story, but they'll do nothing to enrich their listening vocabularies. There's such a wealth of fantastic literature available, I just don't see the need to use adaptations of more modern works.

 

I highly recommend the Lang coloured Fairy Books (Blue Fairy Book, etc.) for rich language and exposure to essential stories. Beware the all-in-one edition as the print is tiny and there are no indexes or illustrations. For some reason, the Pink Fairy Book doesn't link to the newest Dover edition. Many of these stories are available on Librivox.

 

Ambleside Online has excellent literature lists in approximate order of difficulty in their booklists for each year.

[OrganicAnn]

The benefit of reading 'literature' and reading older literature or for Americans reading British literature is to help expand and enrich their experience with language. The more you read literature the more they will understand these words and also get better at figuring out the meaning from context.

 

We stop and quickly explain the word. Sometimes I'll stop and ask if my DD understands a word. I try to be very succinct in explaining a word. Giving a one word answer if possible.

 

I can't imagine too many people would have time for this, but you could pre-read the chapter and list all the harder words and give them the definitions prior to reading.

[johnandtinagilbert]

I would read ahead and choose words I thought dd might not know. I'd discuss those words Before you read the chapter. When you come across them, just glance at her...she'll probably look at you too and smile b/c you've already discussed it! Interruptions are fine, but can be distracting, so avoid them with your preparations, and take the few interruptions with a grain of salt.

I agree with starting elsewhere or at least going there after you're finished with this book. We'll be starting Little House in the Big Woods with out dd9 this year :) along with Robert Fulton, Boy Craftsman and Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin

 

Happy home schooling!

[skaterbabs]

A *good* adaptation is more than telling a story in simpler language. A good adaptation uses as much of the original language as possible, often just simplifying sentence structure. Even WTM suggests using adaptations to familiarize children with great works.

[Chris in VA]

My dd9 got a little stuck on AGG, too. She is very used to classics, from Secret Garden to Heidi to Little House--

We struggled thru the first chapters, and then made a very astute observation. In the beginning of the book, the author of AGG is giving the reader the experience of being with Anne. Thru the author's choice of giving Anne long soliloquies filled with descriptive language, the reader actually gets to see what being with Anne and listening to her would be like. She changes to much less dramatic, over-the-top speech as she matures, and the author writes her dialog for Anne much differently as the book progresses. We thought that was quite interesting!

 

That said, I'd put it aside for another year or two (for the 6yo, at least).

Anne is one of my dd's fav's now, but she tells me she doesn't re-read the very first chapters...lol

[nmoira]

 

Even WTM suggests using adaptations to familiarize children with great works.

And this is probably my biggest beef with the general WTM recommendations. However, I'm all for simplified legends, myths, and epics because with these familiarity with the story itself is more important than the the telling, at least for younger children.

[Julie in MN]

The benefit of reading 'literature' and reading older literature or for Americans reading British literature is to help expand and enrich their experience with language.

 

I totally agree with this, but often surprisingly easy books are a step up in vocabulary, if they are well written.

 

A *good* adaptation is more than telling a story in simpler language. A good adaptation uses as much of the original language as possible, often just simplifying sentence structure. Even WTM suggests using adaptations to familiarize children with great works.

 

I also agree with this. As an adult, I'll even read a shortened version on occasion, if I don't want to commit the time to the whole book.

 

However, there really is tons of younger literature out there. So much that I can't imagine ever getting through it all. Why not enjoy?

[Brindee]

 

Don't know if it's right or wrong, but we just stop and I explain as the questions come up. But my guys are only 4 and 6. Maybe when they're both older than 9 I'll make them hold their questions till the end. Until then...it just takes a long time to get through some books.

:iagree: I understand that it can disrupt the flow to a certain extent. But, I think they'll miss out if you make them wait 'til the end. They may forget something or feel like it's not important, and the flow is interrupted anyway, because they may be thinking about that thing or the things they want to ask about instead of what's being read. If they write stuff down, the flow is also interrupted, because many kids can't write something down AND listen well at the same time. To me it's more important to let them ask, get the explanation, understand, then reread some of to to get going again. Eventually they'll understand more, not ask as many questions, yet be able to keep moving because you took the time to explain to them when they needed it. :001_smile: