{"id":2242,"date":"2017-11-05T00:58:12","date_gmt":"2017-11-04T21:58:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/?p=2242"},"modified":"2017-11-05T00:58:12","modified_gmt":"2017-11-04T21:58:12","slug":"helping-our-children-with-good-reading","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/2242\/helping-our-children-with-good-reading\/","title":{"rendered":"Helping our children with good reading"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cGood reading is crucial for the early and ongoing formation of the imagination.<\/em> We all love stories and arguably learn best indirectly through stories,\u201d explained William Fahey, president of Thomas More College … In light of the current culture, Fahey, who has five children, advised, \u201cIf the parents are not plotting out a course for the family, then someone else will, and that someone is not likely to be a friend to our [Christian] faith or the family or the child\u2019s mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cReading good books,\u201d he added, \u201cmay not guarantee<\/em> that anyone turns out to be the finest soul on the planet, but the odds are better, because the child \u2014 and the adult \u2014 will have a moral imagination, an imagination charged with ideas, characters, stories that will be useful in navigating life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jared Staudt, coordinator of the Catholic studies program at the University of Mary in Bismarck, N.D., pointed out that \u201cgreat literature teaches common sense<\/em>, how to think rightly about reality and have wonder in the face of reality. It enlivens the imagination and really lays the foundation for more generalized education that follows.<\/em>\u201d …<\/p>\n

The greatest challenge can be to spark and sustain the children\u2019s interest, Fahey said. \u201cThe key is that the mother and father must be readers themselves.<\/em>\u201d …<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth parents need to make a very serious effort to do two things: read the classics themselves<\/em> and schedule time for family reading,<\/em>\u201d he affirmed. \u201cEven 20 minutes a day makes a difference.\u201d …<\/p>\n

There is another benefit: family conversations about the works.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor readers of all ages, classical literature can serve as a great springboard for examining a whole range of moral, ethical and spiritual issues,<\/em>\u201d observed Patricia Crawford, associate professor of early childhood education, language, literacy and culture at the University of Pittsburgh. \u201cFor this reason, it is important for children to not just read these texts, but also to have an opportunity to discuss<\/em> them and consider their applications to real-world situations. Parents play a very important role in providing guidance and making this happen<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The characters in classic stories \u201creplace ephemeral movie characters or glitzy pop idols as points of reference,\u201d asserted Fahey. \u201cThe child\u2019s and the adult\u2019s moral imagination can only be colored if reading is an individual habit and part of the culture of the family.\u201d<\/p>\n

For example, Staudt said that, with Aesop\u2019s Fables, youngsters like to guess what the moral of each story is and then talk about that moral.<\/p>\n

He suggests beginning with Aesop, fairy tales, J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis before a transition into Greek myths<\/a>, Homer<\/a> and dramas by Sophocles<\/a> as the foundation of Western literature …<\/p>\n

Good literature opens children up to a sense of wonder. \u201cThe wonder opens up the mind,<\/em> and they are inspired and excited to want to learn more,\u201d Staudt said …<\/p>\n

Faith-based classics are a must-read. \u201cDon\u2019t forget,\u201d\u00a0Crawford emphasized, \u201cto include great Bible stories and the lives of the saints for children of all ages.\u201d<\/p>\n

______<\/p>\n

Excerpts from Joseph Pronechen’s, Why Families Should Promote Classics, N. C. Register<\/a>; edited with emphasis in italics by Ellopos Blog<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cGood reading is crucial for the early and ongoing formation of the imagination. We all love stories and arguably learn best indirectly through stories,\u201d explained William Fahey, president of Thomas More College … In light of the current culture, Fahey, who has five children, advised, \u201cIf the parents are not plotting out a course for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_disable_autopaging":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[5648,332,5649,94],"class_list":["post-2242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education","tag-aesops-fables","tag-bible","tag-classics","tag-new-testament"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2242\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}