{teaching writing through literature} #3
I get tingly when I think about being a teacher. There's this energy inside me welled up in spaces hollow just meant for holding things like "how" and "you can" and "I see you doing it" too. It's all I can do to keep it in just waiting for the right time to ooze it out with all that I am. Outstretched, I absolutely love to instill.
My passion? Writing. Pressing letters is so my game. It's a subject undernourished with the hurried sense of go.fight.learn.win in elementary schools.
And I get it. Writing...to be a writer...to teach writing...takes T I M E. It needs space. Big places for rearranging and word play. Honest eyes and compassionate hearts that can scaffold little one's ideas and emotions into sequential written thoughts be it informational or creative. It needs fine tuning and feelings too. And that's hard to situate inside an 8-3 school day with all the other huge subjects that deserve the clock's ticking.
I can't say how long we'll homeschool. I know I've told you why we do here & a little more from awhile back here too. And I can't offer up that I do it all right. That I do it all justice even. That my boys are proficiently and expertly instructed in all arenas of study. But I can tell you this. My passion? I am absolutely oozing all of it into them. It is my hope that this is enough for now.
For who they are growing to be deserves big spaces for rearranging. It's worthy of T I M E just the same. For now, that time is mine. And day-by-day, we work to connect emotions and ideas together. It is my hope that this family decision will be impacting and time best spent for not just my 2, but our family of 4.
I had begun a series of installments sharing with you a glimpse at how I share my passion of writing with my boys. I am a huge fan of utilizing children's literature. This series revolved around the book Jim's Lion by Russell Hoban and illustrated by Ian Andrew.
In installment #1 I discussed how to choose children's literature as well as how to look for content worthy of teaching. This session was chock full of sequential steps and information to help you get started.
In installment #2 I soaked down deep into the bubbly tub of great illustrations. I commended those illustrators out there beautifully crafting art for the eyes and hands of growing minds. I talked a bit about my boys' art too. This session was also where I broke down the content I deemed worthy of instructing to my guys.
This leaves us ready to tackle what's next on the list. Understanding symbolism is such a powerful gift to give growing writers/readers. It's the way children can see the roots under the words so to speak. It allows them to know that the story is so much more than just a story. It's significance on such a larger level. Kiddos can get that. Oh, can they ever.
I took the characters, objects and places in the story and had them listed on strips like I introduced in installment #1. There were also strips of big ideas/concepts that each of those listed above represented. Once the story was read by me aloud and then again with them reading it together sans Mom, we talked about what symbolism meant.
Symbolism:
An artistic and poetic movement or style using symbolic images and indirect suggestion to express mystical ideas, emotions, and states of mind.
The boys caught on quickly the big ideas the story offered. They spent time with the strips on the floor matching what each character-place-object to what it represented in the story. I did not interfere with their matching. And to my surprise, they added one I had not listed.
Words cannot adequately express what their addition gifted this Mama. Immediately tears welled up in those very spaces hollow inside me just meant for holding things like "how" and "you can" and "I see you doing it" too. T I M E . It's teaching us all so very well.
To read more homeschooling posts, visit here.