Encouraging the Love of Literature

February 28, 2010 by Yvonne

When I hear the term “Literature Analysis,” I develop cold sweats. My mind is yanked back into the 11th grade and flashes back on eight page literary analysis essays, along with difficult and cryptic names for what should have been very simple. My compositions were forced and unnatural and my enthusiasm for reading all but dried up. Blech…no wonder I didn’t pick up a quality piece of literature for years afterward!

It wasn’t until I began homeschooling my children about eleven years ago, that I began to learn to enjoy literature again. Following Charlotte Mason’s wisdom to use living literature in our studies helped us to delight in the literature for the sake of the story. Reading each selection aloud, the children and I learned how to discover something fun from whatever we read. After that, we dove into a couple of years of Sonlight where we learned all about both World and American History and had fascinating rabbit trails of exploration.

Photo Credit: Heidi, Mt Hope Academy

With all of that reading, we never formally analyzed anything, yet our love and appreciation of literature grew by leaps and bounds.

During those years, we discovered that each book has a buried treasure, a hidden message to uncover. Most books are written by an individual and contain a distinct perspective. In each piece of literature the writer has a message to share or a lesson to teach. In a well written book it becomes the reader’s pleasure to experience that lesson through the pages of a story, discerning the message and evaluating it for possible application. Sadly, many teachers insist on turning this experience into a dreadful exercise!

In our home, we keep literature studies simple…and apparently it’s a successful endeavor. My children love literature and even more than that, we enjoy discussing it together.

Now before I tell you what we have done in our homeschooling, let me encourage you with a precious nugget of wisdom that I picked up from Ruth Beechick. If a child is curled up with a book, quietly reading to their heart’s content, they are comprehending. If they look up at you to share something that is exciting, they are comprehending. If they giggle, or if a tear rolls down their cheek, they are comprehending. It is unnecessary to have them answer twenty questions on a book’s content or to produce a book report for every book they read. We homeschool moms tend to worry too much! Early on, I chose to keep book reports and pre-fabricated comprehension questions at a bare minimum.

So how do I cover reading and literature in my home? Push the Easy Button here!

We have a daily quiet hour. This is a time in which the children go off to read a book of their choice. This is not assigned reading…but a quiet period, where they can enjoy whatever they have chosen to read for entertainment, edification…or whatever. Right now, my children are reading a variety of literature that run the gamut from “Encyclopedia Brown,” by Donald Sobol to “The Giver,” by Lois Lowry and for my oldest, “The Way of the Wild Heart,” by John Eldredge. The importance of having the quiet hour is simply to foster a love of reading and self directed learning.

We read aloud every day. There is something special that happens when a parent puts on a character’s voice. Children strain to hear every word, they sit forward in their seats and are often eager to discuss the material. There are so many great books that edify children with life lessons about a myriad of topics. From picture books to novels, there are wonderful examples of literature at every level of learning.

Unfortunately, some families give up on reading aloud because they have wiggly children. Please let me encourage you to work through the wiggles. The trick is in training younger children to listen and be still.

I’ve done three things that have helped my children grow to love reading aloud.

1. When training young children for read alouds choose books that support their interests. If your child is all about surviving in the wilderness, then choose a book like “My Side of the Mountain,” by Jean Craighead George or an adapted version of Swiss Family Robinson. Don’t bore them with a book that will only make their minds wander. Remember, this is training…try to make it pleasant.

2. Allow young children to build with Legos or Lincoln Logs, draw pictures, or color while you read aloud to them.

3. Alternatively, read aloud to them at bedtime. They’ll enjoy the snuggles and have something to dream about when the light goes out. As a plus, when they’re in bed, they can’t wiggle too far.

If the wiggles persist, consider reading another season of picture books to allow a child a bit more time to develop listening skills. Don’t give up, but be willing to find what works.

