Discussing Aesop's Fables

I want to preface this post with a little disclaimer.  Some fable discussions have gone better for us than others.  Many of them have been interrupted by a needed bathroom break, a preschool temper tantrum, or because we needed to save a toddler from sudden death when he has climbed up on something a little too high for him.  Below I share how we do them, but I don't share the background noise and distractions.  Just know that they are there too.  We're going to keep trying them every week or two, while trying to remember that some discussions will be more enjoyable and profitable than others.

Why we discuss fables

I first found the idea to use some of our read aloud time each week to discuss an Aesop's Fable while listening to a talk by Andrew Kern titled Teaching Literature Without Killing the Student or the Book.  I highly recommend taking the time listen to it.  He takes the first eight minutes to show just how to "kill" the student and the book, and then spends the next 30 or so minutes to discuss a fable.  It turns into a really interesting discussion, and I was encouraged to try it with the girls.

I like the idea of discussing a fable because as far as discussing literature goes, it can be fairly simple.  Fables are short, the characters are often pretty commonly known, and what the author wants the reader to learn (the moral) becomes pretty obvious as you discuss it.  As parents it is important to us that our children are taught to think and discern well.  They will read, hear, and watch so many things in their lives, and it's important that they are able to figure out what the author or director is really saying.  Discussing a fable is a good way to help them begin to do that.

How we discuss a fable 

When the girls and I discuss a fable, we break it down in the following way:

1.  We begin with some pre-reading discussion questions.  
2.  We read the fable, but not the moral.  
3.  We discuss the fable.  
4.  We come up with our own morals and read the moral from the fable.  

The discussion answers I have included below are mostly given by RJ (9) and AG (7); sometimes MA (4) and me chime in with ideas.  I guide the discussion, but I try to let them answer before I add my ideas.  I will also often repeat what they have said in slightly different words to help us organize our thoughts.

At first I did not read the moral beforehand, but now as I am taking a few minutes to put together some questions to guide us, I read the fable and try to come up with my own moral while planning.  Then while we are discussing I do have the moral covered up, and I come up with my own during our discussion time too.

Our first fable discussion 

The first fable we tried was "The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing".  Before reading the fable we started by talking about if they ever had seen a wolf in person.   Then if they had ever seen a sheep in person.  What were each of them like?  Next we did one of the things Andrew Kern recommends: we compared one thing to another.  We compared wolf to sheep.  How are they alike? (four legs, both mammals, both animals, both have eyes, ears, etc.)  How are they different? (wolves live in the wild and sheep don't; sheep need protection and wolves are predators; wolves have fur and sheep have wool; wolves are carnivores and sheep are herbivores, wolves are often the enemy in a story and sheep are often the victim, etc).  Then we talked about if they could think of anyone or anything that was in disguise.  Why was it in disguise?  Was it going to do good or bad?  All of these were just our observations and experiences.  Kind of a gathering of the facts, and an attempt to connect what we are about to read to our own experience.  After a little more discussion we finally read the fable:

ONCE UPON A TIME a Wolf resolved to disguise his appearance in
order to secure food more easily.  Encased in the skin of a
sheep, he pastured with the flock deceiving the shepherd by his
costume.  In the evening he was shut up by the shepherd in the
fold; the gate was closed, and the entrance made thoroughly
secure.  But the shepherd, returning to the fold during the night
to obtain meat for the next day, mistakenly caught up the Wolf
instead of a sheep, and killed him instantly.  

We talked about why the wolf was in disguise.  What was he trying to do?  What were the consequences of his actions?  Then we talked about one of the key questions Kern says to ask: the should question.  Should the wolf have chosen to disguise himself?  Why should he have? (it was an easy way to get a meal, it helped him get to the sheep without them knowing it, he was hungry) Why shouldn't he have? (he was deceiving the sheep, it would bring harm to the sheep, the sheep belonged to the farmer, he got killed in the end).  Should people disguise themselves?  When or why should they? (trying to protect themselves or bring justice--like a police officer going undercover; an actor or actress--doing it to entertain others--people know they are in disguise)  When or why shouldn't they? (because it can be lying, because it is hard to trust someone if you don't know who they really are, because they might be trying to harm someone).  I'm not sure if I did it or not, but we could have also talked about sheep and wolves in the Bible--via John 10 and David the shepherd and Jesus the Good Shepherd and the devil and those who want to harm God's people.

