I love the concept of book tasting and am trying to incorporate it more into my homeschooling approach. I have a kid who struggles deeply with reading assigned books, but loves to read (and re-read) books in which my kid finds a connection/meaning/purpose. Assigned book club books at school pretty much destroyed that love of reading for nearly 12 months and we're still in the recovery phase.
For my kid, quick tastes are super helpful as it reduces the pressure, provides a forum in which DISLIKING a book is ok (because in order to like or fall in love with a book, my kid needs to have the valid option to dislike/put it down and never look at it again) and a chance to get curious/observe what might make a book appealing. It also opens up the opportunity to get curious, notice details and discuss without judgement about why my kid might not like a book....and we find ways to celebrate these insights... knowing what you don't like can be just as helpful (and sometimes easier to put into words) than what you do like. Over the course of the past 5 months, my kid has returned to some beloved book series (Warriors, Harry Potter, Keeper of the Lost Cities) and discovered new loves (Calvin and Hobbes tops that list right now).
In my personal experience first as a student and now as a parent, conventional approaches to school seem to put a lot of emphasis in the lower elementary years on helping kids find books they love to read (and it's ok to stop reading something halfway through). But by the upper elementary, middle, and high school levels it seems to shift more to the "you have to read it from start to finish" approach. When I think back to some of the book club projects my kid wrote last year, I think the writing and analysis would probably have been far richer if my kid had been allowed to midway through the book write an essay outlining all of the reasons she did not like the assigned book rather than having to continuing going through all the motions.
I love the concept of book tasting and am trying to incorporate it more into my homeschooling approach. I have a kid who struggles deeply with reading assigned books, but loves to read (and re-read) books in which my kid finds a connection/meaning/purpose. Assigned book club books at school pretty much destroyed that love of reading for nearly 12 months and we're still in the recovery phase.
For my kid, quick tastes are super helpful as it reduces the pressure, provides a forum in which DISLIKING a book is ok (because in order to like or fall in love with a book, my kid needs to have the valid option to dislike/put it down and never look at it again) and a chance to get curious/observe what might make a book appealing. It also opens up the opportunity to get curious, notice details and discuss without judgement about why my kid might not like a book....and we find ways to celebrate these insights... knowing what you don't like can be just as helpful (and sometimes easier to put into words) than what you do like. Over the course of the past 5 months, my kid has returned to some beloved book series (Warriors, Harry Potter, Keeper of the Lost Cities) and discovered new loves (Calvin and Hobbes tops that list right now).
In my personal experience first as a student and now as a parent, conventional approaches to school seem to put a lot of emphasis in the lower elementary years on helping kids find books they love to read (and it's ok to stop reading something halfway through). But by the upper elementary, middle, and high school levels it seems to shift more to the "you have to read it from start to finish" approach. When I think back to some of the book club projects my kid wrote last year, I think the writing and analysis would probably have been far richer if my kid had been allowed to midway through the book write an essay outlining all of the reasons she did not like the assigned book rather than having to continuing going through all the motions.
And Brandon, I'm glad you found your notebook!