Can I just give myself a big whoop and holler? Wahoo!
Another year of high school nearly under my belt and I am feeling great. Wahoo!
Sometimes you just need to rejoice about the place you are in life.
I have been writing a lot lately about high school and Tapestry of Grace and Charlotte Mason. I feel so impelled to share our experiences with everyone as we go through the process. I know from my email that there are those that are listening and participating in the discussions and I love that.
This time I wanted to share how we have made literature study a success in our family using TOG and Charlotte Mason's ideas. I don't think I have it all figured out but it is going fairly well for us at this point.
Literature is probably the hardest subject for me to share with my boys in high school. With that thought in mind, I pick the literature that we will cover carefully.
Formal Literature:
Slow reading of books has become the foundation for our literature study. We read several books at a time and alternate days. We get the same amount of pages read over the long run but each book is sliced into bite size pieces.
We use three sources for our literature study. I start off with the Tapestry of Grace book list, eliminating books we have read already or we don't think will be a good fit for our family. I consult the Ambleside Online year we are working in and pull books from their lists as well to substitute for the books we eliminated from TOG. Then I browse our home library for books that I would like to include for the year. This year we pulled in additional Shakespeare and additional poetry. I sort the books by terms and then add them into Homeschool Tracker. It really is not a difficult process at all and it gives us a customized literature list just for our family.
These books are read and shared together each week at our Friday meetings. The boys keep Commonplace Books for most of their literature but sometimes I pull an idea from TOG and we go a little more in depth. I make sure to cover literary terms with the boys each Friday at our meetings. We did use TOG's story analysis document from The Loom to learn how to do a little more formal study of a few books. We also enjoyed using the Loom's Author Index to learn more about each author before reading the books. ( I will share our general ideas for covering literary terms in an additional post...I have a pretty good system going on for the boys.)
Free Reading:
In addition to the books, plays, and poetry that I assign as part of our weekly homeschooling plans, I have what I refer to as free reading books.
These are books that I decided the boys need to read as a matter of general knowledge and for enjoyment. They may be additional books by authors we read during our formal literature time or books we just cannot fit into our busy school schedule. They can read and enjoy with no narrations unless they want to share thoughts with me or other family members.
I make a list and put it in the front of their literature binder and they keep track of when they start and finish each book on the list. They use these books as a way to fill in extra time during their day, on road trips, in the evenings, over the winter and spring breaks, or during their free afternoon time. The only "rule" is that they have to have one book started at all times.
I have all the books lined up on a shelf in our school area and they can be read in any order. All books are unabridged and usually older copies that I have collected over the years.
Sample list of books that are to be completed by the end of grade 9:
Robinson Crusoe
Kidnapped
Treasure Island
Captain Courageous
House of Arden
Oliver Twist
Cricket on the Hearth
The Prince and the Pauper
Little Men
Animal Farm
Rob Roy
Book of Three
Lorna Doone
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
Count of Monte Cristo
Invisible Man
I have a hard time remembering which of my children have read which books in the past so they are allowed to come to me and tell me that they already read a book and I will cross it off the list. Also, they are allowed two books to "skip" if they are really not enjoying them. They have to give the book a chance by reading at least two chapters but I am not trying to make free reading a lesson in obedience. I want it to be enjoyable.
So far, they both have opted to skip Rob Roy because they were having trouble with the dialect. Mr. A does not especially like Dickens' style of writing so he opted out of one of the Dickens books.
Mr. A enjoyed reading the unabridged version of Treasure Island for the first time.
Mr. B loved The Time Machine and The Count of Monte Cristo.
I was intrigued by the story of The Invisible Man.
I have already started their list for next year and it is going to be great.
High school is a great time for so many "grown up" kinds of literature. I am grateful to be able to share at least a part of the experience with my boys.
Barb-Harmony Art Mom
12 comments:
We have a couple years to go before high school, but I'm excited about modifying your literature suggestions for my kiddos. Thanks for sharing!
I love the idea about giving your kids "free reading". Do they read other books also - ones that I like to call "junk food books"? I just have a son in 3rd grade and I still don't know how to get him away from junk food books without killing his love of reading. We also do TOG and he doesn't mind reading the books (he does the UG literature books), but have you ever had a plan for your boys in elementary school like you do for high school? Any suggestions?
