Do I let him read next year's reading selections now?

[SparrowsNest]

So today we received a box of books which are his weekly reading selections for next year. Packages are always fun! :)

 

Ds10, who will be hs'd next year, was excited, especially when he saw that they were novels. He ran off with The Samurai something or other and The Golden Goblet. By dinner, they were both read, and he wanted to rifle through for another one to read at school tomorrow. Those were both meant to be topical literature selections for next year. :glare:

 

I'm delighted that he loves to read, but, well, should I keep the books put away so they're new and exciting next year? How do you all handle reading ahead like this?

[Gretchen in NJ]

If one of my girls said I want to read a book, I'd let them! Sadly, my oldest is not into reading and my youngest likes to follow her lead. It is not so bad as it used to be. It is just not one of her favorite things to do.

 

It might create more work for you. For my girls, I couldn't imagine saying, "Oh. You can't read that until September."

[Kelli in TN]

I hide them!!:D

 

There are only a couple of us here on the forums who hide books from their kids! I like doling them out all year long.

[Beth in Central TX]

I don't mind if my sons want to read their assigned books more than once. In How to Read a Book, Adler & Van Doren talk about the different levels of reading: Elementary, Inspectional, and Analytical. I know that these three levels are not being addressed by my grammar/logic stage boys, but they become accustomed to reading the same selection many times, and later on, I can guide them in the different goals of each reading.

[MichelleWI]

If you allow him to read them now, they will be review when he reads them as "assignments". I think that's an excellent plan.

 

You mentioned that he wanted one to read at school. I don't think I'd permit that. Perhaps he can choose one when his homework and chores are done tomorrow evening?

[vmsurbat]

We also have to buy all our books ahead of time, so I face this dilemma yearly. My children do not enjoy having to reread books for school that they already read for fun. It is one thing if it is just one or two books (think High School lit. classes), but for those subjects where the reading is for enrichment/expansion/enjoyment, they already got that from the first reading and gain very little from a second "forced" reading.

 

We must purchase all our books because we live overseas. For "fun" reading, I buy used books and let them have their pick of those, but I keep back the fun "school" books for school time. When we are stateside, we make weekly trips to the library. If you are unsure of good books to read, ask your librarian or post here, and you will get *many* suggestions of good books to introduce your son to.

 

HTH,

[Jenny in Atl]

I never say no to a kid who wants to read!!! Many of us are so lucky our kids like to read. :iagree:

[SparrowsNest]

Thanks everyone for the input. I'm still noodling this one! I do LOVE that he is an avid reader. And I hate saying NO to a book (especially a good one!). I'm also going to talk with ds10 about it and let him have some input as well. I don't know how he would feel about reading them again (which isn't always a bad thing!). We are not suffering for lack of books around here, between ds13 and ds10, there are two bookcases full of preteen/young teen reading materials, everything from A Wrinkle In Time to Oliver Twist to Harry Potter to Redwall (all gazillion of them, I think!). But of course having four more behind him, the books will be read and reread. I am glad they love to read!

 

You mentioned that he wanted one to read at school. I don't think I'd permit that.

 

 

That's a lost battle already. Their teachers tell them to get out a book and read when they are done with their assignment but are waiting for everyone else to finish.

[MichelleWI]

That's a lost battle already. Their teachers tell them to get out a book and read when they are done with their assignment but are waiting for everyone else to finish.

 

If it's endorsed and encouraged by the teacher, that's different! As a child, I much preferred my books to the dry material taught so I would be off in bookland only to find the teacher had moved onto another subject and I was in trouble.

[dragons in the flower bed]

I'm delighted that he loves to read, but, well, should I keep the books put away so they're new and exciting next year? How do you all handle reading ahead like this?

 

My ds7 insists that he is going to read Roger Lancelyn Green's Robin Hood right now, and he has been at it since the box came. It's supposed to be next year's family read aloud. I suggested he start with Minstrel in the Tower, then Castle Diary, then Door in the Wall, and then attempt Robin Hood. But no. The hardest one has to come first.

 

I have always let my kids read them right away, with the logical result that they start their next school year's material every spring when the new books come. (We always buy in spring to avoid backorders.) I record what they're learning and don't necessarily make them read them again. The excitement of new books arriving in the mail is part of what I count on to get my kids learning a subject independently or in their free time. Maybe after your ds10 reads Samurai whatever (I think we got that one too this year) he'll be interested in Story of the World and you can just hand it off to him to devour in a day or so.

 

As for the ones I planned to do all together, like Robin Hood, I figure, if a book is not worth exploring twice, why am I wasting formal school time on it?