Photo Credit: Heidi, Mt Hope Academy

We learn vocabulary as we come across it. If we run into a word that we don’t understand, we try to figure out the definition by it’s context. If not, we look it up and say the sentence again, using the definition instead of the word being defined. I then read the sentence once more, this time using the word in question. I might write it down on an index card, but it’s not often necessary. I’ve discovered that the word is usually assimilated and will pop up in my children’s spoken and written vocabulary about six months later. (I don’t know why this is true, but this has been our experience.)

We discuss literature on the fly. As we read a book we discuss it informally. We talk about whatever pops into our minds as we read. From imagery to characters, to the problems they face, or the obstacles they overcome, we talk about it all. I remember one conversation back when my oldest child was in the fifth grade. We came to a scene in the Lord of the Rings series where Mr. Frodo tells Smeagol that he should not call himself names. We talked about the wisdom of relying on God’s truth about ourselves, that we are sinners…and yet precious to God. It was an opportunity to remember Jesus and how His estimation of us is that we are worth His life. Amazing. We made a memory and each of us remembers that conversation as a gift.

I use our read aloud time as a means to encourage my children to think. If a child can think, they can discuss…and eventually they will be able to defend their ideas and write about them in detail. (Usually in high school.) I use Bloom’s Taxonomy as a very rough guide, a basis in which I lead my children in our discussions of literature. Bloom’s assists me in evaluating where my children are regarding their thinking on any particular topic, literature or otherwise. It gives me a quick visual on where they each may be and assists me in stretching them to the next step in their thinking abilities.

I strive to give my children lots of experiences, talking about everything, asking many questions about opinions and thoughts. I really like to dig in, always looking for the heart. “How does that make you feel?” ”What would you do differently?” ”How does this information alter your opinion?” I guide my children through these discussions, keeping my feelers out for where they’re at on the Bloom’s chart with the goal of stretching them just a bit further.

By the time my oldest two children reached high school, they had developed adequate thinking skills to enable them to write. They needed a bit of encouragement in getting organized, but I discovered that if the thoughts were in their noggins, then the words eventually came spilling out onto paper.

Use movie versions of classics! I don’t want to make this a blanket statement, because sometimes the movie versions of literature are awful. But there are quality motion pictures which might spark an interest in reading a great work of literature. “Emma,” comes to mind, along with “Hamlet,” or the BBC versions of Jane Austin classics. I’m also reminded of “Heidi,” my favorite being the Shirley Temple classic. Use your discernment, of course, but I’ve found this an equally valid way to develop my children’s thinking skills as well as create interest in a title that otherwise might be overlooked.

Furthermore, if you have a teen who just cannot make himself pick up a Jane Austin novel, then consider having him watch the movie, and discuss it along with him.

Cliff Notes or Spark Notes – Lastly, and used sparingly, I allow my children to use Cliff or Spark Notes. I do this only in the case of assigned reading as a substitute for a book that I feel won’t work for us. This fall, in our chosen curriculum, one of the books assigned was Uncle Tom’s Cabin. I pre-read it and I decided that one of my students would find it too heavy to dwell on. So, at the encouragement of my personal mentor, I will have them read the Cliff Notes and we will discuss the social points important to understanding the historical significance of the book. This will help them appreciate this work of literature without having to experience something that is too heavy for them to bear at this time in their life.

So, as you see, we keep literature analysis very simple. We may discuss literature elements like foreshadowing or denouement from time to time, but mainly our discussions center around the heart in the form of building thinking skills, learning life lessons, and enjoying the love of finely crafted words…literature.

Yvonne Ferlita, married for nearly nineteen years, is a homeschooling mom to four children from kindergarten to high school. Her family has been blessed with eleven years of grace filled homeschooling. She does her best to follow Christ in educating her children, and she believes that when it all boils down, that means, “No Nonsense!” Visit her blog, The No Nonsense Homeschool.