I can't remember if we discussed anything else, but after the discussion, I asked them to think for a minute about what the moral or point of the fable could be.  The one given in the fable is, "Harm seek.  Harm find".  Here were ours:

Mine: If you go looking for trouble, trouble may come to you.
RJ (9): Dressing up as something else may have its consequences.
AG (7): Never do something you shouldn't do, like steal sheep.  Think of the consequences first.
MA(4): He did get dressed up as a sheep, and he could have died.  He could have asked the farmer if he could have eaten the sheep or not eaten the sheep. (Obviously, hers was more of a narration, which makes sense for her age.)

Other fable discussions

We have also discussed three more fables since the first.  I won't hash out each one as I did the first, but I will include the morals we came up with and the original morals.

The Vain Jackdaw--It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds.
Mine: You will be exposed for who you really are.
RJ: Be yourself, and do not try to be someone else.
AG: Don't dress up as somebody else.  Think about if someone exposes you.
MA: They did think he was dressed up for fun.

The Lion and the Mouse--No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.
Mine: Even small persons can do important things.
RJ: Help others and you may get help in return.
AG: Others weaker than you can be strong.
MA: The lion did think it was funny--the thing that the mouse did do.

The Brother and Sister--Handsome is as handsome does.
Mine: Treating people well will cause others to think well of you.
RJ: How you look on the outside is not always how you are on the inside.
AG: Sometimes pretty on the outside but not on the inside.
MA: The boy was wild (when he did be hateful) with the little girl that was just plain.

Discussion questions

I can't remember which talk I listened to online, but I took some notes that helped guide me toward which questions to ask.  You can find my notes I use here. 

If you don't want to go there, the basic questions to ask are:

1. Should questions (should the person do this--why should they/shouldn't they?)
2. Comparison questions (how are these two things alike or different?)
3. Definition questions (what/who is it?)
4. Relationship questions (what was the cause?  what effect did something have?)

There are more on the document, but those cover some basic questions and can get you far in a discussion.

Closing thoughts

• I think you could also use this kind of discussion with other short stories (fairy tales, Bible stories, picture books) without the moral at the end.  You could have everyone tell one thing they think the author wants the audience to know instead of the moral.
• This blog post shows a similar way of discussing fables--More on Aesop.   Here is a really simple way to start doing this: Fables at Table.
• This way of discussing a fable or short story can be done with a super small group (like the four of us) or a larger class.  With a larger group everyone could write down the moral on a piece of paper on their own.  In the small group I have each person tell me, and then I read them out loud after I have them all.

Our favorite audiobooks

These are our favorite audiobooks.  We own most of these.  Most of them are at our local library.

I was going to try to list them in order of appropriate age, but decided not to because it was already taking enough time to get the post done.  Instead I listed a starting age (based on my own children), but keep in mind that we often play these in the car when our younger children are listening also.

This list does not include all our favorite books just because we have read many of our favorites without an audiobook.

Mercy Watson books by Kate DiCamillo--Vol. 1, Vol. 2, Vol. 3--These are great for a young reader to read aloud, and my girls enjoy listening to them too.  The chapters are very short, and the story is quite simple, but endearing.  M (4) especially is enjoying them right now.

James Herriot's Treasury for Children--short animal stories set in England from the perspective of a veterinarian--great for any age, starting at 3 or 4.

Stories told or narrated by Jim Weiss:
Goodnight stories--very calming stories, good for bed time--age 3+
Best Loved Stories in Song and Dance--includes The Twelve Dancing Princesses, The Sleeping Beauty, and Snow White and Rose Red--age 3+
Galileo and the Stargazers created and told by Jim Weiss--true stories about scientists from history--age 6+
Uncle Wiggly's Storybook by Howard Geiss and told by Jim Weiss--Just a small number of Geiss's short Uncle Wiggly stories, but very fun when told by Jim Weiss--age 3+
The Queen's Pirate created and told by Jim Weiss--stories told by Jim Weiss about Queen Elizabeth I and Sir Francis Drake--age 6+
Shakespeare for Children as told by Jim Weiss--A Midsummer Night's Dream and the Taming of the Shrew--7+
Sherlock Holmes for Children as told by Jim Weiss--The Mazarin Stone, The Adventure of the Speckled Band, The Musgrave Ritual, and The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle--age 7+
King Arthur and His Knights as told by Jim Weiss--my girls find some of these stories to be pretty funny--age 6+
Abraham Lincoln and the Heart of America as created and told by Jim Weiss--an overview of his life--I'd recommend this one over the Photobiography--age 7+
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame and narrated by Jim Weiss--this one takes a bit of getting into, but it is a classic for a reason.  It does start picking up eventually, and the part with Mr. Toad and his motorcar escapades is pretty fun.  Our local library has it on CD.--age 7+ 
Story of the World Vol. 1, 2, 3, and 4 by Susan Wise Bauer and narrated by Jim Weiss--these four volumes have provided the overview and backdrop to our children's education in world history.  We have all learned so much from them.  We own them all, but our local library also has all four volumes.  Bauer recommends the fourth volume for upper elementary because of some of the more difficult parts of history (such as the Holocaust), but we have chosen to let our children listen to it at a younger age and discuss it with them as needed.--age 6+

