That I have a daughter, Ms. 8, is not new information for those who have read my blogging these past many years. (Thank you who do so, by the way; I really appreciate seeing that you see what I put here!) That I take great delight in her is also not new information, and I do not think it would be a surprise if I were to note that I take more delight in her each day; as she grows and matures, Ms. 8 reveals more of herself to the world, and, biased as I am, I find it captivating.

As I try to be a good parent for her, I work to remain engaged in what she does–and at the moment, a lot of what she is doing is school. Central Texas schools tend to start back up in mid-August, and as I write this, Ms. 8 is in the second overall and first full week of classes for the year. She’s adjusting to having homework (really just completing things from class, although there’s a lot more of it now than she was accustomed to having in earlier grades–but that’s not unexpected), and she’s not necessarily thrilled at the same, but she’s doing reasonably well with it so far. (Some learning curve is to be expected.)

One of the things Ms. 8 is being asked to do is to read a novel. It’s not an issue, really; it’s the kind of thing students in language classes should, generally be asked to do. The novel in question is CS Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, which I did not read until graduate school. (I had a class on the Inklings; my sixth-grade read was Tolkien’s The Hobbit. You can guess where that took me.) When I learned about the assignment, a number of questions about it did pop into my head (“Why not Tolkien?” being prominent among them), and I looked through my old notes to see if I had anything that might be useful for Ms. 8 as she moves into treating the text (I didn’t, alas; I focused on Tolkien in my Inklings class, as might be expected). I also let her borrow my copy of the collected Chronicles of Narnia, which she delighted in taking to school.

I have asked Ms. 8 if she would consider taking some time to write about her experience of reading the text as she moves through it, noting that it might be something good for her to have later on in her life. Literacy narratives are commonplace assignments in higher grades (and in college), and it’s possible that she will, at some point, want or have occasion to reread the book; in the latter case, having her initial impressions on record would offer her a useful contrast. (That I see value in rereading is also a factor, yes). So far, she seems reasonably amenable to the idea; I can hope that she will remain so.

Whether or not I post anything about what she writes, other than that she writes (which I know will creep into things; I know me), I do not know. Whether or not I do, though, I look forward to reading what she writes, to seeing the evidence of how she thinks and thereby learning my daughter a little bit better than before.

Need something new for your kids to read? Might be I could help! Fill out the form below to get started!

Or you can send your support along directly!