Literature for a reluctant reader (7th)

[Hypatia.]

Slightly panicking here, realizing that we haven't done a good job of covering literary elements with my older two, especially my 13 year old son. I refer to him as a reluctant reader because he doesn't enjoy most books that anyone would consider quality literature, though he can tear through books that he's interested in (mainly sci-fi). He's definitely a reluctant writer, we're working through Diana Hanbury King's "Writing Skills" to remediate this issue. 

 

He's not a curl up on the couch with something like MCT kind of kid, especially with language arts. (There's also the crowd management issue here.) I love reading myself, but I've always hated literary analysis and would need a lot of hand-holding. 

 

Does anyone have any recommendations? I prefer secular curricula.

 

Pardon the horrendous rambling post, chronically low on sleep right now. <side-eyes the infant>

[Peaceseeker]

There is a little workbook called Figuratively Speaking that covers the basic terminology at a middle school level. We used it in 7th grade followed by Lightning Literature for 8th grade. I felt like those were fairly easy curriculum choices for our first foray into formal literature.

 

If he likes fantasy he might enjoy Literary lessons from Lord of the Rings. We almost went that route but did Lightning Literature instead, so I don't know much about it. If you look over old literature posts, Lori D explains it in more depth. Or maybe she will pop in this thread soon!

Edited February 9, 2018 by CaliforniaDreaming

[alisoncooks]

Have you looked at Essentials in Literature? (From the same company that has Essentials in Writing.)

I have it on our plan for next year, but we haven't used it.  I like the looks of it (and I like the idea of taking the teaching out of my hands!)

 

We're successfully using EiW this year (with my oldest, who used Writing Skills last year).  She's not a reluctant reader, but she was a very late reader (mid-3rd grade) so her writing lags, also.

[Hypatia.]

I'll take a look at these suggestions, I think Figuratively Speaking may be a good first step. Thank you!

[LLucy]

You might also look at Movies as Literature (Stout).  It teaches literature concepts visually so they can be seen.  It can be a good choice for someone who doesn't love reading.  It is easy to include others -- siblings or friends.  It is easy to just do a little bit of, so just over the summer, or just one per month.  There is no writing instruction although there are suggestions for essays, but you could also just watch and discuss. IIRC for many of the movies there is a suggestion to also read the story the movie is based on, to compare, if you are trying to encourage more reading.  I believe there are 1 or 2 questions per movie that are christian-based, but they are marked as such, and easy to skip. (When I use it I do make sure my kids recognize a religious allusion; but we don't evaluate the movie religiously.) It makes good snuggle-on-the-couch memories.  : )

 

HTH -- LLucy