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Patty
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What do you do when one of your older kids is questioning reading classic literature? Our 14yo dd is a good reader, and does enjoy fantasy and also non-fiction...cookbooks, how-to books, etc., and was asking me WHY I wanted her to branch out and read other things. I tried telling her how MUCH you can learn from reading books that have stood the test of time...the rich language, vocabulary, and imagery, and also seeing things from the author's point of view, learning about different characters and relationships, etc. I went on and on until her eyes glazed over. 
Does anyone else have a kid like this? What do you do? I want her to be well-rounded and well-read before she leaves the nest. I honestly think she does need a bit of a push in this direction.
Patty
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MacBeth
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Use audio books.  Stop the audio at an exciting spot. Make sure the actual book is in the house. Step back.
But seriously...sometimes I just need a bit of audio to get into a book and to help me feel the language of the author. After a bit, the book is more attractive. If I don't have several copies of some books in the house, fights erupt (everyone scrambled for Jane Eyre and Les Miserables).
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Cay Gibson
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A reviewer (David McIntosh to be exact and give credit where credit is due) wrote this as a review for "The Bridge of San Luis Rey" by Thornton Wilder:
"This Pulitzer Prize winner is one of the most poetic, profound books I can remember reading. Thank heavens I didn't read it when I was young."
I have remembered this.
When I was a pre-teen, my father told me an abbreviated version of this book (The Bridge of San Luis Rey); possibly took him all of five minutes to describe the story to me. His short narration stayed with me for years until I read the book on my own in college. I read it again last year.
That's why I'm all into "exposure".
Expose them to the plays.
Expose them to the movies.
Expose them to the books on tape.
Expose them to your personal narration of the story.
Expose them through Great Illustrated Classics.
Expose them through field trips to that book's setting.
Expose them through cartoon-ish Classics Illustrated.
Burger King had the Narnia toys with the kids' meals. Expose them...
Many times children just don't want to read by themselves. Read it aloud to them. Expose them...
One day your children will thank you for giving them the entrance tickets.
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Willa
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Here's what has worked for us:
--Reading aloud, yes, even to a highschooler. I read the Iliad and the Aeneid to my highschooler and am now reading the Bible to him.
--Reading the book myself and reading bits to them or telling them about the "good parts". Then leaving the book around.
--Renting the movie and using that as a hook to pull them into the book. My daughter has discovered lots of good books this way.
-- Sometimes audio books, but we don't go that many places all together in the car, which is the best way to have a "captive audience". But we've listened to Tolkien, Shakespeare, Dickens and others so I guess we've done it enough to put it on the list . 
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Patty
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I do read aloud to all of them, but don't have time to read everything to everyone. We've always read lots of history...biography, historical fiction, etc., aloud as a family, and I read aloud other books to them that don't necessarily have anything to do with the particular period of history we're studying. We do listen to books on tape and love them!
And yes, we do watch movies made from books, but I really like the kids to read or listen to the book first, so that the movie doesn't get in the way of their own imagining of the story. Maybe you all wouldn't agree with my "book before the movie" theory...I do question it myself sometimes.
Anyway, thanks for the encouragement and ideas!
Patty
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Mary G
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Patty wrote:
And yes, we do watch movies made from books, but I really like the kids to read or listen to the book first, so that the movie doesn't get in the way of their own imagining of the story. Maybe you all wouldn't agree with my "book before the movie" theory...I do question it myself sometimes.
Patty |
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Patty:
I really agree with the read the book before the movie -- particularly with ANYTHING from Disney, which is hard to enforce, but I do try.
My littles were pestering me to watch Disney's Pocahontas which is a Native American Barbie doll with questionable religious beliefs and NOT at all what really happened. So, instead I read them D'Aulaire's Pocahontas which gave them a good grounding in the story. When they saw the Disney version (at grandma's  ) they criticized it soundly for lack of being tru to what happened.
My older ones have done this with movies and books -- we get into some pretty good discussions about the positives and negatives of each and which tells a richer story -- 8 or 9 times out of 10, it's the book!
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Rebecca
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Cay, I so appreciate your insight into "exposing" the kids to things rather than worrying about fitting it all in. I am wondering if you have any tips for "exposing" then to Shakespeare. I have a nine year old whose eyes glaze over even when I read aloud from modified Shakespeare (Lamb). Unfortunately, I am not well versed in Shakespeare although I took a college class full of it but do not recall any of the stories. Where is a good place to start?
Our local theatre is doing "A Midsummer Night's Dream" next month. Would this be appropriate?
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MaryM
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Rebecca wrote:
| ...I have a nine year old whose eyes glaze over even when I read aloud from modified Shakespeare (Lamb). Unfortunately, I am not well versed in Shakespeare although I took a college class full of it but do not recall any of the stories. Where is a good place to start? |
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There were a couple threads on the forum last year that I found very helpful for ideas on doing Shakespeare.
