Tuesday, June 04, 2013

reading maturity

"There is often a temptation, when planning curriculum, to include material that is too difficult. We want to see the students moving on to the next stage of development. We want them to excel, and we do not want them to miss out on the "classics". But when we include difficult material before the students are ready to do it, they will not do it well. They may or may not realize that the material is too hard for them, but the chances are good that they will not enjoy it. They are also apt to make the mistake I made and think they have understood something when they have not. This is not necessarily a question of intelligence. It is a question of maturity."  ~Laura M. Berquist, Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum
And after re-reading this in the Appendix of her book this morning, I changed my mind about a book I had given Seth to read last week which was the autobiography of Ben Franklin. I thought he might be able to enjoy it more since he had just read a biography about him.  I knew it was too difficult for him, but I did it anyway and have spent the last few days debating whether it was a wise decision.  But this portion convinced me to give it up for now and come back to it for later years.  We were both happy with that choice.  I'm currently prereading My Side of the Mountain for him and loving it.  This is exactly what he needs right now.

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