Do you (or will you) read all the books that your children are required to read

[Bee]

as part of their classical education?Do you make them read books that you find yourself unable to read?For example,Jane Austen puts me to sleep.I can't make myself get more than a chapter or two into the books or more than 15 minutes into a movie.

[Frontier Mom]

How and when do you read the books? Also, if you read ahead, do you take notes?

[GothicGyrl]

No I will not. They are free to read just about anything they want and I will not pre-read any of it. I've got a 15 yr old reading Stephan King right now as well as other books in that genre. I will not stop them from reading at all and will not waste my own time pre-reading anything.

[Amy in NH]

I read most of the books I assign to my kids. If I had more time I'd read them all, but I'm busy reading my own graduate textbooks. I imagine by the time they've all graduated I'll have had a chance to get to them all.

 

I almost never read their choices for pleasure-reading.

[j.griff]

No I don't read them all, but I don't "require" any reading either (not yet, anyway- 13yod is a voracious reader, 6yos is not reading yet)

[Mrs. Readsalot]

I do this so that we can have discussions about the books. Books that he selects to read on is own I do not read. I do not read all of his scence text etc at time because they come with comprehension questions and I figure the answers to these will show whether he has understood the reading.

[GreenKitty]

No.

Though I've already read those we've come upon so far.

[Jenny in Florida]

I'm not sure how I could teach effectively if I didn't.

 

Do I make my kids read things I can't get through? Well, I can't think of a time when I haven't been able to read through something I plan to assign, but I would think I probably wouldn't force the issue. If I felt strongly that a particular title was important, I'd probably try harder to get through it, myself. If I honestly just couldn't, but I really wanted the student to at least give it a try, I'd ask him or her to give it a good effort, but might be willing to let it go if the student disliked it, too.

 

Something else we've done is to read aloud together books that are especially draggy or "chewy."

 

By the time they are 8-ish, though, I make no attempt to pre-read their pleasure reading choices, unless it is an author with whom I'm completely unfamiliar. In that case, my first stop is to look for reviews of the book online to get a feel for whether it's appropriate for this particular child. If that doesn't settle the case, I have been known to steer them toward something else or go ahead and at least skim.

 

How involved I stay depends on the kid, too. For my now-13-year-old daughter, I basically gave her free reign by the time she was 11-ish to read whatever she chose. I did (and still do) give my opinion and occasionally express reservations about her choices, but I stopped exercising veto power some time ago. (If asked, by the way, she will grudglingly admit that I am usually right.)

 

I'm still much more involved in my almost-10-year-old son's choices, both because he's younger and because his judgement just isn't as well developed. There are certain issues we have to watch out for in any media he absorbs, most important the level of violence. So, I do keep a shorter reign on him.

 

Fortunately, both of mine love to talk about what they are reading. So, they frequently ask (beg) me to read things they like. It gives us a nice way to share.

 

--Jenny

[6packofun]

I tend to preview more of the books they read for pleasure than the ones that would be for school or that are well-known in the first place. I feel more confident allowing them to read a classic or assigned book from a curriculum I trust/have good experience with--but I will read it if I'm interested in reading it for myself anyhow or if it's one that I specifically want to discuss with them beyond what our lit. program covers.

[angela in ohio]

Short answer - yes, I do. You have to if you want to have a discussion about them.

 

I also read most of the books they read for free time, too. Many I had already read in my own childhood, but I am surprised at how many I miseed. (Who knew Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm was SO good?!)

[Kanga]

I preread or co-read any required books so that I can discuss them intelligently with my dc. My dc show good judgment in their pleasure reading so I don't preread those books. However, I have found that my dc encourage me to read their pleasure books and I am happy to oblige them. We are all voracious readers and live by the motto, "you snooze, you lose!" It is not uncommon for someone to fall asleep reading a book only to have it to retrieve it from the thief upon awakening.

[abbeyej]

Yes, all *required* reading. Outside of that, I don't read everything. But I can't be an effective teacher if I haven't read what the child is supposed to be discussing.

[Lisawa]

as part of their classical education?Do you make them read books that you find yourself unable to read?For example,Jane Austen puts me to sleep.I can't make myself get more than a chapter or two into the books or more than 15 minutes into a movie.

