When choosing literature for your child...

[Kate CA]

Do you choose something that is within the same time period that you are studying or do you not care? I am trying to figure out which books to use with my 8th grade daughter next year and I have a good list, but some of the ones I would like to use are quite clearly books in another time period. Does this matter? Would it matter to you? What are your criteria for choosing literature selections? Thanks!

[Sue G in PA]

Of course, after reading the WTM, I got so stressed about that issue! After months of stressing over what books I assigned and let my dc read, I finally decided to just pick books they would enjoy! Yes, they read some from the time period we are studying. Some are really good reads and I assign them b/c I know the dc will enjoy them. Other times, if we are studying a period or civ. that doesn't have a bunch of good lit. to go with it, I simply choose other good literature. As long as they are reading good books and not fluff during school time...I'm okay with it. Oh, have you looked at LL? My dd11 will be starting LL7 and I love the books she'll be reading! We are starting now, b/c next year with MFW ECC, she'll be doing quite a bit of history reading and I don't want to overwhelm her.

[Kate CA]

Of course, after reading the WTM, I got so stressed about that issue! After months of stressing over what books I assigned and let my dc read, I finally decided to just pick books they would enjoy! Yes, they read some from the time period we are studying. Some are really good reads and I assign them b/c I know the dc will enjoy them. Other times, if we are studying a period or civ. that doesn't have a bunch of good lit. to go with it, I simply choose other good literature. As long as they are reading good books and not fluff during school time...I'm okay with it. Oh, have you looked at LL? My dd11 will be starting LL7 and I love the books she'll be reading! We are starting now, b/c next year with MFW ECC, she'll be doing quite a bit of history reading and I don't want to overwhelm her.

I am sure I should know this, but what is LL? :)

[Susan in TN]

I try to include some of the "most important" historical literature for that period, and then also add other for variety - especially if the historical lit. is on the "heavy" side.

[nancypants]

I don't care at all. After all... what time period was Frodo born in?? :tongue_smilie: Really, I want my children to read for pleasure so beyond making sure that there is no inappropriate content, I will not dictate what they should read, when. I make a variety of suggestions and he picks what sounds interesting to him.

[OhM]

Our study of history has been greatly enhanced by historical fiction. We've used quite a few of the WTM & Sonlight suggestions and loved them.

But if it's feeling "forced", or the kids would rather follow another interest for a bit, we don't hesitate to go another direction.

[WTMindy]

Both. If I know of a good historical fiction book during that time period, I recommend it. We also do TOG which has lit suggestions that go along with the topics. But, they also read tons of other books just for fun.

[Carol in Cal.]

I usually have several books going.

Dd has assigned reading in history and either biography, historical fiction, or literature from roughly that same time period. Now, I don't go all crazy with this. In our house, we don't say, "No, you cannot read any more history of Israel until you have finished ALL of Homer, because that goes with the Greeks. So hurry up with that Homer!" Normally, even though she is almost 12, I am still reading to her in history and literature as well. So, for instance, right now we are studying the ante bellum period. I am reading her "Sound Forth the Trumpet" (or whatever that book is called--it's a pretty Providential view of that period.) I just finished reading her "Amos Fortune, Free Man" and "Life on a Southern Plantation, 1853." In parallel she is reading herself a great book about the Amistad, and when she finishes that she will start on the Jean Fritz bio of Harriet Beecher Stowe and her family. I am about to start reading her "Abraham Lincoln's World", "Get on Board", and maybe "Remember the Ladies" (which is about the Seneca Falls women's rights conference.) Have not decided for sure about that last one. I might just do another unit on post-war reform and include it as a run up to the struggle for Women's Sufferage." If I do, we will also read "An Old-Fashioned Girl" for literature.

For literature, she just recently finished reading "Little Women" and studying it quite a bit. LW takes place during and soon following the Civil War. She also read a great bio of Louisa May Alcott, who was a Civil War army nurse before she became a noted writer, and who was an ardent abolitionist. We studied literary elements in LW. Did I pick LW because it went with the time period? Partly. But it is great literature that goes with the time period. None of the works in the paragraph above are great literature, except maybe AFFM. If I couldn't find great literature for that time, I would have her read something else.

Right now for literature she is studying another book set in Concord, MA, near the historic home of LMA, but during the mid 20th century. It is called "The Diamond in the Window." It refers to Little Women, and also to a great poem called "The Chambered Nautilus." So we studied that poem first--it was a tough one, but we got through it.

In parallel, I am reading "To Kill a Mockingbird" to her and explaining it as I go. It is a really, really difficult book, with lots of irony and allusions and references to be explained. (It will get a lot more difficult when we get to the major crime.) It is a wonderful follow-on to the reform and CW books that we have been studying, but it is not of that period. Still, our study of that historical period is giving us valuable background for this book, and also enabling me to really punch the moral lessons of what we have studied so far.

