Our main literature curriculum is part of The Family School (affiliate link). The curriculum is geared toward grades K-8. They also have high school literature studies available. We study books together as a family, and have a literature lesson every Tuesday. Sometimes the kids do their reading assignments on their own, but each week we read them aloud together for anyone who wants to participate, and to make sure the youngest hears the story too.
I love the topics and discussions presented in The Family School. My children have a much deeper understanding of literature. There are 89 flash cards that we use every year, they teach concepts like characterization, literary techniques, poetry, and so much more. We study these topics and the lessons learned in the book. Sometimes we make lapbooks that go along with our study.
The Family School can be used one section at a time, so you can use just the literature portion. They recently announced that they will continue adding individual units rather than a set number of them, because of topics like literature.. there are so many they could create and how nice will it be to choose which book to study out of dozens of choices?
We have also used Memoria Press Literature Guides. I really like these but found them more of a comprehension guide. They do have literary elements included, but they're just not as in depth as The Family School curriculum. The Memoria Press Guides are a great option though, and I do enjoy using them!
We chose to use the Memoria Press Guides when my daughter finished All About Reading Level 4. I felt we shouldn't just quit learning about reading, so teaching her comprehension and using a study guide was a great next step. I've also used these guides over the summer.
Studying good literature can provide a good source of learning about life and values, and it is better than just reading current popular books. Those types of books are not a bad thing, but I do like to encourage my children to read with character building in mind.
I agree completely about literature being important. I noticed with my own kids that the more you read to them and have them read, the better their own writing gets. An added benefit! We are currently working our way (together) through the Aeneid using a video-based literature guide from Roman Roads Media. It is absolutely top-notch, but definitely for high-schoolers or nearly high schoolers. I very much enjoyed your post!
ReplyDeleteReading a whole variety of books is indeed a good thing. and using studies to understand them more ...my son rebells! Oh my... but he'll talk about them with me... so I suppose that's a good thing eh?
ReplyDeleteWe love reading stories together! I find we discuss them long after we're finished with them too.
ReplyDeleteWe used to read stories together all the time when the kids were little. Now, we read the stories separately but come together to talk about them. I did find that by reading aloud, though, they became much better readers and their writing definitely improved.
ReplyDeleteI try to read books with my children as much as possible.
ReplyDeleteI love this. I have been looking for a good literature study, and thanks to this, I am going to try out The Family School. That looks like exactly what I want! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteOh I hope you enjoy it! Feel free to email me if you have any questions, and there is a great support group here - https://www.facebook.com/groups/LDLWorldwide
DeleteLiterature definitely makes up a large portion of learning for our family! The Family School looks interesting.
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