RAR #196: Teaching Literature Without Curriculum

Shouldn't helping our kids love reading be the point of literature education? So why is it that most kids enjoy reading less and less, the further they get into their school years? And why do we insist on using literature curriculum when we know it doesn't help our kids fall more in love with books? Today I want to share an easier, simpler, more delightful (and less expensive!) path to giving our kids a fantastic and enjoyable literary education. This path has the advantage of making it more likely that our kids will love reading more after they encounter literature after their reading experience in school, not less. That's kind of a rogue idea, actually. What's the point? Think back to your own school days. Were your own favorite books the ones that you were assigned to write a book report on? When your teacher assigned you a classic and then told you to write a five-paragraph essay on it afterward, did you stay up late, gleefully reading that book under the covers with a flashlight? Were those the books you thought: this book is turning me into a reader? Interesting. See... I think one of the primary goals of a good literary education should be to raise kids who become adults who read voraciously and well. Who know reading to be one of life's sweetest delights. Who leave their literature class loving books even more than they did going in. Is it possible? It is. My family eschews formal literature curriculum to do something that we like better. And it turns out that this kind of education works. My 20 year-old is currently pursuing a university degree in (wait for it...) English. All of my teens enjoy reading and do quite a lot of it for pleasure, in fact. So if I told you that you could give your kids a solid literary education while also stoking the fires of their love for reading, would you be interested? On today's podcast, I dive into why it's OK to ditch formal literature curriculum, and a better model for moving forward Click the play button below to listen, or scroll down to keep reading... In this episode: our true goal for a solid literary educationwhat I do instead of using a literature curriculumwhy reading for academic 'success' is kind of defeating the purpose Click the play button below: Listener Guide Use the time stamps below to skip to any part of the podcast: 2:46Beyond learning to read4:57What is our true goal?8:41'Introducing one to the other'13:00Warmth + connection14:33Reading for 'success' versus entertainment17:23How adult voracious readers actually read19:41A book club model21:20A workshop is coming!23:19A simple system and where to find it24:57Let the Kids Speak First things first... Let's be clear that what I'm talking about today is literature curriculum, not teaching kids how to read. I do like to use curriculum to teach kids how to read. My favorites are All About Reading and The Logic of English. (You don't need both. You just need one or the other.) But we're not talking about reading curriculum today - we're talking about literature curriculum: engaging our kids with books after they know how to read. A quick caveat I'm an "if it ain't broken, don't fix it" kind of a girl. So let me issue this caveat, as well: if you love your literature curriculum, keep doing it! I'm not going to tell you otherwise. I firmly believe in using curriculum resources that: Make your homeschooling life easierYou enjoy usingStrengthen the relationships in your family If your literature curriculum does all three of those things and your kids read often for pleasure, then don't change a thing. Otherwise, let's talk about a different path forward. What's the goal? This is an important thing to consider. We know our kids need "English Literature" on their transcripts, but outside of that, what's the point? Perhaps some of these reasons resonate with you: