Very interesting. I was a voracious reader as a child, I think because we didn't have a television. In fact, there was a local school competition to encourage children to read (RIBIT - 'Read in bed; it's terrific!) and I read so many books for the competition that my teacher didn't believe me. My mum had to come to the school to certify that I wasn't lying.
As you note, when it comes to reading at home, our tastes are strongly influenced by our parents' books. I too read First Blood, and also Alastair Maclean, Georgette Heyer, Piers Anthony and Robert Heinlein, and they were all early formative influences. Like Hurston, I do not regret the trash, and have remedied it to a far lesser extent than you. That said, you've inspired downloads of both Ulysses and The Great Gatsby - and one day I might even get around to reading them!
I always appreciate your insights, Joel. I found fellowship with Hurston in that I read what came from our tiny neighborhood Ernie Pyle library and from what paperbacks I could buy with my babysitting money at garage sales. If it said, "classic," I bought it, and ended up reading Quechuan poetry, Russian literature and Agatha Christie. Regarding learning to read: I've been a student of koine for years, but the most helpful thing for me right now is to read aloud the daily OCA readings from the New Testament. Forcing my mouth to form those words imprints them on my mind not only as vocabulary but also as rhythms and linguistic patterns. Thank you again.
As adolescents, my siblings, I, and a homeschooled relative our age used to write essays for fun by writing random topics on pieces of paper and drawing them out of a hat. The essays were completely unpolished, written off the top of our head, and often very tongue in cheek, but that was the point - we wanted the others to laugh when we read them aloud. It broke down our fear of writing, and we went on to experiment with other writing forms out of interest, not compulsion. Later, for a university credit, I took a high school correspondence course, The Writer's Craft, which had me experiment in writing everything from essays to sonnets in iambic pentameter.
Math was my weakest subject - numbers and I have an adversarial relationship. Thankfully, my mother made us memorize the multiplication table up to 12 x 12, which has been my secret weapon ever since. The textbook I found most helpful at high school level was the first volume in an old World Book publication, titled Math Power. It really helped me understand the reasoning behind the formulas. I'd work out the problems in each chapter, following the step by step instructions, get the right answer, and know why I got the right answer. When I took mandatory statistics in university, I found the Idiot's Guide to Statistics had the same kind of helpful explanations and breakdowns, enabling me to get an A.
As a former homeschooled child, it was my voracious reading outside school work that saved my education when the supposed superior curriculum my parents had been persuaded to invest in utterly failed to deliver on its promises. The curriculum left gaping holes, which my reading helped to patch.
I now have many nieces and nephews, and as I watch each of them gain reading skills, I practically hold my breath until they reach the point where they voluntarily pick up a book to read for fun. I do my part by supplying them with the best books I can find and reading to them at every opportunity.
Jonah’s curriculum is mostly from scratch. I’m pretty excited about how he’s going to do. Heavy emphasis this year on writing—and math. He’s going to hate that. How to make it fun? That’ll be interesting.
As adolescents, my siblings, I, and a homeschooled relative our age used to write essays for fun by writing random topics on pieces of paper and drawing them out of a hat. The essays were completely unpolished, written off the top of our head, and often very tongue in cheek, but that was the point - we wanted the rest to laugh when we read them aloud. It broke down our fear of writing, and we went on to experiment with other writing forms out of interest, not compulsion. Later, for a university credit, I took a high school correspondence course The Writer's Craft, which had me experiment in writing everything from essays to sonnets in iambic pentameter.
Math was my weakest subject - numbers and I have an adversarial relationship. Thankfully, my mother made us memorize the multiplication table up to 12 x 12, which has been my secret weapon ever since. The textbook I found most helpful in high school was the first volume in an old World Book publication, titled Math Power. It really helped me understand the reasoning behind the formulas. I'd work out the problem questions in each chapter, following the step by step instructions and get the right answer and know why I got the right answer. When I took mandatory statistics in university, I found the Idiot's Guide to Statistics had the same kind of helpful explanations and breakdowns, enabling me to get an A.
I was quite a precocious reader and was tackling Jane Austen etc by around 10. I was exposed to Shakespeare at an early age. In fact, I played Romeo in a summer camp production of "Romeo and Juliet".
It is actually very sad how many students are turned off of Literature because of their experiences in school.
your comment about Augustine is insightful: "Augustine mastered Latin but, cane or not, never did learn his Greek (which might have had serious consequences for the development of western theology)." This failure to master grief became especially important when he was shifting the current idea in his time of hell to one that was far more literal and eternal as a state.
I cannot remember where I read this but it really intrigued me. An author was telling how in their country and where they went to school everything was taught in synchronization- so the history they learned was aligned with the authors they were taught which was aligned with the scientific and mathematical discoveries of the time as well as the art of that period. I thought that would be a really fun way to learn and give you a more holistic understanding of the drivers of change and the cultural gestalt. I think some of us crave that understanding of how things are interconnected and giving an idea or concept a tether in time in the greater story of civilization's development makes it harder to forget. And I will always advocate for being allowed to read "trash". Reading something completely saccharine and fun after an emotional and intellectually straining tome is like carb loading after a marathon. Most of our brains crave variety. Also by reading (and enjoying!) what many would consider trash I am able to connect with a greater variety of people which makes my heart happy. It is rare that I cannot find SOMETHING in my reading history to discuss with a random reader- whether it is an 8 year old, a 16 year old, a 20 year old, etc.... I also love to take reading recommendations from people from all walks of life. My point is that being able to connect with others is also part of our educative process and finding common books is like sharing a small part of their past- because you both spent time in that book's world.
That kind of synchronized teaching was the curriculum at a classical Christian school where I taught. Literature, history, and theology were integrated in a single "Omnibus" class. Not the math and science, though.
