Why Aren't Kids Reading the Classics?

I have been brewing this post for a long while, and my whistle has finally blown on my mental teakettle. I thought it was a topic that would resonate with other homeschoolers.

I use the Internet a great deal whenever I do my curriculum planning for my kids. I have had a lot of success using a literature approach throughout. Even before the children could read personally, family read-alouds of the classics were a solid part of their education. After they had mastered the skill, we continued with read-alouds , just raising the level of the written word.

Once I was planning for a high schooler, I often checked with traditional school reading lists, to ensure that I was not missing some critical work . I've been long astounded at the lack of true classics on many high school lists, instead willed with pop fiction like Barbara Kingsolver or Stephen King. Where did Thoreau, Bradbury, Dickens, and Cather go?

This year, my shock has continued to grow as I am teaching creative writing at our homeschooling co-op. I am finding that a lack of exposure to classic children's literature extends to many homeschoolers as well. How can you teach a literary element like anthropomorphism when half of the children have never heard of Aesop's Fables or Beatrix Potter? I struggled through a list of classics I was certain they had heard of: Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nim, Cricket in Times Square, Watership Down, and others. I only to hit on a common chord when I mentioned "Charlotte's Web." They had, after all, seen the movie. Sigh.

HoneyGirl, who is in the class, tried another approach by listing the new book series like "Guardians of G'Hoole" and "Warriors." Oh, they had all heard and read those. In further investigation, they explained that it is only "cool" to get the books on the front tables of the book store. Double sigh!

I find it remarkable to note that the writing ability of those who have been raised with the classics is far and above those who are fed a literary diet of "Captain Underpants." This is no mere coincidence. Long ago I had given my kids the analogy of books for nurishment. The classics were referred to as the meat and vegetables that kept us mentally sharp. The pop-fiction was the dessert. The kids happily adopted this thinking, already reading a classic for each "Mind-Twinkie."

Charlotte Mason called pop fiction "twaddle", and I sadly now have a class full of students that only reinforce her claims. I have spoken to some of the parents, giving them suggested reading lists for the kids. I have tried explaining that in order to develop into a good writer, students must have experience reading or hearing quality literature. It seems sadly that most of these parents have never read the classics either.

When I got home last night, I knew exactly what I needed to do. I dug out the address links from my last class reunion, and made a phone call to the son of the woman who gave my mother a classics reading list for me: Mrs. Reitz, my childhood librarian.

Mrs. Reitz reconized my love of books, and took the time to help my mom, a high school drop-out, by creating her own "great books" list of well over a hundred books. My mom, bless her heart, made sure that read every book on that list. Mrs. Reitz would take time to discuss these books with me each week, helping me grow and understand.

Now in her 70s, I got her address. Her long overdue thank you letter is going in the mail today, as well as a hand-crocheted bookmark. My wish would be that every child had a "Mrs. Reitz" in their lives. Later today, we are going to bake some banana bread and take it to the lovely librarians of our local library as thanks for the job they do!