Beatrix Potter stories--I think this audiobook is the same one we borrowed from the library.  The narrator does a marvelous job, and I enjoyed hearing a few Beatrix Potter stories of which I had not previously heard.--age 3+

Charlotte's Web written and narrated by E.B. White--you can't go wrong with this classic.  E.B. White has a wonderful voice and does a fine job reading his own story about Wilbur the pig's friendship with a spider named Charlotte.--age 4+
Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White--another good book by White about a swan who finds his way in the world and his "voice" through music.  The audiobook has parts with an actual trumpet playing.--age 5+

The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne--another classic--these are fun not just for the young, but for the grown-up too--narrated by Peter Dennis and authorized by Christopher Robin (A.A. Milne's son).--age 4+
Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne--more Pooh stories also read by Peter Dennis.--age 4+

A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond--A very fun, well-written book about the beloved bear from Darkest Peru.  M (4) likes to listen to this a lot.--age 3+

Ramona the Pest and other Ramona books by Beverly Clearly read by Stockard Channing (Rizzo from Grease)--these are laugh-out-loud funny.  I get such a kick out of Ramona's antics.--age 6+

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster read by David Hyde Pierce--Pierce does such a fantastic job reading this book.  I highly recommend it.--age 6 or 7+

Paint the Wind by Pam Munoz Ryan--a horse-lover's tale--there is a death in the book and Maya lost her parents as a young girl, so I would go with age 8+

Little House in the Big Woods, Little House on the Prairie, and other Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder read by Cherry Jones--I have not actually read any of these out loud because I'd rather listen to Cherry Jones read them.--starting with age 5 or 6+ with the first two books

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis--I need hardly say much about these.  I enjoy them so much.  My husband read them all to our two oldest, but they have since listened to them and read them again many times on their own.  This is not the drama theater version, but the unabridged books.--age 6 or 7+

The Door in the Wall by Marguerite De Angeli--I could only find it as an audiobook through Audible.  Our local library has it on CD.  It's one we would like to own.  I enjoyed this book so much.  Brother Luke, who cares for Robin in his time of being an invalid, bestows so much quiet wisdom on his charge.  I've seen in recommended for 11-13 years, but our girls liked it a lot (7 and 9).

Librivox.org books:
Jack and Jill by Louisa May Alcott--a lesser known Alcott book than Little Women, this endearing book about the friendship between Jack and Jill, and their trials after an accident, is a good read.--age 8+

Heidi by Johanna Spyri--another classic and one of my favorites about a little girl named Heidi who goes up the mountain to live with her grandfather.--age 6+

The Children's Shakespeare by E. Nesbit--retellings of 12 of Shakespeare's plays.  I have this in the Kindle edition.--age 7+

The Railway Children by E. Nesbit--hands-down one of my favorite books.  I love the narrator's voice on this one.--age 6+

Please share any of your favorites in the comments.

If my oldest was a kindergartner

Recently a friend commented that reading about all we do is a bit overwhelming.  I can understand that.  I remember all our planned homeschool work took an hour or two in the morning (and most of that was just us reading books together) when my oldest was kindergarten age, and we spent more time playing with friends and family.  I wouldn't have been able to imagine us doing what we do now, though I am happy with how things are going (most days).

Looking back with the perspective I have now, this is what I would do if my oldest was around five-years-old, with or without younger siblings.

I would:
1. Read aloud to my child from a variety of good books
2. Give my child plenty of free time to play inside or outside and to participate with me in daily household tasks
3. Teach my child to read if he showed reading readiness
4. Teach my child to write letters if he was ready
5. Do an activity a few times a week to develop either math skills or fine motor skills

That's it.  I could do more, but I don't think it would be necessary.  I've included more specifics to each one below.