Shakespeare for the Ignorant
Get Shakin' with Shakespeare
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Willa
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Patty wrote:
| And yes, we do watch movies made from books, but I really like the kids to read or listen to the book first, so that the movie doesn't get in the way of their own imagining of the story. Maybe you all wouldn't agree with my "book before the movie" theory...I do question it myself sometimes. Patty |
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With us, it depends on circumstances. A good movie is a work of art in its own right. My family would laugh to hear me say that, since I'm always the one peacefully curled up in bed with a book while they're out there watching the movie!
But I'm talking more here about an older kid, watching a classy BBC movie like "Pride and Prejudice" and then being motivated to tackle the book. Not so much Disneyfications of Winnie the Pooh et al that really ruin the whole original story (to me). Thhe movies meant for little kids often seem more "twaddly", to me.
Plus, little kids are more in a formational stage than older kids/adults. We need them to learn to enjoy books by exposing them to literary language and so on. An older child who can read well already but simply doesn't really like the classics is in a slightly different boat.
I suppose if a child REALLY wanted to watch a particular movie, like Lord of the Rings, it might motivate him or her to read the book first, if you made that a condition. I do not know.
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ALmom
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Willa, Our oldest who is tons more visual did in fact get inspired to read a book after seeing a movie. I cannot remmeber which one now - but it was a relatively faithful rendition of the classic. However, in general, even with our oldest we require the book first - but will rent the movie so that it is here as soon as they are finished as a sort of motivation.
Based on the story line of Midsummer Nights Dream, I'm not sure I'd take a younger dc. We watched Taming of the Shrew and Merchant of Venice (I think some of the youngers watched some of these but we watched it mostly for our highschooler).
I have found that sometimes dc do not go for a classic because they are not ready for the subject matter or content and it is best to respect that. They will develop a taste in its proper time. I had to read a lot of Shakespeare in high school - never could really follow the language well in terms of understanding the whole story line but sure loved the ring of the language and there are quotes that seem to work their way into everyday life. I don't think I could stand a simplified version of Shakespeare because it was his poetic language that I loved and not the story. Our oldest was never exposed to Shakespeare until high school when we had an English teacher give a brief introduction to his work and theater and enticed dd in to the story line of Merchant of Venice. She fell in love with Shakespeare and has since read quite a bit more on her own without any notes or help and also other "assigned" works that the English teacher gives some notes, etc. She loves both the language and can follow the story.
I do not think we have to be unduly concerned if younger dc are not thrilled by some of the classics - as long as dc are reading real, living books, they will eventually tackle some portion of the classics - and some can be assigned reading at the high school level with some good assistance through it. If you are reading it and find a quote that inspires you - share that. That is sufficient for the younger imho. Shakespeare has plenty of quotable lines - even if you cannot follow his story line (thats where I am). Merchant of Venice has lots of the commonly quoted Shakespeare and dd (highschooler) helped me follow it.
Janet
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lapazfarm
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I have to agree with what Janet said about children sometimes not being ready for the subject matter. If they cannot relate to the story or they cannot connect it with their lives in some way, it is harder to hold their interest. One example is my ds (10). I tried Romeo and Juliet with him. He didn't care for it or the Zefferelli movie version. Why? He's never fallen in love, and so just didn't see what all the fuss was about. Same with Midsummer Nights Dream.
Count of Monte Cristo -not Shakespeare, but still a classic, he LOVED. He could relate to the revenge theme pretty well.
Though your dd is a bit older, perhaps carefully choosing classics that strike a chord with her life experiences might pull her in.
I also second (or third) the movie suggestion. If you want her to read the book first, then how about drawing her in by letting her see a movie about another book by the same author? Like watching "Treasure Island" and reading "Kidnapped" (that's what we are doing next) ?
Hope that helps some
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MacBeth
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Never have liked R&J myself , but we have enjoyed most Shakespeare onstage before reading the play, and have enjoyed the reading so much more having seen the play. The play's the thing, you see .
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Cay Gibson
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Rebecca wrote:
Cay, I so appreciate your insight into "exposing" the kids to things rather than worrying about fitting it all in. I am wondering if you have any tips for "exposing" then to Shakespeare. I have a nine year old whose eyes glaze over even when I read aloud from modified Shakespeare (Lamb). Where is a good place to start?
Our local theatre is doing "A Midsummer Night's Dream" next month. Would this be appropriate?
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I say definitely take him to the play. Shakespeare's plays were meant to be acted out. Find out first whose putting this on, so that you don't get caught unawares. My 15 yr old dd is reading "Midsummer Night's Dream" right now.
When my second ds was 9 I had the same experience you had. I'd read from Lamb's tales because everyone said it was the best way to expose Shakespeare to your dc. I couldn't understand what I was doing wrong. Then I realized that I didn't care for Lamb...that much...either.
Then I found Bruce Coville's Shakespeare books at the library and we read those. This worked well.
We have to be careful even with the exposure. You don't want to nip the light before the match is even struck.
One thing I did with my oldest ds when we read "The Tempest" was to have him draw a map as we read it (from Lamb's Tales). It helped him with the visual placement of the island and where everything took place.
Sonya Romans mentioend that her family did a Shakespeare Summer one year. That's on my list this year.
