Image by Leyram Odacrem
Write about a time you apologized.
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Archive for August, 2013
Friday Freewrite: I’m sorry
Do Students Have to Study Literature?
The study and analysis of literature is intended to give students a lens into the ideas and stories that shape society (present and past) as well as to expose them to the complexity of human development, through time. All sorts of fiction genres create scaffolding for philosophies, ideologies, the politics of relationships, the exploration of the logical end of imagined scenarios, the psychology behind particular actions and events, and more. Literature also exposes students to uses of language not available in non-fiction, and creates a series of cultural touchstones for shared understanding that transcend mere fact.
In short, literature provides an avenue of expanded imagination and language for the sake of both appreciating beauty and human depths, while sharing the experience with other readers (creating a kind of connection and community through shared story). We consider the reading of literature to be one of the ways we create societal cohesion!
Now onto the real question: do they HAVE to study it?
Kids don’t have to study lit any more than they have to study trigonometry or post-modernism or physics or sculpture. Some exposure to literature is valuable just like some exposure to advanced math and science has value. But for kids who are not enamored with literature, keep it to a minimum just like you would if you were raising an actress who never imagined using the quadratic equation in her future but who wanted to go to college and so needed to take Algebra 2.
Make it as painless as possible. Select works of fiction that are more easily accessible (popular story lines with fast-aced writing). Learn how to identify themes, imagery, plot arc, and characterization. Appreciate the use of language (note what sort it is, examine why it works or doesn’t). Learn to write one literary analysis essay in high school so when it happens in Freshman English in college, it won’t be your child’s first attempt.
Repeat after me: “Less is more; less is more; less is more…”
I love consulting with parents about their curriculum choices. Not only do I get to hear about their kids (who are all amazing, by the way), but I get to help them scale back their expectations and their purchases. The most important thing you can do for your upcoming school year is to do “one thing at a time.”
You want to be sure that you can spin all those plates you’re busy balancing on the top of the tall, skinny poles. If you keep purchasing curricula without considering whether or not you have the time in the day to do it all, you will find yourself frustrated and feeling guilty by October!
The best curriculum is the one you use.
It’s okay to feather in your studies as you go. If it takes a bit of time to get used to the new math program, so be it. Let that take your energy and focus for a week or two or a month. Language arts won’t die. It will simply go dormant, taking a little nap before you return to it.
If you want to launch a new project or tackle a new process, give it your full attention. You can skip everything else that day. Sit down with the guide and read it (don’t skim it). If the kids have to watch a video or play with Legos while you do, they won’t “fall behind the curve” in their educations. Rather, you will be preparing to be the best learning coach they can have. You’ll feel competent and capable because you will know what you’re doing.
- Read directions.
- Ensure that you have the right supplies.
- Spend time familiarizing yourself and your kids with the methods or practices necessary for the learning experience.
- Support the activity as your kids get used to it.
- Follow through with the lesson or new habit for a bit without rushing, cramming, or sandwiching the work between two other demanding tasks.
If you’ve “stocked up” on curricula because of discounts or bundles or what have you, you aren’t required to use all of it at once, or to learn how to use all of it by __________ (fill in the blank official start date). You get to feather in the materials and new books as you become comfortable with them one at a time. It’s fine to not get started on that Word Origins work book, day one of the new year. In fact, might it not be a pleasure to a student to have something brand new to add to the daily tasks about the time the routine becomes a little old hat? Pulling out a brand new offering can energize your child again. Keep something new hidden at all times. Surprise is your ally in home education.
Lastly, you don’t have to do every page, every problem, or every chapter. You don’t. Your children don’t have to complete all their work in one subject before they are “allowed” to do the next one. There is no set order to how you cover the subjects.
- You are at home. (Post that somewhere.) Make the experience homey.
- Pay attention to flagging energy, inertia, overwhelm, and boredom.
- Give quality efforts, in short bursts of time, to one subject area at a time.
- Know the material and method before you begin.
- Feel free to delay the introduction of new materials until you’ve found your groove with the first set.
- Take it one thing at a time.
Less is more.
Check out this section on the blog for more about the One Thing Principle.
Your child needs you
Image by Michael Bentley
Your child needs you, not a scope and sequence. Not tests. Not assignments.
You brought your child home to opt out of a system of cups and pounds, inches and altitudes, teaspoons and litres.
Your child grows…whether you help or not, whether you interfere or guide, support or neglect.
Measuring growth doesn’t cause growth. Sometimes, all it does is cause unhelpful worry.
Growing is the job of children—to get tall, to acquire language, to peer into an intriguing world, to sprout beards or body curves.
Your kids will read better, calculate more easily, handwrite with less effort, produce quality insights more frequently, and show curiosity about the fascinating ideas and activities they discover along the way to 20 because that’s what human beings do.
This all happens—while they sleep, and when they wake, and while they bump along, doing what they’re told, doing what they do when no one’s watching, doing what they love, and resenting what they hate.
Sometimes they grow a quarter inch in an entire year (that was me, in 6th grade).
Sometimes they grow 6 inches in 12 months (that was me, in 11th grade).
Sometimes they can’t read, can’t read, can’t read…and then they read. At age 7 or 10 or 4.
Sometimes they tell you they hate grammar…and then major in linguistics.
You can’t stop the growth, even with lightning or flash freezing or wishing they would stay young, adorable, innocent, and easy a little longer.
You can’t make it happen faster by forcing a program that is more advanced or requiring more or worrying and hand-wringing.
Your kids need you, though. They need you to be amazed by their leaps and bounds, their first steps and first essays.
They need space to “get it” and new ideas to help when they don’t.
They need your confidence that they are doing just fine, that they will get there, wherever “there” is.
They need your investment: of money for lessons, of patience for their challenges, of heart when they must be brave.
They need your faith that the work you do together is enough, that you can’t stop them from being the fabulous people they are destined to be, even if you tried. They will grow, grow, grow and all you can do is jump in the passenger seat, open the sun roof, and turn up the radio on the joy ride.
Homeschool allows everyone to grow at the only pace they can: theirs.
Homeschool allows you to be present to who they are today, rather than worrying about who school says they should have been by now.
What a privilege.
Cross-posted on facebook.
“Her favorite color is orange and she breathes Legos”
Linda, mom of a very creative Brave Writer student, emailed me this fabulous photo. This is a perfect example of playing with language!
