May 05 2009
Roll Of Thunder Hear My Cry
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Since the first time that I learned about the Charlotte Mason concept of living books, I have been fascinated by the idea. Because I love to read, and my children love great literature, it only made sense to adopt this approach as our very own. From that day forward, we have devoured many, many wonderful books about history, science, famous people, tall tales, fairy tales, and you name it. We love books, and this approach gives us permission to bring arm loads of books home from the library for our learning pleasure.
One such book in particular has really touched our souls, and I feel that it is worth mentioning. Most children, whether public schooled or not, know something about racism and discrimination. However, do they know the origins of some of the ideas and backward thinking that caused some of our social problems today? Of course, we can tell them what we know, but do they really understand? I read the book, Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry by Taylor when I was in school, and loved the book. Therefore, when I picked it up at the library, I was sure that my own children would love it too. They looked at the old, faded cover, and immediately decided that the book was boring. I declared that I was going to read it out loud to them for school, and that was that.
Since it had been so long since I had read the book myself, and because I was so much younger when I first read it, I did not realize how valuable the story really is. The story is so vivid that my children were hooked from the very first chapter. The story is told so realistically, that they actually feel anger and sadness along with the children in the story. However, the point of the matter is that they are getting to learn about how life really was for minorities in the 1930’s in a way that truly touches their hearts.
If we were using a more traditional approach to education, the children would be given a few chapters, if that much, about The Civil Rights Movement and what life was like for children during “Segregation”, but would they really understand it in the way that they are understanding through the use of this excellent example of a living book? I have read from textbooks about Martin Luther King Jr. but they still ask me who he is and what he did when they hear anything about him, so did the textbook really do it’s job? Did I really do my job by teaching it to them in that manner? Therefore, a biography about Martin Luther King Jr. will be much more effective than our original ways of educating and learning.
I get so excited about these truths, because it feels like a whole new world has been opened to us. As homeschoolers, we have permission to learn about EVERYTHING. We don’t have to wait for the state to decide at which age a child is ready to learn about a given subject. We only have to open our books, open our minds and open our hearts.
Have a Great Day!
Laurel Santiago
you are awesome! if more parents were like you and would be open and open to teach your kids think how great this world would be. keep up the great work your children will be awesome in this world!