"Filling their heads with stories"

[keptwoman]

This was referred to on the General board as one of the key concepts of TWTM, clearly I need to read the book again because I missed it. It's been on my mind a lot, I was awake overnight thinking about it. That in a nutshell is what is missing from M's education as it stands, and you know, possibly from C's too, although he absorbs material better if he reads it himself so I tend to assign books to him.

 

I don't want to start on the Ancients list as we will be "doing" Ancients next year. I'm pondering using Ambleside Onlines reading suggestions, but I really dislike a couple of books on their list.

I also thought about doing creation stories from various cultures (we are secular) and other myths.

 

So what suggestions would you give to me, either for books that would be great or reading lists that would be useful.

[MamaReads]

What about the Lang Fairy Books, D'Auliers Myths (Greek & Norse), Tall Tales, Aesop's Fables, or Stories from Shakespear?

 

Any or all of these can be read one or two a day and combined with Narration, Dictation, or Copy work. I'm in the first trimester of pregnancy and have not been able to stay awake for read a louds in the afternoon (pathetic, I know) but I can't wait till we get back to doing this regularly. It is the warm fuzzy part of our school day!

 

Happy story telling!

 

Jesi

[Peela]

I tend to peruse Ambleside and Sonlight lists- and Tanglewood- mostly Ambleside though (well, TWTM / SOTW as well). If you join some of the Ambleside Yahoo Groups, they have plenty of alternatives to the various books. Also, their booklists are extensive- if there are only a couple of books you dont like, there are still plenty there to use.

I find my kids, as teens, still remember stories far more readily than factual accounts.

[StartingOver]

What about the Lang Fairy Books, D'Auliers Myths (Greek & Norse), Tall Tales, Aesop's Fables, or Stories from Shakespear?

 

Any or all of these can be read one or two a day and combined with Narration, Dictation, or Copy work. I'm in the first trimester of pregnancy and have not been able to stay awake for read a louds in the afternoon (pathetic, I know) but I can't wait till we get back to doing this regularly. It is the warm fuzzy part of our school day!

 

Happy story telling!

 

Jesi

 

:iagree: I agree, I have these and many others from Tanglewood, Old Fashioned Education, Ambleside and Sonlight ( mostly books I can hold because I love them, but some online ). We read some on the kids level, and some above.... exposure is important to me, not the facts at this stage. We do memorize some things. But I want my children to see the big picture.

[Lucy in Australia]

Have a look at this link :

 

1000 Good Books List

 

It's from the Classical Christian Education site, but the list is extensive, so you can pick and choose. A lot of the books for earlier years are very "Americo-centric" (in fact I couldn't even get some here) but there are also some great suggestions. Thanks for the reminder - I need to go through the list myself again :D

[m0mmaBuck]

Have a look at this link :

 

1000 Good Books List

 

It's from the Classical Christian Education site, but the list is extensive, so you can pick and choose. A lot of the books for earlier years are very "Americo-centric" (in fact I couldn't even get some here) but there are also some great suggestions. Thanks for the reminder - I need to go through the list myself again :D

 

Thanks for that link. I am struggling to find things that interest DS8, either from a read alone or read aloud perspective. Books are not his thing. I hope something on this list will interest him.

[LindaOz]

This was referred to on the General board as one of the key concepts of TWTM, clearly I need to read the book again because I missed it. It's been on my mind a lot, I was awake overnight thinking about it. .

 

I'm right with you on this one, as I have just been rereading my WTM and this really stood out to me. So, things are changing here for my youngers (especially 5yo and 7yo). I have lots of Sonlight Books which are great (you can look at the lists on the Sonlight site), and also the Baldwin Project has lots of good books to print out for free. http://www.mainlesson.com/displaybooksbytitle.php

 

It's funny because we can get so bogged down in the curricula stuff, and yet reading WTM again has redirected me to how much of this is about reading good books on all sorts of topics, and responding to them at the age/stage appropriate level. That's what I'm thinking anyway...... :)

 

Have fun reading ;)

[keptwoman]

Have a look at this link :

 

1000 Good Books List

 

It's from the Classical Christian Education site, but the list is extensive, so you can pick and choose. A lot of the books for earlier years are very "Americo-centric" (in fact I couldn't even get some here) but there are also some great suggestions. Thanks for the reminder - I need to go through the list myself again :D

Oh thanks! I'd forgotten about that site, that looks like a great place to start!

[Renee in NC]

I have been listening to the Jessie Wise lecture on "If I Had it to Do Over Again" and that is what has stood out to me. She read a LOT to her children. She used books on tape, read books into tapes, read to them, etc. She really seems to focus on filling them with *language* more than just stories (especially young children - she says to "talk through your day.") Memorizing poetry also falls under this category.

 

I do not read aloud enough because I don't like it, but I am making a concious effort to do so when I can.

[lisamarie]

I dislike reading out loud as well, so I have started requesting the books we want to read in tape or cd format so that we can listen to them in the car. We have gone through several books that way so far and the kids love it. It also has the added bonus of keeping the kids quiet in the car. ;)

[keptwoman]

I do not read aloud enough because I don't like it, but I am making a concious effort to do so when I can.

This is how I feel too. And it was almost a relief when I realised that C (auditory processing disorder) doesn't remember as well when I read to him as when he reads himself. But I miss a lot that way too, it's a double edged sword.

However, M is a different child and I must be prepared to bite the bullet and start reading again.

[Chris in VA]

I'd say I like to keep the definition of "story" nice and broad. Not only fiction, myth, fairy tales, that sort of thing, but also stories of people--real people. Stories of their childhoods, inventions, hardships. And stories of how things came to be--not only the world and creation, but buildings and ships and countries. What happened when people landed on the moon? What happened at the Olympics in Grenoble? What happened when your grandfather met your grandmother?

 

Keep those stories coming!