 

GASP! Say it isn’t so!! Jane Austin is my favorite!! :D

 

When the kids were younger... grade school age 7th grade?? I tried to read everything... now that we are reading Austin and other great books; I just don’t have the time my kids do to read... I pick and choose. I like to really talk about the books.... my youngest.... I have read so many of the books already that she is now..... I don tneed to read themn again. :D

 

When they were young it was for content and making sure it didn’t have a lot of bad language.... for example... My brother Sam is dead dropped the F bomb more than once and had other issues with vulgar language..... although I liked the story... I didn’t want my 5th grader reading it...

[Mrs Mungo]

Yes, I read the required books. However, I'm an extremely fast reader *and* an insomniac.

[dirty ethel rackham]

I try to read most of the "required" books. However, I simply don't have time to read them all. On some of them, I have had to (gasp) rely on Cliffs Notes. I LOVE to read, but parenting, homeschooling, taking care of elderly parents, running a home business, and not cleaning my house takes up lots of time.

[cin]

I try to read most of the "required" books. However, I simply don't have time to read them all. On some of them, I have had to (gasp) rely on Cliffs Notes. I LOVE to read, but parenting, homeschooling, taking care of elderly parents, running a home business, and not cleaning my house takes up lots of time.

 

Ditto. I used cliff notes in High School and got decent grades :) I have alot more to do than the kids. I cannot sit for 3 hours and read a book (well, I could but things would NOT get done) like they can. Therefore, I will not read them all. I will preview a book if I am not already familiar with it, but otherwise I will not worry about it.

[nancypants]

No, not unless I want to. However in many cases my husband or I read them as children. Our reader is still quite young though and usually takes our book recommendations seriously. And the little trooper even powers through a boring beginning (he's better than me in this respect) if he knows that the book is known to be really good by most standards. He didn't really get hooked on The Hobbit until he was about 50 pages in, which I must confess was true of me as well... only I didn't power through as he did! LOL :o

[Kris]

I try to keep up with his required reading, but I just don't have the time to get to them all. I did manage Treasure Island last year and had a blast with that!

 

As for anything else he wants to read, I don't "screen" any of that. The house is full of books that would give my neighbors fits and my son has free access to all of them. Not that it would be an issue -- he thinks books have cooties.

[Kelli in TN]

I try, I really do.

 

 

But no. I am a failure in that dept.

 

There are just so many books spread out over so many kids and I am only one person!

[GothicGyrl]

I think you misunderstood the question. I think she was asking about prereading assigned books for school. I don't think she was talking about censorship.

 

To the "person" who left me the above negative---I do believe you need to purchase better reading comprehension glasses--her question was "Do you (or will you) read all the books that your children are required to read as part of their classical education" and I answered with a "No and I won't"..

 

Where the *blank* you got "censorship" out of my post and then felt it necessary to leave me a negative just because you lack reading comprehension skills, I don't know... however, I suggest you stop giving negative rep just because you can because it fell flat on its face this time.

 

I answered the question as it was asked. But here, "No, I will not pre-read any book that I require my children to read because 1) I don't require anything as I feel it kills the love of reading and 2) even if I did require it, this would presume that I've either heard of the book already, or have read it sometime in the past, so why would I waste my time re-reading something I've already read? I wouldn't have "required" it unless I already knew about it".

 

Now which answer is more preferred? I think my first one as I was short, sweet, and to the point. The second one implies that I am trying to start something, which I wasn't and am not now, but since you felt the need to add something to my post that wasn't there, I feel that I have to come in and "defend" a position I never took.

 

 

Happy now?

 

To the person who left me a positive (don't want to mention your name out of fear that someone would leave you a negative for leaving me a positive)--No I can't catch a break on here because right after your positive is yet another stupid negative with just a frown face. Some people are just really..... well, you know.

[GothicGyrl]

I wish there was a way one could save all of the neg rep message one gets. "From a Fan" sounds interesting. Too bad they couldn't be brave enough to sign their name. They could have received an autograph photo in return. ;)

 

(For those keeping track--that's 3 neg reps from this one post, all made anonymously and all because they think they can)

[Pam "SFSOM" in TN]

I wish there was a way one could save all of the neg rep message one gets. "From a Fan" sounds interesting. Too bad they couldn't be brave enough to sign their name. They could have received an autograph photo in return. ;)

 

(For those keeping track--that's 3 neg reps from this one post, all made anonymously and all because they think they can)

 

FWIW, in the beginning, I used to think that some sort of identification was attached to my reps. No idea that all the positive rep I was giving was anon. I started signing my name only in a "duh" moment.