Very interesting. I was a voracious reader as a child, I think because we didn't have a television. In fact, there was a local school competition to encourage children to read (RIBIT - 'Read in bed; it's terrific!) and I read so many books for the competition that my teacher didn't believe me. My mum had to come to the school to certify that I wasn't lying.
As you note, when it comes to reading at home, our tastes are strongly influenced by our parents' books. I too read First Blood, and also Alastair Maclean, Georgette Heyer, Piers Anthony and Robert Heinlein, and they were all early formative influences. Like Hurston, I do not regret the trash, and have remedied it to a far lesser extent than you. That said, you've inspired downloads of both Ulysses and The Great Gatsby - and one day I might even get around to reading them!
I always appreciate your insights, Joel. I found fellowship with Hurston in that I read what came from our tiny neighborhood Ernie Pyle library and from what paperbacks I could buy with my babysitting money at garage sales. If it said, "classic," I bought it, and ended up reading Quechuan poetry, Russian literature and Agatha Christie. Regarding learning to read: I've been a student of koine for years, but the most helpful thing for me right now is to read aloud the daily OCA readings from the New Testament. Forcing my mouth to form those words imprints them on my mind not only as vocabulary but also as rhythms and linguistic patterns. Thank you again.
As adolescents, my siblings, I, and a homeschooled relative our age used to write essays for fun by writing random topics on pieces of paper and drawing them out of a hat. The essays were completely unpolished, written off the top of our head, and often very tongue in cheek, but that was the point - we wanted the others to laugh when we read them aloud. It broke down our fear of writing, and we went on to experiment with other writing forms out of interest, not compulsion. Later, for a university credit, I took a high school correspondence course, The Writer's Craft, which had me experiment in writing everything from essays to sonnets in iambic pentameter.
Math was my weakest subject - numbers and I have an adversarial relationship. Thankfully, my mother made us memorize the multiplication table up to 12 x 12, which has been my secret weapon ever since. The textbook I found most helpful at high school level was the first volume in an old World Book publication, titled Math Power. It really helped me understand the reasoning behind the formulas. I'd work out the problems in each chapter, following the step by step instructions, get the right answer, and know why I got the right answer. When I took mandatory statistics in university, I found the Idiot's Guide to Statistics had the same kind of helpful explanations and breakdowns, enabling me to get an A.
As a former homeschooled child, it was my voracious reading outside school work that saved my education when the supposed superior curriculum my parents had been persuaded to invest in utterly failed to deliver on its promises. The curriculum left gaping holes, which my reading helped to patch.
I now have many nieces and nephews, and as I watch each of them gain reading skills, I practically hold my breath until they reach the point where they voluntarily pick up a book to read for fun. I do my part by supplying them with the best books I can find and reading to them at every opportunity.
Jonah’s curriculum is mostly from scratch. I’m pretty excited about how he’s going to do. Heavy emphasis this year on writing—and math. He’s going to hate that. How to make it fun? That’ll be interesting.
As adolescents, my siblings, I, and a homeschooled relative our age used to write essays for fun by writing random topics on pieces of paper and drawing them out of a hat. The essays were completely unpolished, written off the top of our head, and often very tongue in cheek, but that was the point - we wanted the rest to laugh when we read them aloud. It broke down our fear of writing, and we went on to experiment with other writing forms out of interest, not compulsion. Later, for a university credit, I took a high school correspondence course The Writer's Craft, which had me experiment in writing everything from essays to sonnets in iambic pentameter.
Math was my weakest subject - numbers and I have an adversarial relationship. Thankfully, my mother made us memorize the multiplication table up to 12 x 12, which has been my secret weapon ever since. The textbook I found most helpful in high school was the first volume in an old World Book publication, titled Math Power. It really helped me understand the reasoning behind the formulas. I'd work out the problem questions in each chapter, following the step by step instructions and get the right answer and know why I got the right answer. When I took mandatory statistics in university, I found the Idiot's Guide to Statistics had the same kind of helpful explanations and breakdowns, enabling me to get an A.
Good luck with the homeschooling!
I was quite a precocious reader and was tackling Jane Austen etc by around 10. I was exposed to Shakespeare at an early age. In fact, I played Romeo in a summer camp production of "Romeo and Juliet".
It is actually very sad how many students are turned off of Literature because of their experiences in school.
your comment about Augustine is insightful: "Augustine mastered Latin but, cane or not, never did learn his Greek (which might have had serious consequences for the development of western theology)." This failure to master grief became especially important when he was shifting the current idea in his time of hell to one that was far more literal and eternal as a state.
I cannot remember where I read this but it really intrigued me. An author was telling how in their country and where they went to school everything was taught in synchronization- so the history they learned was aligned with the authors they were taught which was aligned with the scientific and mathematical discoveries of the time as well as the art of that period. I thought that would be a really fun way to learn and give you a more holistic understanding of the drivers of change and the cultural gestalt. I think some of us crave that understanding of how things are interconnected and giving an idea or concept a tether in time in the greater story of civilization's development makes it harder to forget. And I will always advocate for being allowed to read "trash". Reading something completely saccharine and fun after an emotional and intellectually straining tome is like carb loading after a marathon. Most of our brains crave variety. Also by reading (and enjoying!) what many would consider trash I am able to connect with a greater variety of people which makes my heart happy. It is rare that I cannot find SOMETHING in my reading history to discuss with a random reader- whether it is an 8 year old, a 16 year old, a 20 year old, etc.... I also love to take reading recommendations from people from all walks of life. My point is that being able to connect with others is also part of our educative process and finding common books is like sharing a small part of their past- because you both spent time in that book's world.
That kind of synchronized teaching was the curriculum at a classical Christian school where I taught. Literature, history, and theology were integrated in a single "Omnibus" class. Not the math and science, though.