Tonight, we had one of the best evenings I can remember having as a family in a long time. A local theater company in our area does what they call "Shakespeare in the Park" each summer, generally performing three Shakespeare works over the course of the summer months. It is very nice, because it is outdoors (don't have to worry as much about the kids getting rowdy  ), and you can bring lawn chairs and your own food and have a picnic while you watch the play. After being invited to attend "Two Gentlemen from Verona" with some friends this coming Thursday, I decided I should read it to my kids first, so that they would have an idea of what was happening when they saw the play. Since my children are young, we use the Lamb's Shakespeare recommended by the advisory of the Ambleside Online curriculum (www.amblesideonline.org). Normally, we complete our readings during the day, but tonight we didn't begin this one until Daddy got home from work. Now, my husband is not a book person, but with a little persuasion he agreed to be a willing participant in our Shakespeare reading, and even take turns narrating with our daughter. This was an awesome experience, because he really got into the play and understood it better than he thought he would (he doesn't give himself enough credit--he is very smart). My daughter was very motivated to listen and to narrate, because her Dad was there and took a turn at narrating too. Since she is my only student right now (the others are too little), the burden of narrating always falls on her, and she finds it tedious, at times. After reading halfway through the play, I stopped so that they could have some time to mull over what they heard and process it (as per Charlotte Mason's recommendation). They were actually begging me to continue! This was wonderful because everyone was into the play, and the TV was off (which is my idea of heaven on earth--lol). I can't wait to finish reading the play later on in the week, and we are definitely look forward to the performance on Thursday night. |
