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Shakespeare
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Hello all,
I am new to this forum and have just started doing research on starting homeschooling using SCM.
After browsing the curriculum ideas I had a question about Charlotte Mason including Shakespeare in her study.
Are any of you happy to do Shakespeare -I admit I haven’t done too much research on him but I did go to Stratford-Upon-Avon a few times and visited places he was BUT i recall him not being a man of Godly character.
Have any of you had reservations about using him and his works?
Has anyone substituted anything else they could recommend instead?
Thanks kindly
I have put off Shakespeare. We have done some fun picture books on some of the “safer” plays, but I just have reservations about it all considering the full spectrum of humanity he covers. We read about Shakespeare himself and the Globe theater, but again, his plays bring up too many questions I just don’t want young children to have to deal with. That is just me though.
I would be inclined to have my children watch performances later on with a script in hand–maybe high school age. I always understood things better when I watched them anyway.
Hello, I am from Stratford Upon Avon and was well drilled in Shakespeare in my school years as you can imagine. We had to study 4 plays a year every year – I was glad when it was over. I waited on Shakespeare until my daughters were in High School. I did read some of the Lamb version to them when they were younger, but the main plays we did as a family when they were older. We are studying Julius Caesar at the moment, we read it aloud and play the parts with dad included. Personally I like Shakespeare, I love the language and for us as a family we find it opens wonderful discussions on time, place and on moral issues. I do not feel it has hurt the girls at all, and they enjoy the plays immensely. We have also watched the plays at the theatre and on DVD with the Royal Shakespeare actors playing the roles. I do not watch the newer Hollywood versions as they have taken huge liberties with the plays. Anyway, I would wait and perhaps while you are waiting read one or two yourself if you hav’nt already, if you then think they are totally unsuitable, that is a of course a perfectly valid decision – we all have different ideas. Having been immersed in Shakespeare in my own teens in Stratford, I could not find any reason to ignore him with my own daughters. It did no harm to me or my morals. I will add though that I do not shy away from a lot of things – I always wait for an appropriate age and then if I think a book or piece of art is worthwhile, then we will study it together and have amazing discussions. Not everyone is comfortable with that I understand, and that is why homeschooling is so great, we can choose what we want our children to be exposed to. I personally want them well prepared for the perils this world will have in store for them, and I prefer to be the one to explain it to them, rather than them innocently walk into an unpleasant situation. Hope this helps a bit. Good luck.
Well, I would never urge someone to use something against their personal convictions. Shakespeare was not a perfect man, and his plays have some difficulties as well. I myself loved Shakespeare from a young age, although I had a few high school teachers who tried to kill that. 🙂 I find that by carefully choosing plays and downplaying or eliminating less savory parts of them, our homeschool has been immeasurably enriched. However I don’t want anyone to use something against their convictions, and if you are not familiar with the plays, I would urge you to become so before choosing a play if you decide to.
If you decide Shakespeare is not for you, then IMO there is really no substitute at all. There is only one Shakespeare. There may be other dramas worth studying later, but there is nothing with the language use, cultural clout, general iconic status as Shakespeare. Carefully do it or just leave it out and concentrate on other things.
Bookworm:
I had to read a couple of Shakespeare’s plays in high school and as an adult have seen a couple of his plays. I want to explore more in this area as a family, but feel very unequipped to do so. We have the dover editions of several of his plays and I’ve tried just reading them on my own; but I must be honest and say it makes very little if any sense to me. I say all this to ask your advice on where/how to start.
Thanks!
mj
Starting out with Shakespeare can be hard going – may I suggest reading the Charles and Mary Lamb versions first, getting a feel for the story and then maybe check the library for a Video/DVD version of the play to watch. I think that sometimes watching it and reading a simpler version first, makes the real thing more inviting and easier to manage. Be careful of the video version you choose, some of the modern ones are not suitable for youngsters. I like the BBC Shakespeare DVDs, they are true to the play and acted by some of Britain’s foremost actors and actresses who have performed the play in Stratford at the theatre. I remember seeing Romeo and Juliet at the Theatre in Stratford with Sir John Gielgud, it was memorable and beautifully done. Even my husband who is not a Shakespeare fan, has thoroughly enjoyed every play we have watched and has a better understanding of the plays now when we read them as a family. I do hope those versions are available through the library. I was fortunate enough to be given copies of the DVDs as a gift from an old college professor friend of my family, as he knew how much I enjoyed the plays. If you are nervous of content, then just skim them yourself first and decide what you think is good for your family. You don’t have to immerse yourself in loads of plays, just a couple would be a start, or even just choose one. Hope that helps. Linda
I was just going to come on and recommend the Lambs’ retellings, and the BBC DVDs. 🙂 I think I read the Lambs’ version a dozen or more times when I was young . . coupled with a book I loved but can no longer find, called Twisted Tales from Shakespeare that had the stories and characters all mixed up. I loved being “in on the joke”
Then I hit high school and we all read out a play slooooowly by each bored student reading one line . . . ugh!
I think one of the very best things is to try to find a live performance. Many locations have Shakespeare troupes or outdoor festivals and these are the best thing–seeing it like Shakespeare’s audience did. We all attended a performance in Virginia a couple of years ago at a Shakespeare theater, and if we lived within driving distance, I’d be busting the budget to go back and see them whenever possible. It was magical!
Thanks for your input, guys!! We, too read the plays in high school by taking turns reading lines…I guess that’s why it wasn’t so magical for me!! 😆 There is going to be a Shakespeare festival in our little town that we just moved to; sometime in July. We may have to check it out! I’m so excited! Thanks again.
mj
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