Cay Gibson wrote:
| Burger King had the Narnia toys with the kids' meals. Expose them... |
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Ooops! It isn't BK that has the Narnia toys. It's McDonald's! This shows how long its been since the dc and I went to either one. 
Also, Lucky Charms cereal has a (very) abridged illustrated book that comes with the cereal box. It's an illustrated "Tea with Mr. Tumnus". I showed it to my girl's yesterday while we were shopping and the 8 yr old said, "Mom, we already saw the movie."
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almamater
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A couple of other suggestions:
Could the older child read some of the classics to younger ones (obviously not too young for the aforementioned reasons)?
OR
For dramas, why not invite friends over and do a reading of the play? Everyone pick up a copy of the play at the library or used book store, pick a name out of the hat and read it aloud (no actual acting/props/costumes). Make it a little party...snacks and beverages, intermission, etc. My dh and I are trying to find a weekend to do this; even though my dc are too young, I think it is good for them to have it "in the air" plus, I really miss being active in the theatre.
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TracyQ
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Oh, I'm so glad to hear you all post, it helps a lot!
Our oldest is reading *A Tale of Two Cities* right now, and hates it. I'm pulling my hair out trying to get him to read it!
Other books, like To Kill a Mockingbird, was no problem. He says A Tale of Two Cities is boring, and nothing happens. I told him, you have to read some Dickens before going to college, it's a classic, DEAL with it!
Ugh! I don't want my kids to hate literature! I've been wondering just WHAT they need to read and not read before getting into college, and what can be skipped.
And I was going to have him to his first Shakespeare next. I think we'd better find something else, and hold off on Shakespeare until later in the year. 
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MaryM
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TracyQ wrote:
Our oldest is reading *A Tale of Two Cities* right now, and hates it. I'm pulling my hair out trying to get him to read it! |
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My oldest son started to read A Tale of Two Cities a couple times and could never get into it. We would just drop it. It is really slow. Finally got through last year I believe - but definitely not his favorite.
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ALmom
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A Tale of Two Cities is set at the time of the French Revolution and is very difficult - probably the hardest Dickons to read (imo).
A few things dc would need or be helpful to tackle this (from experience of a dd who read 1/2 the book and totally missed the point and thus hated it - we had to go back and re-read from the start with me reading it aloud at first till she got it) :
background on the French Revolution including a timeline that places the events of the story within historical context (our dd English tutor gave us something like this to help us through when we went to her in desperation)
list of characters that were in France and list in England and a list that went both places. It helps if the characters are identified as historical or fictional characters. These characters can get mighty mixed up.
footnotes that identify his obscure historical references.
some discussion of sarcasm - our dd had never been exposed to sarcasm before and she was taking everything said quite literally until we explained this.
We were doing Seton at the time and so had no choice to drop the book. Our dd really hates Dickons to this day  She is beginning to recover somewhat now that she is taking a British Lit class with 5 homeschool girls and has a real teacher who is giving background and enticing them into the material - and they are doing some Dickons. I'm hopeful that she will appreciate him this time around. We'd probably have done better to drop Tale of Two Cities and pick something else of Dickons or just wait till we had more history background. (Of course this is the dd that really dislikes history - except music history). Dickons is also bleak so I hated her to get bogged down with this during the volatile and emotional early teens.
Janet
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Mary G
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Janet -- this is the problem I have with required reading lists (whether it's in "real school" or homeschool curricula)!
If you give a kid a book to read -- and don't say it's for schoo -- or better yet, just leave them out, they might read it and enjoy it. But if you make it a school assignment with quizzes or paprs as the end "reward" -- hey, I wouldn't read it either!
I know that my firends in college had to read Vanity Fair and they hated it. I was stuck at school over a holiday with no work to do and picked it up -- and loved it! My friends all thought I was nuts. But when you're reading for pleasure, you get into the story and what the writers is trying to say. When you have to read it for school, you lose sight of the sotry and the author's message in order to find the simile on page 43 or the theme in chapter 6!
That's one reason I stopped doing Kolbe with my odler kids -- it's great on Great Books but the essays and chapter questions made the kids ate the book.
I guess another reason to unschool and strew!
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Maybe I'd better let him wait for awhile to read it. Ugh! Poor thing, he's my first high school child guinea pig unfortunately. I wish I could say I knew what I was doing! This can be very frustrating some days
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momwise
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TracyQ wrote:
| Poor thing, he's my first high school child guinea pig unfortunately. I wish I could say I knew what I was doing |
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Take heart Tracy....you know what you're doing way better than most. I took my oldest son out of public school 13 yrs. ago at age 12. We were not a big read-aloud family, plus, although I myself read quite a bit I had never read what you would call even a semi-classic and I didn't have a good book list yet. So my dad kept saying Billy Budd by Melville was a great story; and I'm very sure it is, but it wasn't a great starting point for us. But I sure did make us sit down and read it together! My ds hated that story and to this day does not read for pleasure (oh...that kills me).
What about starting Dickens with a book on tape for Oliver Twist or David Copperfield....we started with D.C. as a preview to watching the video? Everyone enjoyed it.
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Topic: When older kids won't read classics
