How do you know when you have succeeded in teaching your child English? When I was homeschooling, I was SO stressed out about literature analysis. It seemed like we always failed at reading comprehension and the review questions that were provided. I knew that I wanted my kids to LOVE reading, but I was still stressed about literature analysis. Every year, I spent so much time looking at Progeny Press, Learning Language Arts Through Literature, and other curriculum choices. Why was I failing? Why couldn’t I teach literature analysis??? Every time I asked my kids “how did you like the book?” all I ever got was “it was great mom – where’s the next one?” When I read aloud they would laugh at the funny parts, and ask me to read more (or faster!) at the exciting parts. Still, we never really had a good discussion about the deeper meanings of the literature we read.
Update: Just this past weekend, I had one more piece of evidence suggesting that I had, in fact, succeeded. My younger son founded a Jane Austen Fan Club at college. Last weekend he organized the “Pemberly Ball” at the college, complete with period costumes, decorations, and food of the era. It was a huge success! You can see the photos below. My sons both LOVE the Jane Austen books and movies, and they enjoyed the Jane Austen inspired Pemberly Ball.
Yeah! I WIN!
Hang in there – you can succeed too! You may be stressed about some topic, but give those seeds time to germinate, and you’ll see some fruit yourself!
The HomeScholar provides a free monthly e-newsletter, daily blog support, low cost DVDs and private consultations — everything you need to successfully homeschool through high school.
Christianbook.com Curriculum Page
Kathleen SHS says:
Totally, totally, wonderful event! Even my 6 and 7 yo LOVE Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. We finally bought the movie from PBS (Masterpiece Theater classics) and paper dolls from Rainbow, too.
My 14 yo has read many of her novels and would have loved to go to the “Pemberly Ball.”
Keep up the great work, Alex!
April 16th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
Lisa in ME says:
Please keep sharing all this great stuff, Lee! You give the rest of us hope.
April 16th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
J White says:
Too bad we couldn’t go – but maybe next year we won’t have a sick child! Thanks for the article. Long ago I came to the conclusion myself that not all of us are cut out to be English professors or book critics for newspapers. Why write tons of book reports on absolutely wretched books if only a miniscule percentage of the population actually earns a living doing so? I think most people could learn to love reading if they aren’t beaten over the head with books they don’t relate to. And hey, maybe maybe maybe a die-hard sci-fi/fantasy lover like me could learn to like Jane Austen out of sheer curiosity just because several friends recommend the books
June 1st, 2008 at 7:36 pm
Can't Get Enough Jane Austen? | The HomeScholar Helper says:
[...] http://www.thehomescholar.com/blog/i-hate-literary-analysis-part-4/322/ [...]
April 28th, 2009 at 6:31 pm
Diane Allen says:
OK – my boys didn’t love Jane Austen but they both enjoyed Hawthorne and Shakespeare among others. I called my recent graduate one winter day and asked what he was doing on his day off work. The answer: I’m reading The Inferno. I remember we read part of it in high school and thought I’d enjoy the whole thing!
July 18th, 2009 at 4:02 pm
Lee says:
Dante’s Inferno! Is it very strange to say “sounds like fun?” LOL!
Blessings,
Lee
July 18th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
Teresa Burnham says:
I enjoyed reading these articles. I am coming from the other aspect, I think. We have done so little besides “just reading”, and I haven’t stressed about it, but I would like to add in just a bit here and there. I want all my kids to recognize the terminology, etc. We are trying Progeny Press this year–I plan to pick from it, and use it for vocab stimulation, and I don’t know what else. It’s kind of an experiment.
And I think we should remember there will be those few children who may happen to love both reading AND literary analysis and be good at it. My oldest daughter is like that (she’s graduated now). Of course with them they gravitate toward it and pick it up so easy, so it wasn’t like I had to work to encourage her there.
September 17th, 2009 at 4:54 am
Lee says:
Hi Teresa,
I agree, there are children who like literary analysis and work best that way – just like some are a good fit for workbooks or hands on projects. It’s all about the fit. We did use the writing program “Learn to Write the Novel Way” to get the terminology of literary analysis.
Blessings,
Lee
September 17th, 2009 at 5:43 am
KB says:
WOW!!! This is awesome! Your son put this event together? That is incredible!
I love that you said, “I was SO stressed out about literature analysis. It seemed like we always failed at reading comprehension and the review questions that were provided.”
Yes! Yes! I am there, too! But I KNOW my children understand what they read and what we have talked about because they retain it and it pops up in conversation later.
I think the review questions on the standard tests mess up opinionated children; for instance, on global warming articles if the children disagree with the premise, they are loathe to put the answer the test expects. Ah, but you give me hope. My child’s worth is not revealed by a testing score.
June 15th, 2010 at 1:54 pm