 

Why do you care about negative rep? You, who doesn't give a flyin' rat's patootie about what people think, snarl most about it. I don't get that.

 

Who gives a flippin' flap what other people think? I wouldn't, were I you. Look at your signature line, for goodness sake.

[GothicGyrl]

Pam Dearest,

 

I am having fun. :) I am also doing what was suggested I do by someone high up. :) I am calling them out and playing a game with them.

 

Would you like my autograph too? I've got so many formats I could offer.. In color, black and white, glossy, heck--I even got digital :) But see that's what makes me sad--no one wants my autograph--they just "tag and run" and well--that's kind of silly now, isn't it?

 

Besides, I'm really waiting to see just one of my "fans" slip up and say "hey wait, I didn't say **that**" --that would be more fun.. ;)

 

 

(And actually all rep is anon unless you actually sign your name. For some reason, the system doesn't say "X person left you this". It only leaves the post that the rep is based on)

[Pam "SFSOM" in TN]

To the "person" who left me the above negative---I do believe you need to purchase better reading comprehension glasses--her question was "Do you (or will you) read all the books that your children are required to read as part of their classical education" and I answered with a "No and I won't"..

 

Where the *blank* you got "censorship" out of my post and then felt it necessary to leave me a negative just because you lack reading comprehension skills, I don't know... however, I suggest you stop giving negative rep just because you can because it fell flat on its face this time.

 

I answered the question as it was asked. But here, "No, I will not pre-read any book that I require my children to read because 1) I don't require anything as I feel it kills the love of reading and 2) even if I did require it, this would presume that I've either heard of the book already, or have read it sometime in the past, so why would I waste my time re-reading something I've already read? I wouldn't have "required" it unless I already knew about it".

 

Now which answer is more preferred? I think my first one as I was short, sweet, and to the point. The second one implies that I am trying to start something, which I wasn't and am not now, but since you felt the need to add something to my post that wasn't there, I feel that I have to come in and "defend" a position I never took.

 

 

Happy now?

 

To the person who left me a positive (don't want to mention your name out of fear that someone would leave you a negative for leaving me a positive)--No I can't catch a break on here because right after your positive is yet another stupid negative with just a frown face. Some people are just really..... well, you know.

 

Pam Dearest,

 

I am having fun. :) I am also doing what was suggested I do by someone high up. :) I am calling them out and playing a game with them.

 

 

Oh. Ok. Cause you sounded really, really annoyed up there. I think I probably needed more smiley faces.

 

;)

[GothicGyrl]

Pam--annoyed? Not really annoyed--more of a "sheesh", which I supposed is like annoyed, but umm... I'm not annoyed... uhh---hmm.. ;)

[Quiver0f10]

I would love to preread all their books, but with my size crew it isn't going to happen. I don't have enough time in the day. I read what I can and use trusted sources for book recommendations for the rest.

[Pam "SFSOM" in TN]

Pam--annoyed? Not really annoyed--more of a "sheesh", which I supposed is like annoyed, but umm... I'm not annoyed... uhh---hmm.. ;)

 

Yeah, I got it now. It's just that it seems to bother you more than it does the rest of us. I just think it's funny, and if anon it's even more funny. The irony just drips.

 

Which I guess is your point. I'm sticking to my flyin' rat's patootie comment, though, mostly because I wanted to type "flyin' rat's patootie" one more time. Ok, two more times.

[Barb_]

No, but I don't feel compelled to "teach" books either. I would much rather my kids read, read, read wonderful literature without waiting for me to catch up. In the meantime, we discuss literature, movies, and politics on the fly. We do poetry or short stories, but never novels. It seems to work for us, because my oldest got a 780 on her Literature SAT II, which I say to take the sting out of the embarrassment I feel for admitting this on TWTM board. I. don't. teach. literature. Whew! That actually feels pretty good!

 

Barb

[GothicGyrl]

Pam,

 

We shall team your "flyin' rat's patootie" with my "batguano insane" and make a wonderful team then. ;)

 

Nah--I'm not annoyed, I mainly do it just so they "critic" realizes that I think it funny, especially over what they leave negs for.

