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pumpkinmom
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| Posted: May 11 2012 at 8:31am | IP Logged
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I feel like I am failing my kids in literature! Our literature is really lacking on our homeschool.  I guess I am not sure what we are suppose to do. I usually just let me kids read what they want to read. Sometimes I can get them to read "classics". I try to get an oral narrations from them, occasionally, but they don't tell me too much about the book. I really don't know what to ask. I see that there are guides out there, but I have never looked at them. What am I suppose to be doing about literature? If it helps my oldest will be 6th and was reading at a 8th grade level a year ago. My youngest will be 3rd grade and is reading on level to maybe 1 grade above. He also has little interest in chapter books. They take too long to read, so he says.  My oldest loves to read!
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Cassie
Homeschooling my little patch of Ds-14 and Ds-10
Tending the Pumpkin Patch
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: May 11 2012 at 9:18am | IP Logged
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I think a great way to spark interest in reading literature is judicious use of books on cd (though, with little ones, I've heard it can sometimes make them reliant or "lazy" instead of reading, but we've not had that problem here) as well as Jim Weiss's excellent recordings, which do so much to whet the appetite!
Family read-alouds can also light a fire!
Then, you might make use of some of those lists and the library and check out a variety of titles to leave out in a basket or "strew" to tempt your children.
I also happen to believe that it is important to strictly limit screen time in order to encourage reading, imaginative play, better behavior, etc... Screen time, in addition to stealing time itself, can also have a detrimental effect on our attention spans. I know different people have different standards and views on this, but I consider it a key point of strategy in our home on many fronts.
Of course, you can also assign quality literature as a part of your curriculum, but from what you say, I'm not sure that is what you are asking.
Also, being judicious in the "fun reading" you bring in can help. The Tin-tin comic books did a lot to inspire my 7 year old to work towards the next level in reading and bridge the gap between picture books and being an avid reader of chapter books. Now, a year later, he still LOVES Tin-Tin, but he has also devoured many other more worthy titles.
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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JennGM
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| Posted: May 11 2012 at 10:31am | IP Logged
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I completely echo Lindsay. We have also found the books on tape stimulate the reading. My son wants to read along but also tends to read ahead, and then reread after cd is done.
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to  & ds1  '03 & ds2  '07
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SallyT
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| Posted: May 11 2012 at 11:03am | IP Logged
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What Lindsay said!
For us, reading aloud has been the key to the enjoyment of literature, though we also use audiobooks as entertainment. To my mind, the single most important thing you can do as a family is to enjoy good books *together.* This is a way to acclimate children to books they might not pick up for themselves, or might put down in discouragement as "too hard."
As far as practical "how-to" ways to integrate and emphasize literature in your homeschool:
1. Morning read-aloud time. Because we're very literature-centered in our homeschool, this is the most important part of our day. In roughly an hour, we cover several subjects by way of literary read-alouds: a literary book like Marigold Hunt's St. Patrick's Summer for religion, an historical novel for history, a chapter of a literary science/nature book, something that's purely literary (though maybe also tied to history) like a retelling of the Odyssey. Sometimes we read a math story as well.
2. Lunchtime reading. True confession: I don't always remember to do this -- sometimes I'm either too hungry or too distracted, or the kids are dashing off to something else. But on our best days, I read aloud while they eat, usually from an historical novel, though again it might be something like Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare.
3. Bedtime reading. We always have some chapter book going.
So these are the literature "pegs" for our day: three distinct times when literature is at the center of what we're doing, either for learning or for pure entertainment. My 8th grader, meanwhile, reads heavily and widely on his own for school, though honestly, there aren't really hard and fast lines between what he's doing for school and what he's just doing for fun -- he reads a lot of science writing for enjoyment, for example, and I count that as school even though I didn't assign it.
My 2nd and 3rd graders are not yet doing a lot of independent reading for school: most of what they do is listening and oral narration. I give each of them a 10-20 minute independent reading time at the end of our school morning, and most of the time their reading is free-choice, though I've been careful to limit what's available to things I'm happy for them to read. With my oldest child in college, I have had some years to build our library and weed out whatever junky, twaddly books we might have had, though I have held on to some books that might not totally pass the Charlotte Mason "smell test": some Usborne retellings of things like The Iliad, some Horrible Histories books which my boys have adored, etc. Those are books I don't mind people picking up for their own enjoyment, though they aren't what I choose for read-alouds. Read-alouds are the Good, the Beautiful, and the True!
Like Lindsay, I also limit screen time for my younger kids -- not so much for my older son, because he uses the computer for schoolwork and is an obsessive researcher. I find that lack of "easier" entertainment alternatives does force kids back on their own resources far more, which includes picking up books. Even "educational" videos like Magic Schoolbus episodes are rare treats (though I confess I do like Miss Frizzle as a very occasional babysitter . . . ).
Some kids just are more reluctant readers. My current 2nd grader has not yet buried herself in a book in the way that my 3rd grader did at her age. She's more oriented towards drawing and writing and imaginative play, even though she's a fairly fluent reader in terms of ability. I don't really know what to do about that, except to keep reading aloud, keep sharing books, keep making them a center of our family's life together.
In fact, I attribute my oldest children's love of reading to the fact that they spent their formative years in a flat in England with no tv, no video games, no computer, and a lot of rain outside. Reading, both together and individually, was what there was to do. They both went to school at the time, and really the catalyst for our starting to homeschool was my noticing that they learned a lot more through what we read for fun than from anything they did at school. Their teachers kept thanking us for sending them to school already knowing things . . .
And yes, Tin-Tin was huge in my 3rd-grader's reading development as well!
Sally
PS: also on a pragmatic level: reading lists from sources like Mater Amabilis, Ambleside Online, and the Emmanuel Books catalog have really helped me to make good choices for the various ages and stages of my children. Also, Maureen Wittmann's For the Love of Literature is THE single most helpful homeschooling book I've ever bought: it's a guide to integrating literature into every aspect of your learning, and her suggestions, all marked with recommended age levels, are excellent.
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4Real Forums : Living Literature
Topic: Needing help with literature
