As my children are getting older and my oldest is approaching junior high, I’ve been thinking a lot about literary analysis. I’ve been asking myself what I want to accomplish, and is it really necessary. While my oldest is very language-oriented and thrives on deep conversation about great books, my younger daughter with dyslexia struggles with reading, even the simple task of decoding words she’s never seen before. How on earth do I tackle character analysis and devices and themes with her?
But even with my oldest literature-loving son, I felt discouraged and overwhelmed when it came to teaching literature. Flipping through over 50 pages of teacher notes for history and literature in my former curriculum each week left me feeling completely incapable and, quite frankly, burned out. I knew I needed something different. So I scoured the internet, and I stumbled upon a company that brought everything back into focus and helped me to answer that nagging question of “why should I do literary analysis anyway?” Center for Lit has a number of resources for homeschool parents that makes studying literature not just possible but meaningful and enjoyable. One of those resources that I’ve been using and absolutely loving is Teaching the Classics.