 

Eliana--it could be that or they objected to my "I will not stop them from reading anything at all" bit--which I suppose, in some weird universe means "I won't censor" but hey--whatever their flyin' rat patootie wants ;)

 

Eliana--I just went back and re-read their comment and I think they thought I was saying "how dare you censor(by pre-reading your kids books)"--not that *I* censor, but rather by my comment they took it as me say that and "I won't censor (by pre-reading)"....which still stands that they need reading comprehension lessons because that's like, totally off the mark. ;)

[Laura K (NC)]

My oldest likes historical war novels. I read the first of an author's series, but I just can't bring myself to read the rest of them.

 

There was a book about Albert Einstein that I didn't read.

 

That's just about it. I've read everything else, and I really enjoy it.

[RoughCollie]

I do not read all the books my kids are required to read. If I did that, I wouldn't have time to read my own books. For a long time (grades 1-5) I read the required books out loud. Boy, was I relieved when it dawned on me I don't have to do that!

 

Now, if one or more kids hates a required book, I take a look at it. That's how they all got out of reading The Westing Game -- DH and I disliked it and we took it off the required list. We are just a family of Westing Game haters.

 

Call of the Wild was a different story. Two kids liked it, and two did not. Big so what -- everyone had to read it anyway because I like it a lot. In the end, we had a bunch of interesting discussions about the book and the kids who didn't like it much got something out of it anyway.

 

Also, I've read a lot of the required books already. I don't take every required book from someone else's list -- I make up my own list and add books I think are worth including even if I haven't read them. Sometimes I pick duds.

 

One thing I have discovered is that there are a bunch of highly praised books out there that we think are boring. My kids hated The Lantern Bearers (it was torture to read it, DS2 said). I assigned it because DH loves it and thought it would be great to go along with history. We suffered through it, and after that I said, no more suffering!

 

Everyone has different taste and different things appeal to them at different times of life, I think. For instance, I loved Wuthering Heights in high school and when I tried to read it again a year ago, I thought it was boring.

 

I always thought Jane Austen's books were boring, but plowed through several of them anyway. No way would I watch a movie made from one of her books. I shudder at the thought that it would probably be like that movie, "A Room with a View", which I would have hated with a passion if I could have roused myself from the stupor that movie put me in.

 

I love Plato and some Shakespeare, so I figure that makes up for not liking other authors favored by those who are more highbrow than I.

 

I don't censor books at all. My kids can read whatever they like, and they all read a lot. DD won't read anything published before 1999 on her own, so required books are necessary for her education.

 

Whew. That was too long-winded. Sorry.

 

RC

[GothicGyrl]

On the "required" part of the question--I've found (for my kids ;) ) that if I "require" something they won't read it. But if I said "here is a list of books I'd like you to try, pick one(and then another and another)" they were usually more receptive to it.

 

In our literature book (bju, gah--talk about "trudging" through something) they have to read what's there..but outside reading, nothing is required or off limits. Plus, I've realized that discussions (for us) are more natural if I didn't require something, but instead let them choose when to read it.

 

Like the Scarlett Letter. DD15 wanted to read this right when we first started homeschooling--so end of 4th grade. Now for some, they might say "you aren't old enough" or the "themes are too strong for that age"--but (for my kids) with us, I found her willingness to just read it without prompting more of a reason for me to say yes than no. And once she read it, we discussed it **as she saw the need to discuss it**.

 

Last year, she picked the book up again. And she discovered that her feelings on the book did not change from when she first read it. Which meant, for me, that I did something right (for my kids) in letting her read it **when she wanted to** as opposed to telling her when she will read it. Kwim?

 

 

(did I put enough qualifiers in that? ;) )

[RoughCollie]

(did I put enough qualifiers in that? ;) )

 

No! I demand you put in at least two more! :D

[RenJac1501]

I do:)

[GothicGyrl]

No! I demand you put in at least two more! :D

GAH! I Object!

[RoughCollie]

GAH! I Object!

 

OVERRULED!