Hi Beth,
I really didn't have a list for them when they were younger. They both read through the Hardy Boys series, the Red Wall series, and then the Hornblower series all on their own.
They both are a lot like me...they like non-fiction in their free time.
One hint that I have is to sort of bridge the gap between the "twaddle" and other books with books on tape. I know that for my boys we have enjoyed listening to fiction books of higher quality long before they were ready to tackle them by reading on their own. Books like Treasure Island, Tom Sawyer, the first Red Wall book, Shakespeare, etc are so enjoyable that when they actually get to them in their literature, they already have had a taste and they are ready to gulp it down.
I know that isn't as concrete as you probably would like but we really didn't use the idea of a free reading list until last year. I got the idea from Ambleside Online so you might check their year plans under free reading and see what they suggest in the lower grades.
Barb
High school is a way off for us as well but I am so enjoying these posts, Barb. I will feel much more comfortable when the time comes and I'm thankful to have your experience to turn to.
High school is one of those things that we are taking step by step. I finally go the idea that this is *our* high school. We can shape it and form it and it will work out fine.
Glad I am giving you all a little confidence.
Barb-Harmony Art Mom
Another helpful post. I'm struggling with 7th grade for fall. I LOVE AO but am finally at a point where I don't think it's exactly what I want--I want Charlotte Mason style, slow reading, narrations, but not all of the selections for YEAR 7 seem like "us". I, too, like to pick/choose, add or delete and have a few changes in mind. I like the Free Reading list--I think I will use that idea. Still toying with ordering ToG to see it. I need the "big picture" and the online isn't always enough of a "sample" for me. I usually look at AO, Sonlight, Veritas Press,private school reading lists, etc. If it's on all of them I tend to pick it for use somewhere! I'm working thru your Fine Art plans and like what I see for the Medieval/Renaisance for next year, too!
Hopewell,
Have you downloaded the three week sample from TOG? It should give you a really good idea of what is like.
http://www.tapestryofgrace.com/newworld/
The other hint from me is that if you do print it out, do it in color because that really helps you to follow the plans better.
Barb
Yes, I've downloaded it and am starting on it tonight. Probably it's just "oh that sounds so cool" [i.e. the grass is greener....] but I want to really look it over. I like the Friday discussions and the helps for that that you have mentioned. I don't like the cost, but as a single Mom the cost of anything gets rough. If it's worth it, I pay it somehow!
Thank you for this series of posts. I'm happily using Sonlight this year for Eastern Hemisphere, but I yearn to get back to the ancients and cycle around again. As much as I've loved to use Sonlight, I think that core 6 and 7 would move much too fast for me. So I'm thinking through TOG and how I would put it into practice. I think I've about figured out that I just need to get it and spend the summer doing planning a little at a time so that I start the year with a full planned schedule.
Can you give me your thoughts on the benefits of students reading this large variety of fiction classics? Do you include Christian biographies/missionary biographies in your lists of required/free reading?
Or is this just a list of the classical literature that you want your sons to be acquainted with?
Just curious on your thoughts...
JoyH
Joy,
Good question.
Our required literature includes all sorts of biographies ....historical, scientists, artists, composers, etc and some of those were Christians. We do read biographies of missionaries as part of our history reading and Bible study every year. Last year we read quite a bit of original source material from historical Christian figures and the boys enjoyed that even though it was a little hard to get through.
Actually, many of the books I pick because I consult my oldest daughter who is just graduated college as an English and Literature major. We discuss lots of books and which ones she thinks that the boys should be acquainted with as a matter of common knowledge and background as a literate student.
In fact, we just nailed down our literature for next year...at least the required books, poetry, and Shakespeare. I made a big list and she gave me her thoughts on each book and if she didn't like a book, we crossed it off and she suggested a replacement. I listen to her as my sort of resident "expert". She is not the final word but I respect her opinion. For instance, she does not like Emily Dickinson at all and she thought a week of reading Ms. Dickinson would be enough. I think we will stick with our original plans and read quite a bit more than that. :)
My process is to start with TOG, subtract books from their list that are not a good fit for our family, consult AO for books to replace, browse our home library and add a few books I think we might like, make a list of required and free reading, and then consult with my daughter. We add and subtract and somehow we come out with a list that works for us. It sounds complicated but it really doesn't take that much effort.
Hope that answers your questions.
Barb
Thanks for your time!
JoyH
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