I read this book not because I've ever considered home school but because I've heard lots of people talk about it and thought I could learn something. First thing I learned, if you really did home school your child using this method with these plans you would raise a genius, no question.Since I'm in no mood to raise one much less two or three geniuses here's what I learned that is worthwhile.
Introduce them to the world - we have a big map in the playroom and I can quiz them on places. Where is China? Japan? Greenland? Nova Scotia? Ecuador? Are the people in this country generally rich or poor? Free or not?
Read all different types of books with varying degrees of difficulty. I've long known that even though I read voraciously as a child I can't seem to read anything more complicated than a John Grisham novel (which I understand is at about an 8th grade reading level) Turns out I was reading the mental equivalent of a TV sitcom every day. Nancy Drew, Bobbsey Twins, Sweet Valley High. Nothing that pushed or stretched my mind or my reading level. So I've been trying to ramp things up with the boys. We read a book about Greek mythology. We read The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe even though I hated it as a child.
Follow through on a specific subject matter. I don't even remember how we got interested in Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War but we've read lots and lots of materials on this subject. Non- fiction, picture books and novels. They've all been fascinating.
Now I just saved you from 1200 painful pages.... Yep, you're welcome.
thank you
ReplyDeleteI quess the first step is to learn to love reading--I think that took.
ReplyDeleteGood suggestions. So much we need to teach 'em!
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