Name: Teach Them Diligently (Branson)
Start: 2025-05-15T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-05-17T23:59:59-05:00
Location: Branson, MO

Tagged: feed your mind, LIving Books, reading, variety

This topic has 26 replies, 10 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 8 months ago by Tristan.

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July 8, 2015 at 6:51 pm
Tristan
Participant
I just read the newest post on the SCM blog, called Feed Your Mind. I would love to discuss it with you all! Go read the post and come back here to share your thoughts. Here are mine, for starters:
Looking at my summer diet for my mind I can see where I have gotten into ruts in my reading genre and topics. The article was timely also because I was just this afternoon discussing with my 3rd child, Emma, who is 9, about her preference for fantasy novels over all else. She will and can read other things, but not unless I assign her to. Her own choice is always in the fantasy genre and she has started to complain about some of our read alouds when they are far afield from that genre. And I see where I fall into similar habits sometimes (sticking to one genre only).
So then I continue reading the 3 points Sonya shares.
1. Quality – Like healthy food to feed our body we need food that will feed our minds with truth and good, loving, noble ideas.
2. Variety – A variety of foods in books translates to a variety of book genres by good authors. I’ve already covered the fact that I’m in a rut and I see at least one child of mine who is. 🙂 Breaking out of the rut can be awkward! I need to do it and I need to encourage my children to do so as well.
3. Time to digest – This one I’ve been seeing some personal experience with this week in my family. We have a homeschool book club and we will meet this Friday for the month of July. Our book to have read is Misty of Chincoteague. We’ve chosen to read just 1-2 chapters at a sitting so this has stretched out quite a ways and we are having wonderful times thinking about, discussing, and in the case of my little ones acting out things from the story. Then I contrast it with my personal reading habits and you guessed it, I’m a binge reader – I typically finish a book every day or two all the time. Sometimes I slow down. But not often. And do you know why? Because the books I’ve been reading are not challenging me – they aren’t thought provoking or deep. Is there anything bad about the occasional lighter book? No. But I’ve been on a streak of them lately. All very proper, clean reading, but lighter. I need to have a stiffer read, a classic that is deeper, to go through slowly, along side my light and medium reads.
So what are your thoughts from reading the article? I’m afraid to look at the rest of my kids reading from this summer …
July 8, 2015 at 7:57 pm
Rachel White
Participant
Both of my children have complained that there are very few other young people with which they can discuss books. It’s really sad.
My problem is I have a tendency to read heavy stuff only and not read fiction. I’m a mood reader, so I always have several books going on at one time. I also realized I better get on to reading the books I didn’t read before that mine will be reading in high school.
For myself, I have been reading this spring/summer:
Catherine the Great – Zoe Oldenbourg (finished) This got me more intrigued with Russian history, prior to the Bolshevik Rev.
Biblical Archaeology Today mag. subscription
The Scarlet Pimpernel – this has been good, read nightly.
The Two Towers (had to start over as I lost my place)
Everyday Holiness – Alan Morinis
Nonsense: Red Herrings, Straw Men, and Sacred Cows: How We Abuse Logic in Our Everyday Language – Robert Gula
I have a bunch of others that I have sampled on my kindle that either I have read or are reading and many more on my wish list.

My children’s choices: My dd is more eclectic in her reading choices (generally minus historical books); she’ll read L.M. Alcott a million times (though she picked up Great Expectations on her own). However, my son sticks with science fiction/dystopian choices. He likes books that have these moral/ethical questions and quandaries and what if scenarios. Though, when I have him listen/read something else, he generally enjoys them.
We all severely lack in our poetry reading. Something I am trying to remedy by reading one or two at night-time.

