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Getting teen to read/understand “thicker� books


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I am reading a book from an author who is lamenting the education in our country because people use to read about Odysseus and now our children are reading vampire stories. The author is a little harsh overall, but I am wondering how to have my 13 year old be able to read and understand literature that is harder to read and understand. It’s a brain muscle that I’m not sure how to exercise. I have him read books mostly from Sonlight selections but I’m not sure how to get him further into novels/material that is harder to understand . Suggestions on how to get him to the next level?

 

 

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We use a tiered method here.  A lot of later literature (like the Odyssey and Mort D'Arthur) is introduced with a simpler version first.  We can discuss the story, and then go back through a second or third time working with closer translations or the actual text.  It's not as daunting then.

 

I'm also a HUGE fan of annotated volumes.  Much of the context of The Jungle, for example, is lost over time.  Having the notes right there to help you along with the story is awesome. 

 

And when in doubt, get the audio book.  This is how we got through a few here.  :D

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We read a lot together too. When reading Shakespeare, reading a synopsis and discussing first helps. Then seeing it acted is good too (hearing it.) I wouldn't have a beginner try to read it on her own.  The same goes for the Odyssey. My kids have been exposed to children's versions of mythology long before they are ready to read the Odyssey straight through. There are middle school volumes like the Odyssey for Children that they read on their own or that I read aloud after they have been hearing the picture book versions before that. 

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I always considered my oldest two relaxed homeschoolers, but we read a lot of the same books listed in TWTM booklists and on Ambleside Online.  My 14 year-old just finished Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis...my 16 year-old has read a number of Shakespearean plays: Romeo & Juliet, The Twelfth Night, MacBeth, Midsummer Night's Dream, etc...  Last year, as an 8th grader, ds used a 12th grade AP English textbook that they use in the public schools here.  We really do a lot of reading.  

 

The way we worked up to that point was read-alouds.  I read to them almost every day and I choose more difficult read-alouds over time.  We also stop and discuss things after reading.  I'll stop in the middle of reading something to see if they know what's going on/what a word means.  I'm also not above stopping to google for help online if I don't know what's going on in our reading.

 

I will also assign more difficult books for them to read on their own.  And sometimes I will give them a big jump in reading and somehow they manage.  Dd12 went from some fluffy stuff into Mark Twain this year.  She was so proud of herself when she finished the Mark Twain book.   :D 

 

I will also use their interests to launch them into more difficult reading.

 

 

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I am reading a book from an author who is lamenting the education in our country because people use to read about Odysseus and now our children are reading vampire stories. The author is a little harsh overall, but I am wondering how to have my 13 year old be able to read and understand literature that is harder to read and understand. It’s a brain muscle that I’m not sure how to exercise. I have him read books mostly from Sonlight selections but I’m not sure how to get him further into novels/material that is harder to understand . Suggestions on how to get him to the next level?

You may find this thread helpful:

Which 20 books help prepare for reading the Great Books

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My suggestions:

- slowly start including a "thicker" book or two in your school lit. by reading aloud/discussing together by buddy reading -- "I read a page, you read a page", which allows the student to catch-up on the context while you are reading

- listen to thicker books as audio books

- begin with "starter classics" to work your way up to longer, harder classics (those last 2 threads have lots of ideas)

- watch a GOOD / faithful-to-the-book film version of the book first (esp. Dickens or Shakespeare! 😉 ) before reading -- then you have familiarity with the main characters and plot before reading

- read a good / faithful-to-the-book graphic novel version first and then read the original -- you might even try the Great Illustrated Classics, which abridge and are at a grade 3-5 reading level, but many do a really good job of maintaining the tone and some of the language of the originals

- pick "thicker" works of high interest to the student -- that are in the genre that appeals to your student already

And esp.: allow free reading to be just that -- whatever the student WANTS to read! It's easy to crush an interest in reading and books if everything is HARD to read.

And do NOT make ALL the books hard, "thicker" books as your school literature, even once you get rolling along well with thicker books! Be sure to include some young adult (YA) works of high interest to your student and that have a high level of discussion-ablity, because along about age 12-14 (when the student is ready), you want to slowly start incorporating discussing and then analyzing "thicker" books, and it's much easier to start off with YA books and works of high interest to the student. 🙂

Past threads with helpful ideas:
Preparing our DC to read the Great Books?
Where do you start with a high school boy who has never read classic lit?
Which 20 books help prepare for reading the Great Books
Which would be best for preparation of reading the Great Books
 

Edited by Lori D.
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And he did that because I MADE him do it.  Not because he was dying to dig into the stuff. 

 

LOL, yes! My 20 yo son frequently comes to me and says, "Thanks for making me do ____. You were right, I needed it," or, "It really helped with ____, and I know I argued about doing it at the time..."

 

I DO understand the push to make learning "fun" etc... but I think sometimes we also have to consider when to push a student towards something they might not, at least at first, think is "fun." Most of us don't have a drive or desire to do things we know nothing about--how can you desire it if you don't know it exists, or if you just don't grasp the benefit of "all that work?" It's reasonable to want to know there's a "payoff" but hard for students to always recognize what that is.

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I use literature guides to, well, guide us through meatier books. He gets a lot more out of the books that way than if He read it all independently. And since the guides include discussion of literary elements and figurative language, they have helped him understand new books better.

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