We are making time this year for Shakespeare study again. It has become our tradition to include a few of his plays each year, choosing plays at random. I know many families start their Shakespeare study with their children when they are quite young but over the years I have come to the conclusion that many of the plays are not really truly meant for children.
Instead of feeling regret that we didn't start earlier with Shakespeare, I now am enjoying the reaction my children have to the various convoluted plots that would have been far above their comprehension as young ones.
Previous Year's Lists
2007-2008 Romeo and Juliet, As You Like It (I think this was during this year or perhaps the following year.)
2008-2009 Much Ado About Nothing, Tempest, Henry V, King Lear
2009-2010 Twelfth Night, Hamlet, and MacBeth
This year our list is Merchant of Venice, Comedy of Errors, and Two Gentlemen of Verona. If we can fit it in, we are going to also read Julius Caesar.
I have linked to three different Shakespeare series that we have enjoyed using. The boys like No Fear Shakespeare the best.
I know I have said it before but it bears repeating. Save some of the plays for when your children are older so they can enjoy the twists and turns of the plot without knowing what is going to happen. More of my Shakespeare thoughts can be found HERE in this post.
Happy Shakespeare!
6 comments:
Barb
I really appreciate you saying to leave till later, I feel soo less guilty.
Truth in your reasoning too. Last year after I read a few basic stories, my daughter then 16 became very interested and read all of S.' comedies of her own volition.
I agree with you completely! Shakespeare is written for an adult audience, and though young children can get a little bit out of them, they simply don't have the maturity to comprehend most of it--love, betrayal, revenge, power struggles, sexual innuendo, madness--these are pretty adult themes, IMHO.
Anyway, our 3 for the year are Coriolanus, Julius Caesar, and Antony and Cleopatra (going for a Roman theme to coincide with our history).
And I second the awesomeness of No Fear Shakespeare. Good stuff!
I have cheated on AO as regards Shakespeare (shh, don't tell!) and have NOT really done much Shakespeare (just a few plays using children's version audio) over the years.
And for the same reason as you mention (not having given the plots away) I'm SUPER glad. We are reading Julius Caesar (I know, my kids are still sorta young) but they really get it and are VERY much enjoying it. If I'd tried to do it earlier, they NEVER would've understood a thing...
amy in peru
I haven't really contemplated using Shakespeare with my young babes 5 and 7 (perhaps I am more ecletic than CM), but I like your thoughts on this. I really loved Shakespeare as a teen, but I probably wasn't ready for it any younger... why would it be different for my girls?
Thanks for raising this :)
Shona
I agree about the ages and when to actually start. Last year when Grace was 10 was our first real time with Shakespeare. Growing up I didn't have any contact with his plays. Luckily she is in a drama group that does a Shakespeare play every year so I wait until that comes about and we learn a little about him in the process.
Blessings
Diane
First, we LOVE the No Fear S'Peare editions. I'm cheap and merely buy one copy -- DD13 uses that and I read from the computer/laptop. (We just go back and forth in our reading, each taking a "main character" and filling in with the others as we come to them.
Anyway, I wanted to jump in and say that I do agree with the notion of waiting on some S'Peare works...however, that mostly wasn't an option for us ehre as DD fell in love with "all things Shakespeare" in the early years with Lamb's Tales and and Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare. Just in the last couple of years she even spent (mostly) her own money to buy a giant volume of "all" of Shakespeare's work. She is VERY proud of that book and adores it.
While the "element of surprise" would perhaps be a nice thing, that she's familiar with the gist of most of the stories (not read all of them) allows us to enjoy them for enjoyment's sake and dig deeper on ones/areas we wish to.
Well, won't hijack your blog space any further. I'm just TICKLED to bits DD loves S'Peare as much as she does. I certainly can't complain!LOL
Have a great weekend, lady! Hugs to you!
Post a Comment