Making Literature Fun with Susan Evans- A Review

Do your kids enjoy literature? I mean, do they really love literature? If not, Susan Evans has wonderful tips to develop a deep rich love of reading. Evans holds degrees in literature, is a former teacher and current homeschooler.

Recently I was privileged to be able to listen to Susan Evans’s audio Making Literature Fun through the THL Moms Review Team. This audio is for parents/teachers and the tips and techniques she puts forth can be used for any age.

You can find this audio and other resources for homeschoolers (or teachers) at Susan Evans’s website. This particular audio can be purchased from the website for $5.50

How do you get your children to become engaged in great literature? This one-hour audio workshop, delivered by a former English literature teacher, will give you seven practical ideas for making literature come to life in your homeschool. 39 classic works of literature are mentioned specifically, along with many hands-on ideas on how to bring these specific works of literature to life. As a result, you will be able to apply those hands-on ideas to any work of literature. Included are tips on how to accelerate your children's reading skills, how to get your children to sit still for reading, and how to get your children to love reading on their own. from the website

Evans lists seven important points for making literature come alive for students:

1. Choose great books- she gives two books titles that she recommends to help with finding good titles.
2. Be lively when reading- capture the attention and imagination of the listeners.
3. Experience the readings through hands-on activities that relate to the story. Evans says that books should always be read before the movie version- except for Shakespeare and she shares why.
4. Listen to books on audio. Evans highly recommends Tim Weiss.
5. Integrate literature with science- and don’t forget the hands-on activities if possible. Dr. Doolittle is a suggestion while studying animals. And that is only one of the titles she gives.
6. Link literature with history. The Golden Goblet is just one suggestion she gives for studying ancient Egypt. She gives quite a few suggestions in the audio.
7. Link literature with geography. One title she suggests is Around the World in 80 Days for a good world geography literature book to read while studying geography.

Evans also gives three tips for advancing reading skills of students:

1. Get books that they are interested in.
2. Choose books that are just below their reading level to build their confidence.
3. Reading in the morning and afternoon; short reading times a couple or few times a day keeps it from being a chore.

Finally, Evans gives 11 tips to help quiet down children who are active while reading.

This audio gave me some great ideas on how to present good literature to my children- rather than “here, read this”. I love the books on audio suggestion as well as turning off the lights (tips to help quiet active children). Great ideas presented here by Susan Evans!