Beverley Paine's Australian Home School Curriculum: Tips fro Learning How to Read

My Life Mirrored in Stories

© Beverley Paine, 2004

We all love a good story and the reason is that somewhere, in each and every story, we see a part of ourselves. Stories tell us about families and communities, how we get along and don't get along, what we desire, what we hate, how we manage to cope and live every day. Even stories with animal characters are about people.

When we connect what we read to our own lives we help children learn to love and appreciate reading: we bring the world in the text closer to them and make it belong to them. We put them in the centre of the text, no matter what it is they are reading. This helps them to relate to the story or content and help them make sense of, and how they fit into, the world.

By doing this we build their comprehension skills. We compare and contrast what they already know to what they are reading. To do this we ask questions, or explore ideas, or make comments about how the story or text affects us. I often pause and make a reflective comment on how new knowledge has changed or challenged my world view or beliefs. I will stop and laugh, or say how sad I'm feeling. show I'm moved by the story. Or I may express wonder and awe, and reveal how my old knowledge was biased, out of date, perhaps didn't even make sense. In this way I show that I am active reader and an active learner. But I also show that the story is pertinent to my life. It affects me, changes me. That is the power of the written word.

After 20 years of being a contact and support person Beverley no longer takes phone call or email inquiries. Please join one of her yahoo groups if you want to know more about homeschooling or have a question.

Pioneering members of the home education movement in Australia, Beverley and Robin Paine are passionate advocates of true educational choice for families. They began homeschooling their children in 1986 and three years later started the South Australian Home Based Learners network.
Beverley wrote Getting Started with Homeschooling in 1995-97 and since then continues to write books and booklets on home education. She balances spending time helping home educators with working in her garden and renovating her home, as well as continuing to build her collection of writing on a variety of homeschooling subjects. Beverley maintains an extensive collection of websites as well as several Yahoo groups supporting families teaching their children at home. In 2007 Beverley joined the HEA and became a committee member in 2008: she also edits and produce the HEA Newsletter, HEA magazine, Stepping Stones for Home Educators, annual Resource Directory and other HEA publications. If you'd like to keep in touch with what Beverley is up to her in her life, sign up for the Homeschool Australia Newsletter or visit her Facebook page.