[Jenny in Atl]

I try to read those I feel older dd will want to discuss or that we need to for school. Most of the ones she has or will read in the next couple years, for school, I have already read. I still often go back and read at least parts of to refresh. But, oldest dd reads so much for pleasure, there is no way I could read all she does and still have time for the bks I want to read. I trust her to come to me with anything she feels need to discuss. Again, we are a very open family and little would upset more, except "crappy" lit like teen romance novels or slasher bks. So far, she seems uninterested in those types of bks so far. :D

[Tutor]

If I assign it, yes. If they just choose a book to read, probably not. If they choose a book on their own and end up with questions or just wanting to discuss is, either my dh or I will read it so we can have an intelligent discussion about it. Otherwise, no.

[GothicGyrl]

OVERRULED!

You can't handle the truth!!!!

 

 

Oh wait, wrong movie... Ummm, "Drama Queen!!"

[Plaid Dad]

I would not assign any Great Books that I have not already read myself. How could I teach them otherwise?

[WTMindy]

I love reading and I would like to read them alongside the kids.

[GothicGyrl]

Except for the censorship thing, our approach is often very similar.

 

Eliana, I think you might have misunderstood me, I don't censor **anything** they read. ;) There is no book off the list, in fact, I prefer them to read books from the "banned books" list as opposed to any other book. ;)

 

(in fact, that's where I get our book list from, the banned books list)

[GothicGyrl]

Sorry, that was a muddled way to say it...

 

I meant except for the fact that *we* censor our children's reading (and do pre-read every book they read.)

 

*sigh* See what happens when I try to be concise? ;)

 

Eliana

It's ok... no harm no foul.. ;)

[Ria]

LOL. I agree completely...

I don't censor **anything** they read. ;) There is no book off the list, in fact, I prefer them to read books from the "banned books" list as opposed to any other book. ;)

 

(in fact, that's where I get our book list from, the banned books list)

 

If something is on the banned booklist, yeah, I'll read it (if I haven't already). But do I monitor and approve all that my kids read? No. That would be censorship. They are sentient beings. They can read. We can discuss.

 

Ria

[kdeno]

but it is hard to keep up with such an avid reader!

 

Kari

[Kelli in TN]

but it is hard to keep up with such an avid reader!

 

Kari

 

 

That is my problem. Trying to keep up with 3 different grade levels plus read what I want to read......TOO MUCH!!

 

And occasionally I need to cook, or do laundry, or hang out with my hubby.

 

For 9th and 10th grade I used a literature curriculum for my daughter, just so I could have some questions for her to answer when I could not keep up with her reading. She asked me to drop it as it was incredibly time consuming, so now I am back to scrambling to keep up with her!!

[Kelli in TN]

Sorry, that was a muddled way to say it...

 

I meant except for the fact that *we* censor our children's reading (and do pre-read every book they read.)

 

*sigh* See what happens when I try to be concise? ;)

 

Eliana

 

But, was the OP asking about censoring reading? Or just reading to be able to have good literature discussions?

 

I took it to mean being available for lit discussions, and I have failed miserably in that.

 

I don't know if I censor. I think my kids really don't ever really want to read anything that I have to worry about. If someone suddenly started wanting to read things that I felt inappropriate, I would then exercise my authority and censor that!!

 

I am the grownup, after all.

 

But my original answer was more about keeping up with the huge stack of books my kids can blow through in a very short period of time.

 

Of course, if I gave up the internet I could read more!:eek:

[Kelli in TN]

Oh, dear! I'm sorry to be so confusing! No, the OP wasn't asking about censoring at all - I mentioned it in response to Toni's post about her family's approach to literature, which, except for censoring (ours not hers), has a lot of similarities to ours.

 

 

Eliana

 

Oh, okay. I don't open all posts, so I guess I was missing where the conversation turned in a new direction.

 

And thank you for your encouraging response to me. I guess maybe calling myself a failure might be a bit harsh. But it was a goal that I had and I have not fulfilled it and that bothers me.

[Pam "SFSOM" in TN]

Oh, okay. I don't open all posts, so I guess I was missing where the conversation turned in a new direction.

 

And thank you for your encouraging response to me. I guess maybe calling myself a failure might be a bit harsh. But it was a goal that I had and I have not fulfilled it and that bothers me.

 

Your priorities shifted. Positive self-talk is a good thing to teach yourself AND your kids. ;)

[Sasha]

Most of them I *have* read, although it might have been two dozen years ago. I don't preread their pleasure reading, though. I don't have any interest in reading five hundred Magic Tree House books and such.