Tags: Cliff Notes, Curriculum, Family Life, fostering the love of reading, homeschool life, Homeschool Methods, Literature, reading, reading aloud, Spark Notes

Top 10 sites to download free children’s books

February 28, 2010 by AmyS

6 Comments

International Children’s Digital Library
The search options for this website are incredible. You can search by age, language, subject, length, awards won, type of character, emotions, and much more. Most of the books are full color.

Children’s Books Online
I love this delightful site because you can search by reading level. Most of the books are full color and some include audios.

The Baldwin Online Children’s Literature Project
Popular children’s literature, organized into 19 genres, including biographies, history, and science.

Librivox
An impressive list of over 1800 audio books recorded and submitted by volunteers

Page by Page Books
Classic books arranged by title

World Wide School
Search by by subject, author, or title

Internet Archive: Children’s Library
Browse by title, author, staff recommendations, most downloaded, or cloud tags. Most books are available to download in pdf format or to view online in flipbook.

Planet eBook
Classic books arranged by title

Author’s Classic Novels
Popular children’s stories

Classics for Young People
Classic books arranged by author

Amy is a devoted wife to her husband of 11 years, a Classical homeschooling mom to a seven-year-old Superhero and the co-founder of Heart of the Matter and A Woman Inspired Ministries. She has a passion for genealogy and is aspiring to be a Proverbs 31 lady. Be sure to visit her blog at Milk and Cookies.

Tags: children's books, download free books, free e-books, Literature

The Perfect Gift for your Distracted Learner

December 3, 2008 by Luke

9 Comments

This month I’m going to give you two tips for the price one.

Pretty cool, for sure.

With the Christmas season upon us, and the school year well underway, you’re likely wondering about two things. One: What do I get my kids for Christmas? And two: How can I help them be more interested in our read aloud time? Thankfully, I’m here to give you a single answer to both those questions. I hope you find this suggestion helpful:

Tip 1: Buy Legos for Christmas

I know Legos are expensive, but they are also one of the best toys available. They are great for almost all ages and last a long, long time. However, keep in mind that while the model like sets (such as Star Wars) are really cool looking, they are more model than toy. So, get sets that allow for a lot of creativity, and not just a diorama. (That extra tip is free.)

Brittany and I have made it a family tradition to ask for a Lego set every Christmas. And so far, we’ve done well. Not only is it a blast to assemble the new set, there is something nostalgic and timeless about the sound a wrapped Lego box makes when you gently shake it.

But Legos are so much more than a great gift idea. They are also an incredible learning tool. And I don’t just mean in the geometric, spacial, construction, design, imaginative way either (though those also apply). No, Legos are great for literature.

That’s right: Literature.

Tip 2: Let your kids build with their Legos while you read

Every so often I come across comments from mothers who find that their children don’t focus well during the read aloud portion of school. For them, Sonlight–the quintessential literature-rich homeschooling option–isn’t a good fit because their children need something tactile and more active than snuggling and listening to a great book.

And really, what child hasn’t become disinterested in reading from time to time? I mean, if a model student such as myself <cough cough> can find himself in la-la land, perhaps the same is true of others.

To help with this problem my sister sometimes doodled, but I have never been the artistic type in that regard (and I think my occasional blog graphics attest to that fact nicely <smile>). So, drawing didn’t work for me.

But Legos were fantastic. The directions, if I chose to follow any, were made up of pictures with no words. I could build to my heart’s content and never lose track of what was happening in the books.

In fact, there were days that I retained more information because I was building with Legos than if I hadn’t been. If your children are completely disengaged, their minds will wander to other ideas and leave you reading to yourself. However, if your children are occupied in one area, they are free to listen in as you read.

Time and time again I have heard from other parents who find that their children who seem to be lost in another activity actually grasp more of the material than those who merely sit and listen.

So, if you’re wondering what do about gifts and how to help your children stick with the literature you are reading, I suggest Legos.

Perhaps Lego should come up with a new slogan instead of “Play on …”. Something to the effect of: Lego: Love to Learn and Listen.

Eh, nevermind.