July 8, 2015 at 9:29 pm
Karen
Participant
Well, I think I’m doing sort of okay. I always have 1 non-fict. and 1 fiction book going. Always the Bible, and currently, a devotional. However, I haven’t been trying to read any classic fiction work….I shy away from the long sentences and the drawn out descriptions. I have found that I can listen to classic fiction better than read them, because I have the awful ability to speed-read.
Like Tristan, I tend toward the binge- reading, especially in the fiction genre. However, if I draw out a book too long, I find that I lose interest in finishing it. That just recently happened w/ a book titled “Cowed”. It’s about how the too-large farms are ruining the Earth and everything on it. Since we’re a mid-size family farm, I thought I should read up on why people hate us. ? (We milk approx. 100 cows.) Anyway, another book (THM) came across my bookstack……off went Cowed, on came THM. Now I’m annoyed at myself, and yet, I’ve lost the oomph to finish Cowed.
July 9, 2015 at 5:40 am
Melanie32
Participant
What a timely blog post this has been for me! I’m with you Tristan-I needed the reminder to get back to better reading habits. I, too, have been stuck in a rut of easy reading. I am reading great books with my daughter and doing a bible study and a book study with two separate friends but in my free time, I haven’t been challenging myself.
This is a great reminder to pick a new classic to slowly work through. I usually try to read at least a chapter a day from a nonfiction Christian classic as well as a fiction classic. I’ve fallen out of that habit lately in my summer laziness.
Encouraging my daughter to vary her book choices is a whole different matter. She, too, is really into sci fi and fantasy. Right now, she is free to read books of her own choosing (approved by me of course!) in her free time but I have her read from a classic every day as part of her homeschooling. I also keep a classic going as part of our daily read aloud time. Then of course, she is reading from so many great books throughout our homeschool day as part of her CM education.
The more I think about it, she has been varying her books lately. She just reread the Penderwick series ( a favorite of hers) and those aren’t sci fi. She says her new favorite book is The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, which I have been reading to her selectively. 🙂
Now to choose which books to read next! I’m thinking something by Spurgeon for my nonfiction book.
July 9, 2015 at 7:26 am
Tristan
Participant
Karen – I sometimes lose interest in book if I drag it out too.
I think that one thing this post has prompted is for me to take a look at the assigned literature picks I have listed for the kids to choose from this year and do two things:
1. Put fewer books on each person’s list.
2. Make sure I have a variety.
Then if they finish the books on the list I can have a second list prepared with more titles from several genre.
So, for example, instead of handing my oldest daughter a list of 20 books with 4 books per genre I could hand her a list of 5 books each from a different genre. If/when she finishes those I’ll give her the next 5.
This doesn’t really impact my children’s free reading time, but it does mean that they will get some variety even if their free reading sticks to a preferred genre.
I think I need to do the same thing for me! LOL. Write out a list of books to choose from and make sure there is a variety.
I think I know what my project is for the next few days.
July 9, 2015 at 8:05 am
Karen
Participant
Yes– this is the first year that I am actually going to create lists for two of my girls to read on their own. In the past, it was a by-the-seat-of-my-pants type thing. And I see the need for more planning and prep. on my part.
I’m looking forward to the work of figuring out their lists! Assuming I can find some quiet around here to think! *L*
July 9, 2015 at 8:55 am
missceegee
Participant
Last year I made free reading lists for each kid, but only put out 5 or so at a time for variety. It worked very well. I still schedule in certain books at specific times for history and literature, but the free read list is a big part of our reading, too. DS11 especially liked the choice aspect since he isn’t a big reader.
I am in a personal reading rut right now, too. Time to vary my stacks by the bed!
Christie
July 9, 2015 at 10:48 am
Rachel White
Participant
May I recommend Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy to ya’ll for nonfiction/bio/history reading. I’ve been listening to it at the YMCA while walking.
I should write down my planned books, too; they’re just in my head. I write for the children, but haven’t for myself. I need as much OUT of my head as possible.
I use the SCM Org. under ‘leisure reading’ for my kid’s free reading list. That way the next one just pops up after each one is completed. Though, mine need more bios.
