kweitz

@Jennifer Dow could you help with the facility question?

Dear Meg, The one-time consult is available at any time, so yes! You are welcome to take advantage of it. Just contact one of the Scholé Mentors to set it up. Blessings, Kathy

Hi Cheryl! I think it totally depends on the selection. We read Plutarch aloud to students as young as 6th grade, in bite-sized chunks. And Shakespeare, of course! Same with poetry - we read Wordsworth and Donne and Hopkins and Burns, etc. to students as young as K, with lots of repetition. Pilgrim's Progress, Dickens, etc. can be read aloud pretty early. Good for you to be reading Inferno with younger children! What a delight. I could see Les Mis working that way also, although the themes are fairly intense for young children, so that might give me pause. I would avoid explaining anything, but let them tell you what they are understanding (narration), especially if it is a work they will revisit later! I would also add that reading the King James Version of the bible aloud is a great way to expose your children to beautiful language patterns. We use ESV for Bible study, but KJV for all other reading aloud and for composition exercises. We do use thoughtfully abridged versions (usually older well-written children's versions from excellent authors) for some stories like the Odyssey and the Aeneid. If the tale in its original setting would have been known in the general culture before reading/listening, then it's probably good to familiarize our children with the storyline in that way. In fact, I often have older students read a well-written children's version before they begin a challenging read, especially one from antiquity or Christendom. Otherwise, we pretty much avoid abridged versions of classics, and spend more time with younger students reading fairy tales, fables, and worthy children's lit.

Check out our newest Scholé Blog post by Kimberlynn Curles about pursuing scholé in the midst of personal suffering. Such encouragement! Come back here and discuss it after you read.

@Chris Perrin I read Schaff years ago (or at least most of the 8 volumes) in a Church History class with Wes Callihan. Loved it, and go back frequently for reference. He was a wordsmith! I also love his Creeds and Confessions - I think that's a mere three volumes. The only catch is the expectation that I can fluently read Latin, Greek, and German . . . Looking forward to hearing the quotes you love - I have a lot of Schaff in my commonplace book.

@Cheryl Floyd For junior high, Irving is absolutely appropriate - he is very descriptive and entertaining. Plus the storylines of the big two are familiar (Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle.) Hawthorne is a bit more challenging.

@COLLEEN LEONARD @Jennifer Dow @Christine Parker @Carolyn Baddorf Can you weigh in on this? Thanks!