Ever wonder if many of the authors you find repeatedly in ps curriculum are only featured because the ps has been using the same curriculum since those authors were contemporary? Just a thought. Meghan, I can identify with a lifechanging read. For me it was Walden (Thoreau). One reason I like to do more of a survey of authors and styles is because you never know what might click with your individual child. If all I did was assign 4 "great" novels a year, we would be missing literally hundreds of other possibilities.
It's a game that comes on TLC I think. People (in NY) that take a ride in a certain cab get to answer questions for money. It's pretty neat, and I usually learn a bit watching it.
WHAT? You let your kids read twaddle? Oh no! LOL...just kidding!!! I, personally, LOVE the classics. LOVE THEM!!! My oldest is sorta following my footsteps - she's read a lot of the Children's Illustrated Classics versions of stuff. I think this summer I'll make the Chronicles of Narnia her reading list, then we'll watch all the movies. I am HUGE on the cannot watch the movie unless you've read the book camp. BIG on it. So much so, both my kids read Bridge to Terabithia in a couple days because they wanted to see the movie! Same with BEcause of Winn Dixie and quite a few others! Anyway...I understand if it's not thier bent, I think that as long as they are reading...who cares! LOL
Before the first Chronicles of Narnia movie came out, I told the kids we were going to read aloud the entire 7 book series. That gave us from August to December to finish. Well, we were so into them that we finished in about 6 weeks. Of course, then we had months to wait for the movie! :lol: I don't make the kids wait for all of the novels-turned-movies. There simply isn't enough time to do that for everything.....cuz I wanna see 'em, too! :lol:
Meghan, YOU'RE AWESOME!!! I've never opened Moby Dick and have no desire to. Why? Because I was suppose to read "The Confidence Man" in college Freshman English. It was SOOOOOO bad!!! I will NEVER force ANYONE to read Melville!!! But I was also required to read some good stuff in school. "A Separate Peace", which I'm debating having Rachael read. Oh, and my Senior year the teacher had about seven different titles, and we could pick one. She had a few copies of each. Of all the books there, only one interested me. "The Chosen" by Chiam Potok. By the time it came around to me, the books were all gone. Did I care? NO!!! I told her what my pick was. She nicely informed me they were gone, pick something else. I very sweetly told her that I knew where the library was.... And I stopped on my way home from school that night to get it. Enjoyed it so much that when I went to write my paper, I used information not only from that book but also from the sequel to support my views. Is anyone else old enough to have read "Jonathon Livingston Seagull"?
The kiddos and I have decided to read "The Time Machine". We all have ipods so we all downloaded the classics and are going from there. I told them they don't have to read ever they are not interested in. Just as long as they have a love for reading and can comprehend different styles is fine with me. Which for the most they do!
We listen to unabridged versions of the "classics" on CD while we're in the car. That frees them up to read what they want, but they "get" the classics too. We all enjoy "redeeming the time" in the car since we live 20 minutes from anywhere.
Hey, has anyone seen that some book company took some of the scenes from classics and put them into easy readers? Now, I absolutely can't stomach abridged classics!!! But these for some reason in my mind are different. I've seen a group of three different ones from Tom Sawyer, and I think a few from Treasure Island. I would think it might give young kids exposure and a desire to read the "real" thing. Sort of like Wishbone!
