Give me Calculus..I will love it. I love making up the millions of ways to explain math so well. My children all do well in math and I am very good at teaching it and I love it so much that I would be perfectly happy if we just did logical stuff like math. But literature? I simply do not have the patience to sit down and read one book after another. Old books are the worst. No, maybe they are not. But I simply do not have the patience. Actually, I do not like books that try to tell the story from the point of view of the dog or the horse (Like "The Captain's Dog" or "Mr. Revere and I.") I am sitting here trying to read "The Last Battle" by C.S. Lewis, and while I think I would like the story, I am really not enjoying reading it. How can I teach lit to my high schoolers when I do not like to read the books that they would have to read? So far, I just give them books and trust that they read them. My oldest is an avid reader. My 3rd child reads a fair amount for his age too. It does not help that I am one of those people that like to know the ending first. It is even this way with movies. I want to have an idea as to how it will end before I commit to going down the journey of the story. What do you think? I am thinking of turning to distance learning programs and hoping that can take over. I am also hoping that merely reading books they enjoy will be enough for high school lit.
I am the opposite. While I took Calculus in high school and college, I do not like math. I preferred science and literature. I adore literature, I majored in British Literature (my favorite periods were Middle Ages and the Victorian era). I read the works of Milton and I enjoyed the works of William Makepeace Thackeray, Mary Shelly and Doris Lessing. I think your idea about distance learning programs is a good one. It sounds like your kids are more the independent study type... there's a literature curriculum called Hewitt's Lightning Literature and Composition One reviewer said that her daughter likes it because the questions don't slow down the reading too much, the format is geared toward independent study, the instructions are clear, and the writing assignments are varied. Also worth mentioning, there's minimial work required of the parent. Some homeschoolers have had success with Lifepacs. I have not tried it but some people here have.
Another thought is to start using audio books. You don't have to do the reading out loud and you might find you have more patience with a story if you don't have to read it.
The audiobooks have worked well for when I am in the car. I am in the middle of reading a book by Orson Scott Card. It is actually really good. But my daughter just got done reading "The Last Battle" by C.S. Lewis and I could not force myself to read it. I am sure it would be easier if I did not have children interrupting and such, but I am definitely not the avid reader my oldest has become and I dread the lists of classics and such that high school requires. I really wanted to do the Omnibus. But I do not see how I will keep up with all that reading as well as everything else. (there is a big age gap between my older children and my younger children and a gap in reading ability between my oldest and 2nd). Maybe I will see if I can just get the books of tape for in the car. Perhaps the library will have copies of them. I wish I had a mom near me who has older children like I do and would like to swap off on this. I can teach her children math and she can teach mine lit. My dh said he would take over the lit, but he has not even started the first book he picked.. Johnny Tremain.
I was reading your thread again, and a thought came to mind...please don't be insulted or offended. What if you switched it around? What if you liked reading but didn't like math? What you did would be determined by circumstances and by your educational philosophy, of course. - Would you tell yourself you "have" to do it, and sit down and study the subject? - Would you ask your spouse to take over? - Would you search outside your home for a tutor? I know, these are essentially all solutions already presented. Sometimes it helps to "flip" it, though. For instance, I would guess that a lot of moms would help their kids with the lower level of high school mass and seek help for Calc, etc. On the other hand, there is a level of difficulty that is different between reading a book and understanding Calc. True, you may not reach the "understanding the book" level, but you could consider reading it. Else what would you say when your child comes up to you and says, "I don't like doing this so I'm just going to skip it?" If you at least read it, even if you pass the teaching to someone else, you can at least discuss the book with said child. In fact, if your kids are more literary than you, perhaps they can teach YOU themes and insights. But you would still be setting the "sometimes we hate doing it but we do it anyway" example. Ultimately, of course, you may decide that that lesson doesn't work best for your family, or that you have already taught it well in other ways, which is fine. I am not trying to judge or say "you are wrong", just throwing out another perspective. I'm a big help, anyway, since I devour books, am currently re-reading the classics for fun, and love Calculus and Physics. (I was a Creative Writing/Astrophysics major in college.) My weakness is going to be Chemistry, LOL.
Online videos Why not try some online learning videos? There are lots about Shakespeare on Studio4learning.tv that might help.
It is also a time issue. My individual children have way more time to read than I do...because I have 4 children to keep up with the individual stuff of. And my oldest, he can devour a book within a day. I cannot even get the laundry folded that fast. Thanks for all the suggestions. I am thinking that it might help too if I stop trying to keep up with every book for every child. DD12 is in to the Narnia series so I am trying to read all those while DS14 is in to Orson Scott Card right now so I am trying to read those. We have a few history books from the Sonlight list I am trying to read too. Add that to all the Clifford and Curious George books and Magic Tree House and so on that I read aloud to the younger children. That does not even touch on trying to teach the other subjects. And my laundry is not folded and so on. I am just really worried about book lists from stuff like Omnibus I wanted to do. I am going to look at that Hewitt program that was suggested too.
See, that is my problem. I just let the laundry sit (not necessarily because I am reading what the kids are, more because I am reading what I am). And the housework. And that is not a you-have-to-make-time-for-it speech, that is a I-really-need-to-get-off-my-butt-more-often speech at myself. :roll: Four kids is definitely a lot to keep up with. Perhaps if you pull back to one or two of the books your older kid is reading each month? The more literary one than the OSC books? (I love OSC; what is he reading now? Make sure he knows the last Ender book has come out. :lol So, as your kids are getting older, maybe you hit Hamlet with them more than the "fun" fiction? I can't keep up with everything my DD reads; she sounds like your son. She is through a book in a day, and she hops around, too; she'll read 3/4ths of one book, then jump to another one, then pick up one of her 5 yo bros nonfiction books, then back to the first. Makes me CRAZY. I didn't know you were talking about EVERYTHING they read; I was throwing out more "literary" suggestions than "reading" (boy, I sound like an English major snob, now, LOL). You can also look for discussion questions from various books or (it makes me shudder) skim the Cliff notes. I really think I found at least one set of Cliff notes online. Shorter than the book, but still allowing for discussion. Although if I had my way, I'd burn all of the cliff notes. Good luck! SG
This might have been mentioned, but do you have an iPod - or do your kids? A lot of books can be downloaded on to an iPod which is really nice while doing housework or waiting at a lesson or whatever.
I listen to an MP3 player as much as possible if I have not read the book they are doing. Besides the stuff my dd is reading (she is reading more for enjoyment than anything else and I just want her confidence up). You can listen WHILE you fold the laundry I do that a lot. Of course - I love reading and math....but my dh is completely a no-literature person.... we just watched Prince Caspian and he missed the 1st movie and had no clue about anything and turns out he never read the books either. <sigh>
I think the cliff note idea is a good one. I certainly didn't read all the books my dd did...we have completely different taste and frankly, as much as I like to read, I couldn't slog through all of hers. I am so not the classic type also.. It sounds like your kids might be past this site, but at www.bookadventure.org there are tests on quite a few books...I am not sure how literary they are, not very current. (They had Pippi Longstocking, but not Hugo Cabret) I have found, by googling the book, along with lesson plans...that sometimes some nice teacher has done the work for you. some sites are fee based, but not always. Have your kids write reports for you... you can get basic book report forms. (even for high school) on the internet. Main Characters...symbolism...conflict...foreshadowing... climax...etc. You can probably figure out if they are getting the point or not. (symbolism is fun in C.S. Lewis) I know there are unit studies on Narnia...including WW2 history. I seriously considered doing that for ds this year, and I might do it next.
We love classics around here. For me, math is a subject that doesn't make the list. Lit on the other hand, I devour.