1. Read aloud to my child

I list this as the number one thing because, besides passing on the Christian faith to our children and caring for their needs, I think this is the most important thing I can do for my child.  Even if I did nothing else, I would make sure to read to my child--at meal times, at bed time, before rest time, in the morning--just one of those or all of them.  I would play books on CD (audiobooks) during a rest time or while driving to the store.  Doing this would have so many amazing benefits that I can't even begin to list here.  You can hear about many of them on the Read-Aloud Revival Podcast episodes, which I highly recommend.

By the way, I wouldn't stop reading aloud to my child just because he could read to himself.  There are even more benefits to be gained by reading to your child or letting them listen to audiobooks up through the teen years and beyond.  Plus, I love the idea of building our family culture around books, and reading aloud together helps accomplish that goal.

2. Give my child plenty of free time to play inside or outside and to participate with me in daily household tasks

Young children need lots of time to play.  We might think they aren't learning anything while they play, but that just isn't true.  Giving my child opportunities to help me mix up some food in the kitchen or put laundry in the dryer would help him develop good life skills.  Having good, open-ended toys is helpful too--blocks, Legos/Duplos, dolls/dollhouses, Lincoln Logs, dress-up clothes, trains.  However, as my husband says, cardboard boxes and sticks work just as well.  Speaking of cardboard boxes, I want to try making a fort like this one once we get a big box.  Add a soft blanket and a pillow and it would be a perfect place to read books.

3. Teach my child to read if he showed reading readiness

I had one child who learned to read at five and another at seven.  I used Dr. Seuss's ABC book to teach letter sounds (adding one letter sound a week) to my second child.  My first learned the sounds using The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading.  Both my first and second used that same book to learn to read.  We never finished it, but it gave us a good start until their reading took off.  My current one learning is four, but we are focusing on the letters of the alphabet right now using the Pre-Reading level of All About Reading.

I would spend 10-15 minutes each weekday learning letter sounds and sounding out words using an ABC book and Bob books, All About Reading or the Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading.  There are many resources out there for teaching children to read.  I like the three mentioned because they are pretty much open and go.

I would not worry if my child didn't show readiness at five or even six.  I would make sure to be reading aloud to my child, that is the most important thing.  And I would keep telling myself not to worry even if he didn't learn to read until he was quite a bit older.

Along with teaching my child to read, I would also memorize Scripture or poems together.  A five-year-old can memorize a whole Psalm or other passage and whole poems.  This would aid in reading down the road (as well as provide rich language and important truths for my children to have in their minds and hearts).
 
4. Teach my child to write letters if he was ready

Once I saw that my child was either trying to write letters on his own or at least able to hold a pencil, I would start with Handwriting without Tears about five minutes each week day.  HWT is the only resource I've used for printing, though there are many available.  I would go through Letters and Numbers for Me and My Printing Book over a year or two (just the student workbooks--I wouldn't bother with the teacher manuals), and if the printing was well-established, I would move onto cursive in first or second grade.  I used to be against starting cursive that early, but I have since changed my mind.

If my child wasn't ready to learn printing, I would focus on fine motor skills to strengthen his hands.

5. Do an activity a few times a week to develop either math skills or fine motor skills

Math skills activities:
--Games (Uno, any game that involves counting spaces, Mancala, Racko, Camelot Jr. or anything else by this company, Quirkle)
--Pattern blocks or magnetic pattern blocks
--Imaginets
--Puzzles--such as Lauri number puzzle or a jigsaw puzzle
--Sorting with just about anything and talking about how they sorted the objects, how many are in each group, which group has more/less/the same amounts (M&Ms, buttons, beans, pasta, plastic counting bears, coins, trail mix)
--Skip counting and regular counting (coins, stairs, while you walk down the street, how many plates needed to set the table, how many of anything they see on a page of a book)
--Playing store with play money and a cash register (admittedly not my favorite activity, but my girls love it)

Fine motor skills:
--Any activity with clothespins (clipping clothes on a clothesline, clipping clothespins onto the side of a container)
--Playing with playdough
--Using scissors to cut paper or playdough (my third child used to sit next to a small trashcan and cut strips of paper into little pieces for a long time, I kid you not)
--Any activity that requires picking up little things and putting them into something else (placing coins into a slot or piggy bank, using tongs or tweezers to put puff balls into a muffin tin or egg carton, picking up toothpicks and inserting them into an empty spice jar with a top that has holes)
--Coloring or drawing
--Building with Lego pieces

Those are the five things I'd focus on with my five-year-old.  Below are thoughts on what I've left out.

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Television, videos, computer games, apps for mobile devices, etc.?

