Jul. 16, 2007
"Sher"ing Literature part 1
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"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things." Philippians 4:8 Assessment time is just around the corner for us. We chose to go the assessment route versus the standardized tests, mainly because our focus is not on rote learning and I have no desire to teach to a test. Moreover, my teaching objective and educational philosophy is summarized in the above Scripture. To achieve this goal requires a biblical foundation. Once that is established we add the building blocks of quality literature. If you build with inferior materials, your construction will not hold up. But laying a solid foundation in the Word and building from there is an excellent design plan. The wonderful thing about blocks comprised of quality literature is that the cornerstone is the Cornerstone Himself - Jesus Christ. The rich heritage in most of the Western Classics are the same principles espoused in Scripture. And who can deny Biblical allusion in works by great authors like Herman Melville and C.S. Lewis. Without even a cursory familiarity regarding the Bible, literature loses so much of its meaning. As a product of the public schools with a secular upbringing I can testify to this. My educational plan with my children, ages 7, 5, 3, and 1 has always entailed a great amount of reading. While we love to read picture books and especially picture books of merit, I have been convinces that we needn't limit ourselves to a single genre. Our reading list has included not only chapter books by renowned children's authors but the classics as well. It has worked well for us - not limiting our reading selections. Even if the children don't grasp every layer of meaning, I have found that they can enjoy a book with just a basic understanding of the story. Their vocabulary is enhanced, and mine too. Many times they can glean meanings of words just from context, but often they will ask the meaning of an unfamiliary word. I am happy to provide a definition. If I can't easily or adequately provide a definition (or I simply do not know), I look it up in the dictionary with them. The literary analysis will come much later but I am hoping that having a familiarity with the story and "remembering it from childhood" will enhance their experience experience later on. Perhaps they will not be intimidated by the voluminous tome set before them later on. For this reason, I like to use unabridged versions whenever possible. I do, however, use some Great Illustrated Classics and other abridged versions which work well when I want them to have an understanding of a story but the original may be a little to heavy for them. In the interest of time, we sometimes choose to use an abridged and it can offer a change of pace as well. It is also amazing to me how much kids, even young kids, really do understand. I "test" this understanding by having them narrate what they remember to me either in the form of a synopsis or just a general retelling of facts or characters they remember. We play "trivia" where I ask questions such as, "Who wrote Little Women?" or "What was the name of the dog in "Call of the Wild?" Easy questions just to enhance their recall of the stories, not only as we are going through them, but also for a cumulative type of review. Sometimes they surprise me with their ability to synthesize what they already know with what they are currently being read. Please don't think me boastful. I just will cite an example to demonstrate how this method has been successful for us. This past year we read Moby Dick. Some of the literature we read and don't discuss as much. Moby Dick, however, was one of the titles we spent more time on. During our initial reading my five year old, Greta, pointed out with excitement, "Hey, Captain Ahab - there was an Ahab in the Bible." I was excited for her because her experience of this literature was enriched due to her biblical foundation. I also realized that I had a momentary feeling of deprivation as a result of my secular, public school upbringing. When I read Melville I was in high school without any knowledge of the Bible and so such allusion would have been totally lost on me. She is five and able to predict Ahab's character when I asked, "What kind of person was Ahab in the Bible? What kind of person do you think Captain Ahab was going to be?" Building my children's minds a biblical foundation has had unexpected benefits such as this. I have also found that choosing literature with historical or geographical reference is helpful too. For example, when we encounter a particular time in history I can cite one of the books we've read for a historical reference point. We read H. Rider Haggard's exceptional classic Pearl Maiden. When we talked about the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD, I was able to say, "Remember Pearl Maiden with Miriam..." and they can have images in their mind based on what we read rather than a couple of facts and a date. We locate the places we are reading about on the globe and it gives them a geographical reference when we study the same place in another book or in history or the Bible. It seems to create a cohesiveness in learning for them that was lacking for me when I received my education in small, unrelated increments. And finally, my all time favorite literature tools are Audio Books. We are fortunate to have a great library system to borrow from. The down time we spend in the car is "school time" for us when we are listening to books. We usually read aloud a chapter book and then do a different audio book and I find they can easily follow both plots simultaneously. I prefer cassettes because it's easier to stop and start as we transfer from home to car. To wind down at night, my two older girls listen to 30 minutes or so of an audio book before bed. There is nothing like listening to everyone's favorite Bard (Shakespeare) in full drama on audio. Now my approach was first to read a retelling of the story in prose format (Usborne books has a great Shakespeare book), talk about the story, and then listen to the story on audio. Yesterday they got to see Shakespeare on the outdoor stage at a festival and I was truly excited when it happened to be 2 of the Shakespeare plays we studied this year. I couldn't believe how intrigued the kids were (all but my 1 year old. Judah sat well through "A Midsummer Night's Dream." When we returned later in the day, he really liked the fighting in "Macbeth" but was content only because of the great quantities of snacks my husband kept feeding him. Judah is our only boy, so I think it may have been a guy thing). I think it goes without saying that the lessons of great literature are worth noting. When we can allow a story to illustrate biblical principles or the Bible itself it seeks to reinforce the teaching of the Word and see its application. The truths become manifest as good stories and their morals stay with you always. In the building of a student the roof of Truth rests atop the structure and protects from the unpleasant elements. That is why I strongly believe that solid literature is so important - because it is has those qualities that the Apostle Paul encourages us to think about. May your thoughts be true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy, Sherry B. |
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