We are guilty of reading twaddle….there I said it. Is it ever okay? I am having a hard time with library trips and what my kids pick out. We are reading Bambi for our Literature Read Aloud as a family. We are using good books for history, science, and reading during “school time”. So does it matter what the pick out at the library?
I read good literature during the same mentioned times as you. Also for literature. But it’s VERY hard when you have 6 children at the library 5 which need suppervision and the 3 yr old is pulling this and that off the shelf. If I try to put them back he wants to know where they went.
So heres my compromise. I request books online so when I get there I know I will have say 10 really good kid read alouds to bring home. I will say to my 3 yr old you can pick out 3 – 5 books to bring home. Then at home as long as the pictures are fine he can look at his books but mom somehow (at least at this point) still seems only to have time to read the ones I picked out.?? How convenent for mom!! Now my older boys will read them apon occation but they have scheduled time to read and they are boys and well they don’t want to read any more than “mom makes them”. So I’m in the clear.
I know that’s not a solve all but right now it’s what works. Hope you get more better answers. Misty
I just wanted to add my 2 cents, if I may….I am in the same boat! We read a wonderful array of rich, living books, but my older children (dd9, ds7) are still often pulled in the direction of twaddle at the library. This is what I finally decided: I am going to keep serving them the good stuff at school time, etc. They are allowed to choose some of those “silly” books at the library (I don’t say that to them). I’ve decided to choose my battles. I realized that the good stories and books is what they will remember, and come back to–as long as I don’t push their faces in them. I already see it in my 7 year old son. I realized this one day when I thought of the books I love. I grew up in the school system. My parents never read to us. I had never heard of Charlotte Mason. My mom never took me to the library. I read like other kids-some twaddle, but some not. When I began homeschooling my children and learning about Charlotte Mason I realized that all of the books that “stuck with me” were LIVING books!! I thought this was awesome! There are several books that were my favorites from 5th or 6th grade on up, and I still have those copies on my shelves today—To Kill A Mockingbird, Island of the Blue Dolphins, and I could go on. My opinion is to keep offering them the good stuff and it will stick sooner or later. We may not see it paying off now (they might still think they want to read Junie B. Jones), but it will pay off over time. I am living proof!!!
Hope this helps someone and makes sense–I am almost too tired to make sense!
Thanks for the encouragement, you guys. I had thought the same way, and am glad to hear that picking up a Spiderman reader will not harm them (too much LOL)
I have also found that they will choose several books at the library, but the ones the actually finish reading are the living books. 😉 My son has recently ASKED to read the 2nd McGuffey reader. So now for “school time” they both use McGuffey readers for reading and some narration.
LOL!! What a relief to read these posts! I am sitting in my study right now fuming because my son found a Transformer toy my husband bought him for Christmas! We switched cars today and I forgot it was in the trunk. I told my husband I was going to take them back because they were “twaddle” in so many words!! I went so far as to accuse him of undermining my homeschool efforts by bringing such “twaddle” home… I guess I better get over it and get his dinner ready. Thanks for letting me vent!