Instead, just focus on the love to learn with your great book selection, and if your children need something to do, give them some Legos.

It worked well for me… and look how I turned out.

Okay, maybe not. Instead, consider the fact that the human mind can think faster than people can talk–which is a good thing because if we couldn’t it would be a long time between sentences in a conversation–but this can encourage the mind to wander. So, nip this in a bud and give your tactile/energetic/less-than-willing-listener something to do with his or her hands.

The only potential drawback to Legos, which we experienced in our house, is that large amounts of Legos in large plastic tubs can be rather noisy. It is best to let your children spread the Legos out on the carpet or rug at the beginning. That also makes it easier to find the piece you’re looking for.

It can be a hassle to pick up the Legos when reading time is over, but with practice it can become a relatively quick and painless effort. Just make sure your vacuum doesn’t eat any of these precious pieces of plastic.

Just to be clear: I am not a Lego spokesperson. I’ve just been a happy user for over 20 years.

Me and Duplos

Of course, the same can be said of ice cream as well. But that would be a different post.

Me and Ice Cream

A thick, red, two by two anyone?

Luke Holzmann is the son of John and Sarita Holzmann, founders of Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd., in Littleton, CO, where he is the Media Relations Specialist. He attended Biola University, in La Mirada, CA, and earned the BA in Motion Picture Production. You can find his work at http://www.sonlightblog.com/, production-now.com, and lukeholzmann.blogspot.com.

Learning Environment: 10 Tips That Helped Our Homeschool
Encouraging the Love of Literature
The Remedy For Big Tears and; Little Attention Spans?
Motivate Your Child to Learn Using These 4 Steps

Tags: Christmas gifts for kids, hands-on, learning tools, Legos, Literature, read alouds, Sonlight

Miseducation: Preschoolers at Risk by David Elkind

November 26, 2008 by Karin

2 Comments

Published in 1987 by Dr. David Elkind, Professor of Child Study and Senior Resident Scholar at Tufts University, Miseducation: Preschoolers at Risk is designed to help parents avoid the ever growing trend of the miseducation of young children . It’s findings and review of research is not only pertinent in today’s hotly debated political climate regarding education, but it is critical for any parent who is interested in their young child’s development and education.

In the 1960’s public schools were under attack for not being sufficiently
rigorous and for not providing quality education for minorities. It was in this
context that the Bloom Report found a most welcome audience. If children did not do well in science and math, it was held, it was because of inadequate
preparation on the preschool level. Likewise, if disadvantaged youngsters did
poorly in public school, it was not necessarily because of the poor quality of
the public school education, but rather because the children came to school
poorly prepared. Bloom’s argument for the competence of young children and the
critical importance of early childhood education for later academic achievement
provided a convenient and scientifically credible excuse for the poor academic
achievement of American public school children.
(page 63)

Many of the mantras we hear in regards to “early childhood education” are not scientifically supported to be for the betterment of our young children, and have actually already been proven to be cause for great concern. That this misinformation continues to abound, greatly saddens me, especially when the problems we found in the early 1960’s are still around in 2008 and yet we now seek to enroll our nations precious two year olds in a public school system to try to fix something with a method that has not worked since the 1960’s.

Although the often cited Benjamin Bloom still regards the early years as critical for learning, he deplores those who interpret this to mean learning the three R’s. According to Bloom, “What seems to me to be the most misdirected effort is the attempt by some parents and some preschool programs to teach children to read, write and do simple arithmetic in the nursery school and kindergarten….What I do believe is that the learning experiences of these critical years should be directed to more important goals. These are the years when children should “learn to learn” rather than learn the particular skills usually taught in the first or second grade…. That it is good for children to learn to read at ages 6 and 7 does not mean that it is better to learn this skill at younger ages. I do not think we can justify taking over the precious years of childhood to give children an early start in the three R’s.”

