Just reading

[jld]

Didn't Kathleen in VA ask about this a few months ago? I have been trying to search for that thread, but the search feature isn't working for me.

 

Have your children just read for most of their schooling? How did that turn out? If you had to do it all over again, would you stress reading more, or less? What are the advantages of this approach? The limitations?

[Jean in Newcastle]

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=204961

[mcconnellboys]

I believe it was Charlotte Mason who extolled just leaving children alone with good books. With my older son, I began to do this more from sixth grade through ninth (he then returned to private school).

 

He has auditory processing problems and always had problems in discussing his reading. I sort of had to question via stealth methods to get info out of him. He's always been much better at just writing what he thinks and he did a lot of that for me.

 

Also, he would just space out and daydream while I was reading aloud. He wasn't really listening, so it was better for him to read things on his own because he would stay focused for that. (And I had his little brother coming on board with homeschooling about that time, too, and had to devote more reading time to him.)

 

Reading on your own and writing about it are good ways to cement knowledge. The first river boat captain Samuel Clemens worked for made him write down everything he was learning so that he would remember it. This always seemed to work well for my older son, too.

 

My younger son is different. He enjoys having me read aloud still (he's in seventh grade currently). He stays focused, we discuss as I read and he has good retention of the info. He also reads a lot daily on his own. All the reading is lit or non-fiction related to our history or science studies for the week, so everything ties together.

 

I think there's no better way to learn than through reading living books, discussing and writing about them. The wider the variety of authors read, the better.

 

I think you can easily derail the approach by reading books written from only one viewpoint.

 

I think I'm beginning to see the advantages in the ease with which my older son is transitioning to college (even with all the discussion and oral presentations he's having to make). I was really worried about him because of his processing issues, but I think that already being familiar with books and a heavy reading schedule has helped. He has less stress in that area so that he can concentrate on other areas that are newer to him.

 

I think that not having been accustomed to heavy reading made keeping up with my reading in college harder for me than it will be for my son. Unlike most kids today, who don't really read at all, he's read everything he's been assigned in high school and college thus far. He doesn't see it as any big deal. For a kid who I never really considered a reader, I think that's terrific.

 

His younger brother is more of a reader than he was, so I'm hopeful for him, too!

[jld]

Thank you so much, Regena, and you, too, Jean. I'm looking forward to reading the thread you linked . . . :)