Thank you for this. I have been fascinated by the resistance found (almost exclusively among mothers) to inviting and raising up our children to be able to "do hard things." There is such a gravitation and almost sanctity given to letting the child lead out in their own education, that the role of scholar-mentor is frequently abandoned. Children should not be underestimated- both in their interests NOR in their ability to do hard things, even when it is not their first choice or favorite. Training children that life will always be a feast of whatever they want whenever they want does them a huge disservice. I appreciate this video's advise to be intentional about our children's reading diet and to include them in these discussions and decisions. It is a way to teach correct principles and still honor their interests.
Thank you for your contributions to this conversation! Setting down those rails of good habits extends to so many aspects of our lives and the lives of our children! Books are such a wonderful tool for our children to learn from that having quality literature read to them and for them to read can impact them in so many ways!
Great ideas - thanks for this video! I am so thankful that you touched on the impact of screens on brain development. Instant gratification definitely retrains your brain, making it difficult to maintain attention and interest over long periods of time (like while reading quality chapter books).
*Holds head High* Sometimes I read twaddle. I read good, high-quality books, but sometimes I read "lesser" books too. It's a feast, right? No one can eat rich, heavy and long to prepare food every day. Sometimes you need a bowl of cereal or a PB&J sandwich.
Thank you for sharing this analogy! As the post mentions, this is a process. We want to respect our children as people and also help them to cultivate a taste for books that will feed their minds with living ideas.
I believe it starts young. We do the twaddle books in the picture book phase but once we started chapter books especially read alouds i do rich literature like Charlotte's Web. Its good start to read to the younger ones as opposed to reading Narnia to a 5 year old and discouraging them.
Thank you for sharing what you have found works for your family. We have an extensive list of living books for the preschool years, which can be found here: simplycharlottemason.com/planning/preschool-guide/preschool-foundations/favorite-read-aloud-books-for-preschoolers/
Too often, "twaddle" just ends up meaning"Book that I, the parent, am not interested in." I've heard complaints about, for instance, The Babysitters Club books, but if you read interviews with Ann Martin, she talks about kids requesting she tackle topics like "What do you do if you think a parent is abusing a child?" and writing books in response to those needs. Once you understand that the books are there to help model how to navigate specific, common life situations, they look different. If kids are reaching for books you think are "twaddle" try asking what they like about them. You may find you're failing to meet their informational needs in favor of parental wants.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this topic! You are absolutely right, something can be twaddle due to the style of the writing, however it is also very important to think about the ideas presented in the book as well when determining if a book falls into this category! It is also a very good point to respect your child as a person and ask why it is they like reading a certain book. As you pointed out, we can learn a lot by asking our children these questions! Thanks for joining us!
My oldest son has taken to reading Batman comics. I’m not crazy about it, but I allow it because he NEVER wants to read. Does anyone have a suggestion for a better book that might still go along with his interest in a hero like Batman (kind of dark)? He’s 15 but a bit behind typical reading level.
This is great that he is interested in reading and continue to foster that! You may have some success utilizing our bookfinder here: apps.simplycharlottemason.com/resources/search?keywords=graphic I searched "graphic" in this case in hopes to find some graphic novel type material that may interest him but the great value in this is you can search for topics your son may enjoy. :)
Another good podcast from SCM about an important topic, but it might have benefited from a more nuanced definition or descriptive examples of "twaddle" and a more open discussion of its potentially beneficial role in neural/verbal development. My child is a precocious reader who has access to a diversity of content (fiction and nonfiction) and has free rein to read what she pleases. Her choices center on chapter books (fiction) and magazine articles (nonfiction), but she will occasionally revisit her old board books and nursery rhymes. Apparently, she wants to or needs to do this, whether to re-form some kind of competency baseline in her own mind or because she finds the syntax attractive or instructive. Your child knows what s/he needs. Content is a parental choice, but I would guard against censoring reading levels at any stage of development.
It is always your choice as the parent to determine what you feel is best for your child! To further elaborate on this subject of twaddle, here is a thorough explanation of twaddle. Children certainly love to revisit "old favorites" and we have a number of recommended books for younger children on our website, however they still would not fall under this category of "twaddle" as they are in line with Charlotte Mason's recommendation as to the quality and type of ideas that are important to present to children at all ages. simplycharlottemason.com/blog/what-is-twaddle/
Thanks for the reply and the link. Perhaps it would be instructive to compare today's ample canon of children's literature and what we know about early development to CM's exposure and understanding of the same at the turn of the century. My basic thesis supports the benign idea that early literacy is a complex machine, one that I personally hesitate to circumscribe to any single thought-system, however efficacious. I hope even slightly dissenting voices in this age of reflexive polarization might still also be valued for "contributing to the conversation" in a free exchange of ideas. As a homeschooling parent, I don't often march in lockstep, nor does my 2e child, who benefits from an eclectic approach to her education, which includes a healthy (but by no means exclusive) dose of self-directed reading. She also enjoys nonsense word play and creating her own languages (is Edward Lear and Dr. Seuss twaddle?). I've adapted many ideas from the SCM videos, watched some of them multiple times, always look forward to the next one, and thank you all sincerely for making them available to the homeschooling community! @@SimplyCharlotteMason
Thank you for this. I have been fascinated by the resistance found (almost exclusively among mothers) to inviting and raising up our children to be able to "do hard things." There is such a gravitation and almost sanctity given to letting the child lead out in their own education, that the role of scholar-mentor is frequently abandoned. Children should not be underestimated- both in their interests NOR in their ability to do hard things, even when it is not their first choice or favorite. Training children that life will always be a feast of whatever they want whenever they want does them a huge disservice. I appreciate this video's advise to be intentional about our children's reading diet and to include them in these discussions and decisions. It is a way to teach correct principles and still honor their interests.