“Infants and young children are not just sitting twiddling their thumbs, waiting
for their parents to teach them to read and do math. They are expending a vast
amount of time and effort in exploring and understanding their immediate
world. Healthy education supports and encourages this spontaneous
learning. Early instruction miseducates, not because it attempts to teach,
but because it attempts to teach the wrong things at the wrong time. When
we ignore what the child has to learn and instead impose what we want to teach,
we put infants and young children at risk for no purpose.” (page 25)

Home educators should note that while this book is not written specifically to advocate home education, Dr. Elkind does address homeschooling briefly (pages 41 and 162) and admits, “If you have the time and energy to provide your child with a variety of social and educational experiences, you can also provide your child a rich early-childhood program for your child at home. “

Dr. Elkind’s book illustrates the very real difference between the workings of a preschool child’s mind and that of an elementary student; He provides examples and research findings that clearly illustrate the permanent damage to a child’s self esteem, attitude, lack of interest in learning, and blocking of natural gifts and potential talents through miseducation. Finally, he addresses what you can and should do for your child if you want them to have a healthy start.

Sadly, since the book was originally published in the late 80’s some information is admittedly outdated, such as the reference that, “One can spend more for a home computer, printer, software and service contract than a family car…To be sure, computers can facilitate the work of professionals such as writers, accountants, and stockbrokers, but they are not a great advantage in balancing checkbooks, preparing one’s income tax return, or paying the monthly bills.” Still, I found the bulk of the book to still be very timely and inspiring for any parent seeking to develop a practical and developmentally appropriate home education program for their young children.Also by Dr. Elkind: The Hurried Child, and The Power of Play

Karin Katherine is a proud stay-at-home mother of four who feels blessed to be the mother of 5 year old fraternal twin boys and two daughters, ages three and 4 months. As someone who never changed a diaper until she had children, Karin is surprised by the fact that she has been changing diapers for the past 5 years straight with no end in sight! As the 7th of 8 children, Karin feels blessed by her average size (in her mind anyway) family and wouldn’t mind a few more– God willing and her husband notwithstanding. Her biggest homeschooling dream is to one day homeschool across the United States in an RV. Please visit her new blogs Mommy Matters and Passport Academy.

Tags: Encouragement, Literature, Preschool, Review

Mommy, Teach me to Read!

November 24, 2008 by Karin

1 Comment

I cannot say enough fantastic things about Barbara Curtis’ book, Mommy, Teach me to read! A complete and easy-to-use home reading program. Barbara Curtis is a former Montessori educator, homeschooler and Christian mother of twelve children including three with Down syndrome. Her writing style is both comforting and informative. Even if you are not a familiar with or a follower of the Montessori approach,there is so much in this book that you will appreciate.

The book begins with a simple overview of birth-age 2 developmental milestones and things you can do to create a literature rich environment in your home that will help pave the way to growing a reader!

Barbara, like Ruth Beechick, subscribes to the teach the letter sounds before the letter names approach and teaching lowercase before uppercase letters. Why? Well, look at this post. How many lowercase letters do you see?

Throughout the book Barbara gives both teaching tips and exercises. Laid out in an easy to understand and duplicate manner. Photos are included and instructions for creating your own manipulatives are given or referenced on her website.

One of my favorite features in this book is Barbara’s list of 75 three-letter phonetic words, two-syllable words made of three-letter phonetic parts, 50 four letter phonetic words, and 25 five-letter phonetic words. Additional word lists are available on her website. With these lists you can devise your own games using magnetic letters and early readers can simultaneously become early spellers using phoenetic words.

If I had come across this book earlier in my homeschool journey I might not have purchased as many books on teaching reading or been so apprehensive about my ability to teach my own child to read.

Tags: Encouragement, Language Arts, Literature, reading, Reviews

Earth Matters

November 23, 2008 by Karin

Dr. Seuss Giveaway

November 17, 2008 by The Amies

26 Comments

From there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere.

For this week’s giveaway, we have a set of FIVE Dr. Seuss books to give away to one random reader.