So, as I said in the beginning, I do a mix. I always have some literature and some history going, and when they coincide, it is great. But, and this is, I guess, my crucial point, although I assign a lot of living books for history, if they are not really literature, I make sure that we are studying some literature simultaneously, in a literary fashion. I love history, but I don't want studying it to crowd out studying literature.

[Mom2legomaniacs]

I fall into the mostly whatever category and little bit of the corresponding era. When I get to the library and get it all together, I get things that go along. But I don't make it there much (at least since Christmas I have not). So, they just read whatever!
Also, I think that since mine are younger, it may not be as crucial to me to tie those in. When they get older, I will likely flip it around a bit and be doing more that tie in with the time period.

[Parrothead]

We read more than one book at a time here. Reading for literature/reading assignments is what ever. Extra exploration for history is in the time period we are working on.

[Pencil Pusher]

I don't care at all. After all... what time period was Frodo born in?? :tongue_smilie: Really, I want my children to read for pleasure so beyond making sure that there is no inappropriate content, I will not dictate what they should read, when. I make a variety of suggestions and he picks what sounds interesting to him.

Oh, man, I was going to say that!

But really, I pick things that match the timeline that I *want* dc to read (age appropriate, etc.), & I add age-appropriate classics.

So this year, we're doing the Middle Ages, & I've got some Shakespeare picture books, we skimmed a couple of pages of Beowulf, & we skipped the Canterbury Tales. Otoh, we're reading Charlotte's Web, & we've read Peter Pan & Charlie & the Chocolate Factory. (Surely that's not all??)

Anyway, I don't want to give them the idea that everything is dark, kwim? They need to read some things that were written *for* kids, imo. So we do a mix, too.

[Kate CA]

We are doing history with historical fiction, etc. I am thinking purely of which books to do for literature alone. We are very history focused so I was just wondering if it would be unwise to study something that might be better done in the year we are doing that history? Like Uncle Tom's Cabin when we are studying American History or does it matter if I have her read that when she is studying ancients... That kind of thing. :) I think I am answering myself on that one, but that is the kind of thing I am talking about.

Since we are studying ancients this year (and partly into next) if I have her read A Tale of Two Cities will that be too confusing or will it not matter at all? I guess it doesn't matter, but I was wondering what you all thought and how you decided what to read and when. :)

[WagsWife]

It depends for us. I have my daughter read *a lot! She reads out of about 5 assigned novels/books every day, in addition to either Our Young Folks Plutarch, Age of Fable, or English Lit for Boys and Girls. One of her assigned books is for LL7, another for Biblioplan, a third is from a list of books I want her to read, a fourth is for a Reading Perspectives co'op, and then she normally has a book she wants to add in.

The reading list I put together are books I come across, which I feel she should be exposed to. There is really no rhyme or reason for my choices...however, if I know it is a book Biblioplan (or LL) will assign her later, I will try to avoid it.

[Virginia Dawn]

I must admit, I am one that mostly chooses literature to go along with whatever we are studying in social studies. Wether, it's historical, geographical, or topical, assigned reading will usually have some relevance to our school work. There is an exception, one year in Junior High I have them read a lot of animal classics, even so most of them take place in the 19th and 20th centuries, which is what we study at the same time. :-) But I think its fairly easy to find books that my children will not throw down in disgust. Since I've been through this a couple of times, for the most part I just go by the lists that my older children read from.

P.S. They've all read Lord of the Rings on their own free time. ;-)

[Plaid Dad]

We are not focused on history here, but I do try to make our literature selections for school line up with the historical period we're studying. But school reading is only a small fraction of the total reading my dd does. If she's interested in a particular book, I don't stress out about whether it fits into our history plans. :)

[Linda in NM]

I do the same, Carol...we've read a lot of LMA aloud (even though I have a 13 yos; my favorite author was always LMA, and I have most of her books...) He enjoyed Little Men and Jo's Boys; I haven't tried an Old Fashioned Girl with him, but that's not a bad idea. We're currently reading Robinson Crusoe aloud, along with Gay Neck (pigeon training for WWI--fascinating)...he's reading Roll of Thunder and loving it...along with his Warrior Cats books for fun...

[LibraryLover]

My kids can read whatever they want. :001_smile: I set them free in the library and we have walls of books.

[Donovans4]

we have books that we read for history, books for literature, books for fun.

LauraD in MN

[Kate CA]

I don't care at all. After all... what time period was Frodo born in?? :tongue_smilie: Really, I want my children to read for pleasure so beyond making sure that there is no inappropriate content, I will not dictate what they should read, when. I make a variety of suggestions and he picks what sounds interesting to him.

I think he was born in the third age...

LOL Good point. :)