Thank you for your contributions to this conversation! Setting down those rails of good habits extends to so many aspects of our lives and the lives of our children! Books are such a wonderful tool for our children to learn from that having quality literature read to them and for them to read can impact them in so many ways!
Great ideas - thanks for this video! I am so thankful that you touched on the impact of screens on brain development. Instant gratification definitely retrains your brain, making it difficult to maintain attention and interest over long periods of time (like while reading quality chapter books).
Thank you for joining us and contributing to this conversation!
*Holds head High* Sometimes I read twaddle. I read good, high-quality books, but sometimes I read "lesser" books too. It's a feast, right? No one can eat rich, heavy and long to prepare food every day. Sometimes you need a bowl of cereal or a PB&J sandwich.
We should always feed our body with nutritious food just like we should always feed our mind with valuable content.
Thank you for sharing this analogy! As the post mentions, this is a process. We want to respect our children as people and also help them to cultivate a taste for books that will feed their minds with living ideas.
I believe it starts young. We do the twaddle books in the picture book phase but once we started chapter books especially read alouds i do rich literature like Charlotte's Web. Its good start to read to the younger ones as opposed to reading Narnia to a 5 year old and discouraging them.
Thank you for sharing what you have found works for your family.
We have an extensive list of living books for the preschool years, which can be found here:
simplycharlottemason.com/planning/preschool-guide/preschool-foundations/favorite-read-aloud-books-for-preschoolers/
Too often, "twaddle" just ends up meaning"Book that I, the parent, am not interested in." I've heard complaints about, for instance, The Babysitters Club books, but if you read interviews with Ann Martin, she talks about kids requesting she tackle topics like "What do you do if you think a parent is abusing a child?" and writing books in response to those needs. Once you understand that the books are there to help model how to navigate specific, common life situations, they look different. If kids are reaching for books you think are "twaddle" try asking what they like about them. You may find you're failing to meet their informational needs in favor of parental wants.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this topic! You are absolutely right, something can be twaddle due to the style of the writing, however it is also very important to think about the ideas presented in the book as well when determining if a book falls into this category! It is also a very good point to respect your child as a person and ask why it is they like reading a certain book. As you pointed out, we can learn a lot by asking our children these questions! Thanks for joining us!
Could you do a show on what were those things that you gave your children for choices?
This is a great suggestion for future content. Thank you for taking the time to suggest it here, Lauri!
Great tips ladies 🌸💞
Thank you!
My oldest son has taken to reading Batman comics. I’m not crazy about it, but I allow it because he NEVER wants to read. Does anyone have a suggestion for a better book that might still go along with his interest in a hero like Batman (kind of dark)? He’s 15 but a bit behind typical reading level.
My son loves the Redwall series.
This is great that he is interested in reading and continue to foster that! You may have some success utilizing our bookfinder here: apps.simplycharlottemason.com/resources/search?keywords=graphic I searched "graphic" in this case in hopes to find some graphic novel type material that may interest him but the great value in this is you can search for topics your son may enjoy. :)
@@Scout-bt3mo Thank you, I’ll see if those books are at our library!
@@SimplyCharlotteMason Thank you! I will definitely look into this!
Another good podcast from SCM about an important topic, but it might have benefited from a more nuanced definition or descriptive examples of "twaddle" and a more open discussion of its potentially beneficial role in neural/verbal development. My child is a precocious reader who has access to a diversity of content (fiction and nonfiction) and has free rein to read what she pleases. Her choices center on chapter books (fiction) and magazine articles (nonfiction), but she will occasionally revisit her old board books and nursery rhymes. Apparently, she wants to or needs to do this, whether to re-form some kind of competency baseline in her own mind or because she finds the syntax attractive or instructive. Your child knows what s/he needs. Content is a parental choice, but I would guard against censoring reading levels at any stage of development.
It is always your choice as the parent to determine what you feel is best for your child! To further elaborate on this subject of twaddle, here is a thorough explanation of twaddle. Children certainly love to revisit "old favorites" and we have a number of recommended books for younger children on our website, however they still would not fall under this category of "twaddle" as they are in line with Charlotte Mason's recommendation as to the quality and type of ideas that are important to present to children at all ages.
simplycharlottemason.com/blog/what-is-twaddle/
Thanks for the reply and the link. Perhaps it would be instructive to compare today's ample canon of children's literature and what we know about early development to CM's exposure and understanding of the same at the turn of the century. My basic thesis supports the benign idea that early literacy is a complex machine, one that I personally hesitate to circumscribe to any single thought-system, however efficacious. I hope even slightly dissenting voices in this age of reflexive polarization might still also be valued for "contributing to the conversation" in a free exchange of ideas. As a homeschooling parent, I don't often march in lockstep, nor does my 2e child, who benefits from an eclectic approach to her education, which includes a healthy (but by no means exclusive) dose of self-directed reading. She also enjoys nonsense word play and creating her own languages (is Edward Lear and Dr. Seuss twaddle?). I've adapted many ideas from the SCM videos, watched some of them multiple times, always look forward to the next one, and thank you all sincerely for making them available to the homeschooling community! @@SimplyCharlotteMason
This whole concept of "twaddle" is why I can never get behind the Charlotte Mason method.
Is that the only reason?
Thank you for joining us. Here is some more information on twaddle if you are interested: simplycharlottemason.com/blog/what-is-twaddle/