•12:10 PM
We just finished a longer read aloud book: The Swiss Family Robinson. It did take some time to get used to the style of this book, as well as the language used. However, the children seemed to have no problem with their listening comprehension. They sometimes listened better to me than I did to myself. Self-Reliant Man also listened and appreciated the moments of humor in the book.
I must say that this book will never find its way into the annals of politically correct literature. It definitely had a pro Christian flavor, as the father of the marooned family was a preacher and carried his faith into their circumstances. But also -- goodness, there were so many shootings and killings of animals to serve the survival needs of the family; although I take no issue with this, it did get tedious and descriptive of the steps of reaping the rewards of the animals' corpses, well beyond what I wanted to know about.
In fact, I found the entire book tedious, and enjoyed it less than the rest of my family, I feel.
But I must add this comment. If someone were to ask me what was the most fruitful aspect of our homeschool and the education of our children, I would tell them without hesitation: READING ALOUD. We have never shied away from reading challenging literature with rich vocabulary and complex sentence structure, and we have seen dramatic results from this in our children: in their general speaking vocabulary, their own reading choices (Little Son has recently been enjoying George MacDonald books), and their writing style. Both children are writing so well that I know it is all about being read to. There is no doubt in my mind. So if you want to make a dramatic difference, read aloud, and not just fluff books but challenging, meaty literature above what you might normally think of. It will develop their brains more than anything else you do!
Next book in line: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
I must say that this book will never find its way into the annals of politically correct literature. It definitely had a pro Christian flavor, as the father of the marooned family was a preacher and carried his faith into their circumstances. But also -- goodness, there were so many shootings and killings of animals to serve the survival needs of the family; although I take no issue with this, it did get tedious and descriptive of the steps of reaping the rewards of the animals' corpses, well beyond what I wanted to know about.
In fact, I found the entire book tedious, and enjoyed it less than the rest of my family, I feel.
But I must add this comment. If someone were to ask me what was the most fruitful aspect of our homeschool and the education of our children, I would tell them without hesitation: READING ALOUD. We have never shied away from reading challenging literature with rich vocabulary and complex sentence structure, and we have seen dramatic results from this in our children: in their general speaking vocabulary, their own reading choices (Little Son has recently been enjoying George MacDonald books), and their writing style. Both children are writing so well that I know it is all about being read to. There is no doubt in my mind. So if you want to make a dramatic difference, read aloud, and not just fluff books but challenging, meaty literature above what you might normally think of. It will develop their brains more than anything else you do!
Next book in line: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
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3 comments:
My dearly beloved took the joy of reading bedtime stories every night. There were plenty of years when he had a little kid's book as well as a chapter book, and everyone enjoyed every word, even when they were too little to understand it all. Of course we read to them throughout the day as well; I just adored seeing one of my babies toddling toward me with Bookie in hand. Those days go too fast. I believe SFR is in a later year of Calvert, and Ryan didn't enjoy it as much as Robinson Crusoe. Not realistic enough was his view.
Oh, and I meant to say about Columbus' ships: *giggle*!
my oldest read sfw in 6th grade. his comment was that johann wyss had not done his research well, since he included on the island all sorts of animals who wouldn't normally live on the same continent with each other!
i too love reading aloud to the family. altho' i used to read aloud to the kids, we didn't start regular family read-alouds until my oldest was already in high school (and we didn't make him join us). it happened by "accident", as i was reading the 3 younger kids a book for "school" and we didn't get to it one day so read it in the evening. hubz so enjoyed that that he wouldn't let us read it w/o him from then on. when that book was finished we went on to another, and now it is something we cherish. it slips by the wayside when life gets busy, as it will be for us the next few months. hopefully we will pick it back up when football practice & my 2nd-shift job end. meantime, i am going to at least try to keep an audio book in the van cd player!