I left out screens of all types because I don't think they are necessary, particularly for such a young child, as part of their education.  In fact, I might go so far to say that regular use of screens could be harmful.  I know that's stepping on a few toes in saying that.

It has been our personal choice to limit screen time for our children.  I find that whatever time benefit I gain while they are watching is usually spent in grumpy or hyper attitudes when they are done.  They usually spend about an average of two hours a week watching videos.  There are weeks when there is more video-watching than normal, but when we are in a routine, they watch little.  Instead of videos I try to put on an audiobook when we need a distraction.

My older three (not the 16-month-old, who does not do apps yet) do use some apps on my iPhone.  I think they have their place.  We use a couple of apps to practice math facts for the oldest two (Math Bingo and Math Facts Master).  The four-year-old gets to be on apps about 3-4 times a week for a total of probably about an hour a week.  When I just had a five-year-old on down, I didn't even have apps in the house, so we all know we can exist just fine without using them. :)  Same goes for computer games.  At five-years-old I might let my child play Starfall.com 2-3 times a week for 20-30 minutes a time (I would set a timer--I've found that keeps me accountable to say time is up!).

I can understand the temptation (or even need) to use screens as a babysitter or break-giver for a tired parent.  I'm with my kids just about 24-7.  I would encourage you to try, even one day a week, to take a break from screens.  Make it a no screen day and maybe even take the break yourself.  Put on some audiobooks instead if you need a break.  Or just have a set time when you use screens and try not to use them other times.  Even replacing one 15-30 minute screen session a day with you (or an audiobook) reading aloud to your child will reap countless benefits down the road.  That would end up being over one and a half to three hours a week and six to twelve hours a month of your child hearing good books read out loud.

And I would discourage using screens in the car if you can help it.  I can understand on a long car trip (we do our fair share of trips to Texas each year, so I can empathize--our DVD player broke a few car trips ago), but when just driving around town, try to play (you know what's coming) an audiobook.

Arts and crafts

I have no problem with arts and crafts.  I just didn't mention it specifically in the top five because I know that some people (and their kids) just aren't into that sort of thing.  There is great value in drawing, coloring, painting, using clay, and doing all sorts of handwork.  I'm not a big fan of big crafts and projects that take up lots of space, and I love making things that have a practical purpose or can be given as a gift.  Oh, and glitter makes me twitch.  However, below are some art and handwork I would do with a five-year-old:

--Coloring and drawing
--Painting--I like watercolors best, but sometimes we do acrylic or tempera
--Clay
--Contact paper collages (the sticky, clear plastic you can apply to shelves--you can use these to stick all sorts of things like leaves, flowers, tissue paper, etc to.  Then apply a top sheet of the contact paper and display in a window or use for a place mat).
--Knitting--my second child learned at five-and-a-half--she used circular, size 8 needles and mostly made scarves and blankets
--Embroidery
--Woodworking
--Sewing

Extracurricular activities

I would maybe have one thing at a time for a five-year-old.  Swimming lessons or soccer or T-ball (mine were never interested in the last two, but those are good activities) or gymnastics or dance or possibly start a musical instrument like the piano or violin.  Or nothing.  Just enjoy playing with family and friends and not being busy.  We are kind of homebodies, so we have always opted for being involved in fewer outside activities.

Science experiments

If you love doing these and your five-year-old is interested in them, then please enjoy doing them.  We do plenty of reading about science, but we haven't done many science experiments.  Does that mean that none of my kids will grow up interested in science?  Probably not.  My second loves nature, and we've read books like the Burgess Bird Book for Children, which coincidentally, is on Librivox.org if you wanted to play a free audio book for your children.

Field trips

These can be beneficial, but, again, not essential.  When I had a five-year-old, it was sometimes overwhelming (and still is) to get everyone out of the house to go somewhere.  Our field trips were often just going to the zoo or children's museum.  We did get to a farm and have enjoyed a trip to see how maple syrup is made.  And we have enjoyed picking fruit in season.  Those are my very favorite field trips.  Just do what you enjoy and are already doing. 

Everything else

I'm assuming you are doing a number of things anyway or apart from what you might consider "homeschool work".  Ideally all of life is part of your child's education.  So I haven't mentioned things like family Bible/worship times, family activities such as going to a pool or park or for a bike ride, serving others, chores, working through conflict and emotions, etc.

Whew...that ended up being a long post.  Since I mentioned books and audiobooks so much, I hope to have another post up soon with lists and links for both of those.  Everyone in our family loves books...even our youngest has caught the book bug and brings us his board books to read to him.