As my kids have reached their 15th birthday, I can see the day that they will want to choose a mate and marry. The challenge? Among the many other factors involved with making a wise choice is whether or not the prospective mate has "pure blood." After all, I'd like to see grandchildren.
I am convinced that reading the classics, in whatever culture you get them from, activates superpowers. I have ordered a complete copy of the Harvard Classics, you can find them for USD$300 or so on Amazon here in the States. I agree with you 100% on the preparation. I'll add my own unsolicited, yet harmless advice: Teaching them how to THINK is the following step. And it's really hard.
Back when I went to the University (and dinosaurs roamed the campus) there was a literary canon that most educated people knew. If you referred to Edward Gibbon or Jane Austen people at least knew who they were and may well have read them.
The problem with any set of classics these days is that nobody else will have read them. Your witty allusion to Voltaire's dying words will simply bring on blank expressions.
The best there is in the way of common culture (and this leaves me out) are Star Trek, Friends, Seinfeld and The Matrix.
I don't think there is a solution. But a person must read the classics solely for his own pleasure. There isn't much cultural capital to be gained by it.
I agree with you there. I have found some success increasing my own critical thinking skills by manually transcribing Jordan Peterson lectures... but I know reading the classics did do something similar for me. But then again, maybe I am exhibiting confirmation bias and projecting.
We use the St. John’s College Great Books curriculum for our group home schooling projects, and believe it is important. But you are right that hardly anyone even knows the names of of the authors of the works we study, let alone have read and pondered them. Still, we persist. Maybe we are like monks isolating ourselves from the encroaching Armageddon, maintaining a flickering flame of classic civilization as the dark ages descend and the barbarians sack the cities and burn the libraries.
Very well put. Kids are different. Reading is something of a challenge for Eddie. He does, however, have a good memory for what he has read. He likes boy stuff: stories of war, adventure, geography and biology. That's where our focus will be. Five-year-old Zoriana is more likely to simply like reading. We'll play it by ear.
As my kids have reached their 15th birthday, I can see the day that they will want to choose a mate and marry. The challenge? Among the many other factors involved with making a wise choice is whether or not the prospective mate has "pure blood." After all, I'd like to see grandchildren.
I am convinced that reading the classics, in whatever culture you get them from, activates superpowers. I have ordered a complete copy of the Harvard Classics, you can find them for USD$300 or so on Amazon here in the States. I agree with you 100% on the preparation. I'll add my own unsolicited, yet harmless advice: Teaching them how to THINK is the following step. And it's really hard.
Back when I went to the University (and dinosaurs roamed the campus) there was a literary canon that most educated people knew. If you referred to Edward Gibbon or Jane Austen people at least knew who they were and may well have read them.
The problem with any set of classics these days is that nobody else will have read them. Your witty allusion to Voltaire's dying words will simply bring on blank expressions.
The best there is in the way of common culture (and this leaves me out) are Star Trek, Friends, Seinfeld and The Matrix.
I don't think there is a solution. But a person must read the classics solely for his own pleasure. There isn't much cultural capital to be gained by it.
I agree with you there. I have found some success increasing my own critical thinking skills by manually transcribing Jordan Peterson lectures... but I know reading the classics did do something similar for me. But then again, maybe I am exhibiting confirmation bias and projecting.
We use the St. John’s College Great Books curriculum for our group home schooling projects, and believe it is important. But you are right that hardly anyone even knows the names of of the authors of the works we study, let alone have read and pondered them. Still, we persist. Maybe we are like monks isolating ourselves from the encroaching Armageddon, maintaining a flickering flame of classic civilization as the dark ages descend and the barbarians sack the cities and burn the libraries.
Best of luck teaching your children!
Very well put. Kids are different. Reading is something of a challenge for Eddie. He does, however, have a good memory for what he has read. He likes boy stuff: stories of war, adventure, geography and biology. That's where our focus will be. Five-year-old Zoriana is more likely to simply like reading. We'll play it by ear.