Which Canterbury Tales to read?...

[Nan in Mass]

I know this has been covered before, but I can't find it. I don't think we can read them all, not because we wouldn't like to, but because we have other things we need to cover, too, like those pesky foundational documents. Who would want to read them when Caterbury Tales is around? Ug. My children have already survived The Miller's Tale and we can have our pick without squeamishness. Which ones should we read?

-Nan

[Michelle in MO]

we covered The Knight's Tale, The Wife of Bath's Tale, The Clerk's Tale, and The Nun's Priest's Tale. If you did The Miller's Tale, I'm sure you could handle anything else!

 

BTW, my oldest really liked The Canterbury Tales! It was her favorite read from Omnibus II. She said she was going to read more of the tales on her own, but I'm not sure if she did or not. She was really able to appreciate Chaucer's wit!

 

I hope you enjoy! If possible, I would recommend that you read as many of them as you can.

[Nan in Mass]

Thank you. That will give us a minimum. I remember reading these sophmore year in high school. The English teacher was good so I'm sure he did his best to point out the things to appreciate, but I don't remember appreciating the writing! I wrote poetry, and I appreciated plenty of other things, although now that I think of it, those were things my mother had given me to read and pointed out the beauty of. I can't figure out how I missed appreciating Chauser. Hmmm...

 

How is your year going? I've thought about you lots.

 

-Nan

[Jane in NC]

Well we did a bunch: Prologue, Knight's, Miller's, Wife of Bath's, Merchant's, Franklin's, Pardoner's, Shipman's and Nun's Priest's. My son felt that the Wife of Bath's Tale was the dullest whereas the Pardoner's was his favorite.

 

Jane

[Michelle in MO]

Thank you. That will give us a minimum. I remember reading these sophmore year in high school. The English teacher was good so I'm sure he did his best to point out the things to appreciate, but I don't remember appreciating the writing! I wrote poetry, and I appreciated plenty of other things, although now that I think of it, those were things my mother had given me to read and pointed out the beauty of. I can't figure out how I missed appreciating Chauser. Hmmm...

 

How is your year going? I've thought about you lots.

 

-Nan

 

but both girls say that we did far more actual written work/homework while homeschooling than they do at school! As much as they both complained about Omnibus last year, just yesterday my oldest said that their English class is OK, but that they haven't done much reading. She said, "I wish that they conducted the English class kind of like we did with Omnibus last year." I couldn't believe my ears! Last year, getting her to take notes for Omnibus was like this:

 

:banghead:

 

The year before, getting them to do the Omnibus I discussions was more of the same. Overall, doing a classical education has served them well and they've adjusted fairly well. Both girls got an "A" on their civics test the other day---the rest of the students failed the test! Apparently they were the only ones (save the one boy we carpool with, who is dyslexic and will probably need some special accommodations for his tests) who actually read the chapter! The teacher lectures, but more on current issues of the day, and expects the kids to read and study the chapters on their own. According to my kids, the other students didn't really keep up with the assigned homework. I think the self-study necessary for homeschooling has helped them.

 

But---still other adjustments going on. After-school activities, like piano and voice practice and karate practice, have suffered. And, there are still other issues that seem to perpetually exist, like teaching them to take responsibility, do their chores without whining, etc. We're far from perfect here. :blush:

 

So far, so good. But

[Moira in MA]

Like Michelle, we did the ones in Omnibus II. But I also got A Companion to Chaucer's Canterbury Talesby Margaret Hallissy from the library -- since you're in Mass you should be able to get it through the virtual catalog if it's not available to you locally --I mostly used it for my own studies. It was super helpful and really enhanced my understanding of the stories.

 

HTH