When;our;children;are small,;we;pour;many hours;into;teaching;them how;to;read.;In;fact,;it;is
the;pre-eminent;subject;of;the;first;few
years;of;school.;We;spend;hours;teaching
them;the;alphabet.;We;train;them;to;rec-ognize;each;upper;and;lower;case;letter
by;sight.;We;practice;the;sounds;made;by
each;letter;over;and;over.;Then,;we;begin
the;real;labor;of;helping;them;to;combine
the;letters;to;sound;out;words.;We;rejoice
when;they;recognize;a;word;and;then;a
sentence.;We;celebrate;when;they;read
their;first;book;alone.
And;then,;all;too;often,;we;think;our
job;is;done.;We;pat;ourselves;on;the;back
and;turn;the;children;loose;with;good
books.;We;figure;that;we;have;opened
the;door;to;all;kinds;of;knowledge.;Now,
they;just;need;to;step;through;the;door.
However,;we;have;not;defined;the;im-portance;of;teaching;them;how;to;read.
Is;it;enough;to;teach;them;to;read;so;that
they become fluent readers, or do we
have;deeper;goals?;If;we;do;have;deeper
goals,;do;they;need;further;instruction
beyond phonics and reading compre-hension?;What;do;we;hope;they;will;gain
by;reading;widely?;Do;we;just;want;them
to;gain;knowledge?;If;we;want;more;than
that,;what;kind;of;instruction;should;we
give;them?
As;with;every;other;subject,;we;must
begin;with;the;end;in;mind.;We;do;not
teach;them;a;foreign;language;so;that
they;can;memorize;grammar;rules;and
vocabulary;but;so;that;they;can;speak
and;read;in;that;language.;Students;do
not;learn;math;so;that;they;will;memo-
rize;math;facts;and;learn;how;to;apply
formulas.;We;teach;them;math;so;that
someday;they;will;be;able;to;pay;bills,
vote;wisely,;and;complete;a;home;reno-
vation;project.
Throughout the Reformation and
early;colonial;America,;families;taught
their;children;to;read;so;that;they;could
read;and;interpret;Scripture;for;them-selves. It appears that most modern
schools;(and;even;parents);teach;chil-dren;to;read;so;that;they;can;achieve
higher scores on standardized tests.
They;want;them;to;achieve;higher;scores
so;that;they;can;be;accepted;by;quality
colleges.;They;want;them;to;be;accepted
by;quality;colleges;so;that;they;have;bet-ter;employment;opportunities.;If;these
are;the;goals,;then;having;students;read
more and more complex information
should;fit;the;bill.;(This;seems;to;be;the
reasoning;behind;some;of;the;Common
Core;standards.)
The
Classical
Homeschooler
Jennifer Courtney
Life;Lessons;From;Literature
The;tools;are;simple;;you;need;only;good;books;and;time;to;discuss;them
with;your;adolescent.
