Read Aloud Shock!

I was taken by surprise.  I had started a new read aloud.  I trusted the recommendation by the Christian curriculum company that the book was a good one... a safe one.  Most of the books in their curriculum had been alright, even if not necessarily Christian.  I always read the books that Laura is going to read on her own before she reads them.  I didn't like doing that with the ones we read together because I often like to share the journey with Laura instead of already knowing what will happen.  Some books, like Caddie Woodlawn, I read as a child.  They are just as exciting to re-read and share with Laura as they were when I read them as a child.  In many books I like the anticipation of what will happen next as much as my child does.

Then, I began this read aloud.  In the first chapter I began to have a bad feeling.  There was cursing.  There was the Lord's name taken in vain. I skipped over the bad stuff quickly and kept reading.  Then I ran into children disrespecting parents.  When I finished the chapters I knew that I would not pick the book back up.

I was alarmed.  Why would I want my ten year old daughter to hear this from her mother's mouth?  The argument I read was that this was a way for parents to discuss the situation with their children.  Well, all I can say is that is not a very well thought out plan.  There are lots of things I have to discuss with my children.  Bad language and taking the Lord's name in vain is something we hear when we go to our local Walmart.  What I don't want is for my children to believe this is acceptable.  I can discuss it until I am blue in the face, if my child hears it come out of my mouth, it will suddenly be acceptable.  It won't matter if I read it from a book or said it in a moment of anger or pain.  Children copy what they see their parents do, not what they say.

This is besides the fact that I don't want my children to be impacted by "literature" such as this.  I don't honestly believe that every story we read has to have a Christian focus.  However, I do believe we have to be very careful and discerning what we put into our brains and what we allow into the brains of our children.  There are a lot of wonderful choices out there.  Why a Christian curriculum would choose a book such as this when there are so many other options I don't know.  They didn't write it, but they did put it as part of their choices.

This is not a curriculum I use, but one I have taken book recommendations from.  Now, I will be a lot more careful.