The Importance of Reading

What we include for Reading.
I really believe that a love for reading can be cultivated. From a young age I’ve always read to my children. It became our nightly routine to read a book before bedtime. As they got older the books got thicker so we would read a chapter or two. They also had different interest in books so we could only read a chapter of each child’s chosen book most evenings. It was also a good method of calming them down, it became part of our bedtime routine.
We include visiting the library once a month but most of our readers come with our English curriculums. When my older son was in his final years of school, he was required to read poetry and a few classics like William Shakespeare, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin, Animal Farm by George Orwell, The Pilgrims Progress by John Bunyan, and Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
He also did a Biblical based course and we read a few books that accompanied that course as well. One of the books that really stood out to me was Eternity in our hearts by Don Richardson. I didn’t read all his set works because to be honest some were boring and challenge for both me and him to complete.
Now that I have two home schoolers the reading has set a good a pace for me and I find I can add extra readers in occasionally. My grade 8 son is completing Language and literature (LATL) this year has read a few interesting books and I’ve tried to keep up by reading the books with him or listening to him read. He has read the biography of Eric Liddle and how he gave up running to serve as a missionary in the land of his birth, China. We also watched the movie of his life “Chariots of Fire”. His read Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster. The most interesting book for me was God’s Smuggler (an autobiography of Brother Andrew), written by John and Elizabeth Sherrill. It is gripping tale of Brother Andrews life as he smuggled bibles behind the “Iron Curtain”. I read 6 chapters in one sitting because I found this story so amazing.
My younger daughter started the year off with Language and Literature (LATL) and really enjoyed the readers but didn’t particularly enjoy the layout of the curriculum. Her books were Farmer boy and Mr Popper’s Penguins which she completed. The other two were Caddie Woodlawn and Number the stars. She chose to continue reading despite moving over to a different curriculum. She loves reading while my son on the other hand needs some encouragement. I start reading the first chapter and I find that piques his interest to continue reading. My daughter is now completing The Good and the beautiful Language Arts which has two main readers, Little Lord Fauntleroy, and Queen Hildegarde.
We’ve also bought a new series of books called ‘Christian Heroes Then and Now” these books have been a game changer for us. We often read them as part of our Bible study time or at night. We’ve read about the amazing life of Corrie Ten Boom and how God used her and family to hide Jews who were in danger of being killed by Germans. She and her family were eventually jailed for this crime and spent some time in concentration camps, but she went on to minister the Gospel and change so many lives for God. We’ve also completed the book about Hudson Taylor and his missionary work in China. His life story was so touching. The sacrifices he continually made to spread the Gospel into Inland China. We are now reading about Amy Carmichael and are halfway through this compelling story of a young Irish girl who hears Gods call on her life to become a missionary in Japan. These books have inspired us as family to do more for God and remember our Great Commission, to tell the world about Jesus Christ. We often watch the movie of the main characters lives once we’ve completed the book so that we can visualise how they lived.