The Cat in the Hat
Green Eggs and Ham
One Fish, Two fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish
Go, Dog. Go!
Are You My Mother?

To be entered, simply leave a comment sharing your favorite Seuss book. Comments will be closed Friday, November 21st at 10pm EST and the winner will be announced on Sunday in our weekly newsletter. You can sign up by entering your email address over in the right sidebar. As always please make sure you leave your email address or that it is clearly listed on your profile or blog. If we can’t email you, you can’t win.

Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the THINKS you can think up if only you try!

Anna L. is the winner this week! Congratulations!

Tags: Curriculum, Giveaways, Literature, reading

Flat Traveling

October 31, 2008 by AmyS

30 Comments

flat-austin For those who haven’t heard of the Flat Stanley project, it is a very fun geography adventure based on the children’s book Flat Stanley. In the book, Stanley is flattened by a falling bulletin board and soon learns the advantages of being flat. He mails himself to friends around the world.

The idea behind the project is to make your own flat traveler and mail it to host families who keep it for a couple weeks. During this time they treat it like a guest, take it places with them, take lots of pictures, and keep a journal. Sometimes they send souvenirs back. It is a wonderful way for kids to learn about the every day life of those in other states/countries.

Since we had so many family and friends who wanted a Flat Traveler, we cheated and made several. Our flat guy has vacationed in Sweden, Italy, Australia, Scotland, England, China, and 6 American states.

If you would like to participate with your own Flat Traveler, I would recommend going to this website first. It includes a database of more than 400 families who are willing to host travelers. The Homeschool Lounge also has an excellent message board for homeschooling hosts.

Next, make your very own flat traveler. Be creative! We have even hosted a Flat Dinosaur and Flat Monster. I used a template and attached a picture of my son’s head. I colored him wearing an OSU jersey.

Here are a few templates:

http://www.flatstanley.com/template.htm

http://www.mrsperkins.com/files/stanley.doc

http://susanreynolds.blogs.com/artist/files/FlatStanleyTemplate.jpg

Below are several places that our flat guy has been fortunate enough to visit. Someday we hope to visit them too!

Photobucket

Vermont

Photobucket

On the beach in North Carolina

Lighthouse in Maine

On a double decker bus in Scotland

On the shore of England

In front of the Leaning Tower of Pisa

At the Roman Colosseum

Tags: Curriculum, Flat Stanley, flat traveling, Geography, hands on learning, Literature, Projects

The Horror/Journey of Inspiring My Six Year Old to Read

October 27, 2008 by Andrea

3 Comments

Homeschooling has been a little rocky considering we started during hurricane season and Gustav ran us down. Getting back into a routine, my first grader is now doing well with Saxon Math but refuses to read and learn new words. Since I am determined not to fail, I decided to take the advice of seasoned homeschoolers and find some reading material that he would be interested in reading.

I picked up a book on the free table at CO-OP. “25 Emergent Reader Mini-Books” and “Easy-to-Make Reproducible Books to Promote Literacy by Maria Fleming (Fleming, 1997). These were great. Did I mention it was free and for grades K-1^stgrade?

I also found some suggested reading list links: Reading Rockets.

This is a list of recommended books for 3-6 year olds and is part of “The Big Summer Read” through reading rockets (Reading Rockets, 2008). Since my husband is a welder, this book caught my interest:
Metal Man By: Aaron Reynolds
Illustrated by: Paul Hoppe
Age Level: 3-6
Reading Level: Beginning Reader

During the hot summer, Devon likes to visit Mitch. Mitch is a man who makes sparks fly as he creates welded metal sculptures — and invites Mitch to make one with him. As the boy decides what to make, he begins to see things differently — because of “that fiery metal man.”

Reading Rockets, (2008)

This looked like the perfect book. It could create a bond between father and son, it was interesting to my child, and it had received rave reviews.. After all reading rockets is funded by the US Department of Education; therefore it should be educational. I was sold and since proceeds from the books purchased though Amazon.com support the project, I headed to Amazon, found a new book for less that $10 and ordered it.

