Reading Classics

When I was in public school, I didn't have time to read any classics, or much of anything.  I was so busy doing school work and home work, that there was precious little time to read anything. 

When I was in high school, I was able to make some time to read quite a bit.  My bus route changed from 10 minutes to 1 1/2 hours when I entered high school, so I was able to read quite a bit on my home every day.  I mostly read science fiction because those were the types of books that my older university-attending brother left laying around, so I picked them up and read them.      

So why didn't I read any classics?  Remembering back, there were several reasons:

1. If the teacher assigned them they were WORK, not pleasure.
2. Even if we did pick out a book on our own, the teachers expected a book report or a test, not an open discussion of the book.  Reading a book to test is a joy killer.  An oral report just brought anxiety and fear of failure. 
3. The teachers would have written tests where we regurgitated names, dates, and useless facts of the book.  It's a lot easier for the teacher to grade names and dates than to read about what we thought of the book.  
4. What the teachers did make me read was BORING.  I can't even remember any titles of books that we read.  Just because it was labeled a classic didn't make it enjoyable to a child with a huge imagination. 
5. I remember a particularly hateful high school teacher making us read Shakespeare.  I say "making us read" because she didn't make it fun or enjoyable, and did a terrible job of explaining it to us.  She pampered her theater students and the rest of us were treated as fodder for her jabs and hurtful comments of how we weren't going to amount to anything.  I still don't enjoy Shakespeare because of her. 
6. My parents didn't take me to the library.  We lived seven miles from town, we had one car for years and six children, and extra-curricular activities were non-existent.  The elementary school library was one tiny room (maybe 10x15 feet?) that 25 other children were jumbling around in at the same time for 10 minutes a week.  The high school library was only visited if we were doing a paper and given special permission to visit. 

I did have a couple of teachers in elementary school who would read classics to us in class, like The Little House series, or the Chronicles of Narnia.  That was great!  I think it is because of them that I was able to finally realize that books could be wonderful and entertaining in the right environment.  I didn't even know that these were classics that they were reading to us; they were just fun to listen to. 

I think that it's somewhat of a miracle that I love books after all of that, let alone classics.  I am passing on my love of books to my children.  Here is how I am passing on this love:

1. I read out loud to them. 
2. We listen to books on CD.
3. We read fiction, science fiction, historical fiction and classics.  Non-fiction get looked at and used, like our bird book and caterpillar book. 
4. I keep tons of books available on the book shelves.  We get bargain books at library sales, hand-me-downs from growing cousins, and an occasional new book for special occasions.  
5. Whatever they pick up at the library is fine with me.  Graphic novels are perfectly acceptable.  We visit the library weekly at a minimum.
6. We talk about the books that we read, both the good and bad.  We discuss what we agree with and what we don't like. We discuss moral issues that come up, and views in books that challenge our own views.  We discuss about how written words don't make something correct or moral or even fact, but rather a point of view.  We also quit reading books after the first few chapters if they just don't sit well and aren't fun to read. 
7. I encourage them to read on their own and I let them choose what they want to read to themselves.  I don't assign books to them.  Often times they choose the same book again and again, and I just let them.  It will be a loved book to them as they grow older, and not a book that their mother criticized them for reading. 
8. I read in front of them often.  They always ask me about what I'm reading and what's happening now.  It's hard to tell a quick synopsis of what I'm reading, but I try.  I'm hoping that they'll want to read my more complicated books when they are ready.  It's funny to be reading a book while soaking in the tub, and the girls are sitting around me asking me about what I'm reading. 
9. I'm reading classics now and reading classics to the children.  I listen to classics on my MP3.  There are some really good classics out there, but I sure wouldn't have told you that as a child.  It's all in how they are presented.  

I'm glad my children love reading and love books.  I wish I were that way at their age. They are getting classics and they don't even know that they are classics.  They just enjoy the stories.