5 ideas to help children to LOVE the classics.

So if you read my last lengthy post, you will know that one of my new year's resolutions is to get a job. Yesterday, a job literally fell into my lap, and in my opinion is the best possible job I could have right now to help me reach my goals. The job description I have given it is, "Inspiring children to love the classics." For 2 hours a day Monday thru Thursday, I will be doing story time for children in the school library of Liberty Academy, which is the school that my children attend to varying degrees. On Fridays, I will be teaching various classes to part-time homeschoolers all day. I talked to the director of the school yesterday. She knows that I have been following the Thomas Jefferson Education system with my children for several years. She sees a need for the full-time children in the school to fall in love with reading-particularly the classics. So she offered ME the job. Next year she wants me to be the school librarian. Can you say miracles? I feel a little intimidated but very excited. My long-term goal is to be a transformational writer. This job will allow me to continue to have much exposure to great literature.

This morning, I have been brainstorming ideas to help me inspire children to LOVE the classics. Here are some ideas that I thought about:

1. Yours, mine, and ours. The goal here is to make the books THEIR choice but in a way that allows ME to produce the choices.

Yours- I will have a basket full of classics for young children, and they will get to take turns picking books from the basket. We will then decide as a group whether we like or dislike the chosen books. I will then write on a chart the favorites, and once they have accumulated a few favorites, they will be allowed to pick from those also. This will encourage ownership and the knowledge that it is GREAT to read our favorite classics over and over again.

Mine- I will have several slips of paper for kids to choose from that say different genres of classics. For example, poetry, fables, fairy tales, etc. I will then choose MY choice from that genre. The goal here is exposure or letting them know what kinds of choices are out there. I will try to choose things that are very fun at first and ease them into the more difficult works. If my choice is not going over too well, I will read something else. I want them to LOVE reading, not to be forced to sit through MY choices.

Ours- I will find out from the children what countries their ancestors come from or just countries they would like to know about and we will spend some time reading classics from these countries, and just learning some interesting things about the chosen country. I want to incorporate a lot of fun with this. Costumes, food, dances, etc. Again, the goal here is exposure. I will keep it very simple and light. Just enough to spark curiosity.

2. Incorporate different types of learning. Some kids learn best by hearing, some by seeing, and some by moving around. There are so many ways that kids learn best, and I want to incorporate as many of them as I can.

3. Stop often during reading to answer questions or discuss what we are reading. It is not necessary to get through a book or a chapter if curiosity and questions lead somewhere else.

4. Play simple games like spin the bottle or throw the bean bag to make question and answer period FUN.

5. Most importantly- BE PASSIONATE! If I am passionate and excited about what I am reading it can't help but rub off onto them.

These are a few of my ideas. I am so excited to do this. It is going to be so great! Yay for me!