We recently had an opportunity to work with a homeschool middle school teacher from Michigan who wanted to teach Shakespeare to her kids. At the end of the entire process of teaching the kids Shakespeare, she said the following:
"I went from a feeling of anxiety and pressure to a feeling of joy and success through the course of this class."
What a great and promising sentiment.
Here is a little more about Catherine and her experience teaching with Shakespeare for Kids:
Catherine: I was a vocal music education major and taught public school for two years before starting a family. I love teaching, particularly music and drama. Words are my passion of mine; I love to read, and greatly regret the loss of wonderful words in our modern vocabulary. I hope to instill in my children and in all those I teach a real love for the written and spoken word.
Shakespeare4kid: How long have you been teaching homeschool?
Catherine: I have been homeschooling since my oldest child started school; I now have four children, ages 12, 11, 9, and 3.
Shakespeare4kid: Was this your first foray into the homeschool drama arena?
Catherine: No, I have done some simple plays in the past, but the children in our cooperative group were all quite young when we started. This play has been the most involved production we have attempted
Shakespeare4kid: Tell us, why did you pick Shakespeare for Kids Julius Caesar?
Catherine: Many of us in the group spent the year studying Roman and Greek history; I wanted a play that would fit into and expand that subject, and I felt it was high time to introduce them to Shakespeare.
Shakespeare4kid: Now that the kids have performed Caesar, what do they think about Shakespeare?
Catherine: When asked whether they enjoyed the actual play or the adapted version, they were much more enthusiastic about the version they performed. I think most still find his writing completely over their heads, which is to be expected, as they are around 7th grade and really haven't studied him before. I do hope that at least they begin to see the wonderful richness of his works and that they will be less intimidated in the future.
Shakespeare4kid: Was it intimidating at all to approach Shakespeare with kids through this format?
Catherine: No, not at all. In fact, I did my best to pull in as much material from his writing as possible. I began with the very first scene of the play, with the children acting out the townsfolk and me reading and dramatizing the tribunes' roles
Shakespeare4kid: If you had to do this performance over again, what would you do differently?
Catherine: I would give myself more time. One hour a week for 10 weeks was not enough to really come out with a good finished product. I was disappointed that some of the children were not able to internalize my directions (keeping your face toward the audience, standing confidently, speaking loudly and clearly) as well as they might have done if they had had more time to practice.
Shakespeare4kid: What’s your one piece of advice for other homeschool drama educators?
Catherine: Make it enjoyable for yourself! If you are not enjoying it, the children know it instinctively and then they learn the wrong thing. They might come to think Shakespeare is too hard or worse, it is boring.
Shakespeare4kid: ahhh, too true! What’s your favorite Shakespeare play?
Catherine: I think my favorite play is the one I am reading at the time you ask me. :) I really don't know. Perhaps The Merchant of Venice. I feel so heartbroken at Shylock's plight; his speech stirs me so deeply, and that W. S. could write such a speech at a time when Jews were so universally hated is amazing to me. I love that the women, rather than staying safely behind doors and weeping piously, fly to meet the crisis and prove well able to resolve it. The play moves me very much, though it seems very dark, and though I do not think it was entirely just that Shylock should have come to so miserable an end. It is also completely possible that I bring my own perspective to it and read it as I like, not knowing the intention of the playwright or the significance it had in its own time.
Shakespeare4kid: Who is your favorite Shakespeare Character(s)?
Catherine: I cannot name a favorite. I admire the character of Brutus, though Shakespeare altered his historic character to make a better story. I was completely fascinated by Othello when I watched him played by Lawrence Olivier. And I enjoy Portia (see above).
Shakespeare4kid: If you could spend an evening with the Bard, what would you two do?
Catherine: I think it would be fun to row a boat up and down the Avon and listen to him telling stories, though I have some doubt as to whether I would find stories taken from his life entirely satisfactory
Catherine is off to her next foray with the kids and the Bard's Hamlet for Kids. Break a leg!