It came in a few days later and I could not wait to read it… I mean, read it with Grant but I needed to look at it first, right? Well, it is a good thing I did.

The first line of the first page read precisely “Summer’s hangin’ on” (Reynolds 2008). It only “got” more intriguing from there; stickin’, cookin’, headin’, goin’, she don’t follow, ain’t, flyin’, grindy, whatcha, whaddya, he don’t stop. There are many more but you get the idea. I was mortified. My child is a beginning reader and this could definitely throw all of his new found skills out of the window, not to mention confuse him.

Don’t get me wrong, this is a great story, awesome in fact, of a welder who helps a little boys’ imagined creation come to life…out of old junk. This could get my child interested in reading. The illustrations are wonderful too, but how could I let my child learn these ungrammatical words? I just don’t think he is old enough to understand the difference.

Dad came home and saw the book on the counter. He says, while grinning at me I might add, “what is this, a bonding book for me and my son?” I explained how unsure I was about it and he read through the book while he expressed that he didn’t think it was appropriate and he needed to show all his welder friends at work. Meanwhile, Grant has heard enough about it and now desperately wants to read the book so, the two of them retreat to the back to read it. I hoped that Daddy would explain that these words are not correct or at least try to read it using the correct grammar.

Grant was so excited about whatever happened that he came running to the shelf and retrieved all of the books for his age, because “he is six now and he needs to read these books”. Well Hallelujah! Something good has come from this. He has read every day from those 6 year old books, with no persuasion.

God must have planned that out because I could not have asked for a better conclusion.

Jeremiah 29:11: For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future and a hope.

This book was wonderful in spite of my preconceived notions and it did serve a purpose but I will be sure to investigate next time, Lord willing.

We also borrowed the Magic Tree House series from my sister. Those are still on the shelf. What is off the shelf and now being read is the Rocket Readers series of “you can read” bible stories. Not to be confused with the Reading Rockets Board of Education recommended reading list. We have every Rocket Reader series we could find at the Dollar Tree. Yes, that is 3-5 readers per series for $1.00 and all of the stories are Bible based too. This series also contains 5 different reading levels. I am a happy homeschooling mom now. Thank you, Metal Man.

In addition, just to get another reaction, I also showed Metal Man to our neighbor, an elementary public school teacher. She said that it is a dialogue book and should be read as such. It is just meant to be fun and enjoyed. She said it would be same as reading a Cajun book or the Hawaiian Bible (aka Da Jesus Book) for that matter. For the record, I do not let my child read the LSU cajun kids books either. Somehow spelling go as “geaux” and the over use of the word cher (“cher,” a short form of “cherie”, and pronounced “sha”) just aren’t what I imagined early readers would contain.

I do understand the point and this is a great story, but this was on a recommended reading list for 3-6 year olds. How is that justified? I am happy to keep the book for reference, the moral of the story, the illustrations and the idea of getting my son into the reading closet. Bless God! I have to ask though, have you ever had this type of experience with a recommended book? Am I being too cautious? Come on you experienced moms. Help me out!

References
Fleming, M. (1997). 25 emergent reader mini-books:easy-to-make reproducible books to promote literacy. Broadway, NY: Scholastic Inc.
Reading Rockets, (2008). The big summer read. Retrieved October 20, 2008, from Reading Rockets Web site: http://www.readingrockets.org/books/summer/2008/3-6
Reynolds, A. (2008). Metal man. Watertow, MA: Charlesbridge.

Andrea is a laid back gal from the south who has been married to a loud little Italian man named Darin for 7 years. They have two kids: one thinks he is a professional wrestler and the other thinks she is a professional princess (yes she wants to be paid to be bossy and prissy.) She has recently given up the corporate world to step into a land of kisses and learning. You can visit her at her blog: The Honest Woman. Help!