Today the farmhouse kitchen was filled with people.
Homeschooled students (ages 7 to 15), moms, and a few grads gathered for a reading of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
We began by reading a "retelling" of the play from the book Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare for Children, to familiarize ourselves with the story and with the characters.
Then parts were assigned, and off we went, into The Bard's world of Lysander and Hermia, Demetrius and Helena, Oberon and Titania, and the mischievous Puck.
We read through the morning, took an hour for lunch and play and chatting, and then read into the afternoon.
It was a time of drama and daring. Daring to take a role, accept a challenge, pronounce (many) new words, risk a mistake.
It was a time of learning and laughing. Learning to engage with good literature and a great author's mind. Learning that "school" doesn't always have to come from a textbook. Laughing at Puck's antics and at lavish declarations of love as read by our own friends.
Today, Shakespeare was our cup of tea.
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Note: The idea for Shakespeare reading days (this was our third) was inspired by the ideas and experiences of Karen Andreola as shared in A Charlotte Mason Companion: Personal Reflections on the Gentle Art of Learning.
Oh I'd have loved to have been there to hear this. How neat. And did the children seem to enjoy it? Those are long stretches of reading!
ReplyDeleteWhat fun! I've only done a little Shakespeare with my kids....it would be great to do something like this!
ReplyDeleteThe wheels are turning...we have enough families in our church who homeschool.....
Thank you!
Deanna
This is a great idea. I taught for 13 years, and my tenth graders were always a little hesitant, but once we started with this exercise they loosened up and had a great time! Consider doing Moliere's "Tartuffe" the same way! Blessings!
ReplyDeleteThat is a great idea! And everyone learned and enjoyed the learning!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great way to delve into Shakespeare. The students will never forget this experience.
ReplyDeleteI wish I'D have been one of the readers! What a great experience!
ReplyDelete