Then as far as their personal interests, I suppose we just talk about it before they get it on kindle, audible, librivox, or from the library (like when my son voluntarily wanted 1984 last year after reading the assigned Animal Farm).
July 9, 2015 at 10:58 am
Monica
Participant
I talked to a woman who had five books going at every time – one for each weekday of the week. Each of the five books came from a different genre. So, for example, Monday was nonfiction, Tuesday was spiritual growth, Wednesday was fiction, etc.
I haven’t had the discipline to do that myself, but I do think it’s a great idea.
July 9, 2015 at 11:48 am
Rachel White
Participant
Appropriate quote for this post, I thought:
It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it. – Oscar Wilde
July 9, 2015 at 1:36 pm
jmac17
Participant
My problem is that I have so many books/ebooks/audiobooks on the go at any given time that I lose track of some of them. This post has inspired me to get organized so make sure that I am well balanced. I also need to keep a better list of all the recommendations from various groups and forums so that I know what I want to read next.
For my children, after reading “The Book Whisperer” by Donalyn Miller, I challenged each of them to read a certain number of books in 2015 including least 2 of each genre or category. They can only ‘count’ 10 in any one genre. They quickly maxed out their favorite genres and then had to start exploring new areas. It’s interesting to see new sparks of interest developing. They are still reading their favourites as well, but those don’t count toward their totals for the challenge.
July 10, 2015 at 5:35 am
Melanie32
Participant
Jawgee-I really like that idea! 🙂 I’ll have to try it. Thanks for sharing.
July 10, 2015 at 9:31 am
missceegee
Participant
There is a strange idea abroad that in every subject the ancient books should be read only by the professionals, and that the amateur should content himself with the modern books. Thus I have found as a tutor in English Literature that if the average student wants to find out something about Platonism, the very last thing he thinks of doing is to take a translation of Plato off the library shelf and read the Symposium. He would rather read some dreary modern book ten times as long, all about “isms” and influences and only once in twelve pages telling him what Plato actually said. The error is rather an amiable one, for it springs from humility. The student is half afraid to meet one of the great philosophers face to face. He feels himself inadequate and thinks he will not understand him. But if he only knew, the great man, just because of his greatness, is much more intelligible than his modern commentator. The simplest student will be able to understand, if not all, yet a very great deal of what Plato said; but hardly anyone can understand some modern books on Platonism. It has always therefore been one of my main endeavours as a teacher to persuade the young that firsthand knowledge is not only more worth acquiring than secondhand knowledge, but is usually much easier and more delightful to acquire.
It is a good rule, after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between. If that is too much for you, you should at least read one old one to every three new ones.
Every age has its own outlook. It is specially good at seeing certain truths and specially liable to make certain mistakes. We all, therefore, need the books that will correct the characteristic mistakes of our own period. And that means the old books. All contemporary writers share to some extent the contemporary outlook—even those, like myself, who seem most opposed to it. Nothing strikes me more when I read the controversies of past ages than the fact that both sides were usually assuming without question a good deal which we should now absolutely deny. They thought that they were as completely opposed as two sides could be, but in fact they were all the time secretly united—united with each other and against earlier and later ages—by a great mass of common assumptions. We may be sure that the characteristic blindness of the twentieth century—the blindness about which posterity will ask, “But how could they have thought that?”—lies where we have never suspected it. […] The only palliative is to keep the clean sea breeze of the centuries blowing through our minds, and this can be done only by reading old books.
– C.S. Lewis on reading old books
July 10, 2015 at 9:50 am
missceegee
Participant
I forgot to add that the emphasis, in the Lewis quote above, is mine.
July 10, 2015 at 10:29 am
MrsB
Participant
I’m really failing, personally, in this area. Everything I read is related to homeshooling or parenting. I need to feed my mind, outside of the jobs that I do. However, I don’t just want to be entertained. My time is sacred, so I’d rather not waste it on a novel that has no staying power. I wan’t something that moves me.
Any good suggestions?