I teach required English composition and world literature for Ecclesia College undergraduates. The first day was really fun with so many former students saying hello and fist-bumping in the hallway. The registrar told me at lunch that they can fill a class just by listing my name. "You're very popular with the students."
One freshman in world lit was homeschooled and already earned 40 college credits from home. She was the only student who asked for the textbook - weeks before the class started. She tested out of English 1 and 2. Although there are exceptions to this rule, the best students are usually homeschooled.
One of the best students - ever - was a girl who asked her Ed.D. parents to take her out of school. She wrote essays that were easily A papers in graduate school.
Elective courses are the most fun to teach, because they do not bear the horrible description - required. Students never quite realize that electives are also required, since credits have to be earned in certain areas. Please do not let that word out.
Still, I enjoy required classes because all the students flow through them, and motivating them is a challenge. I have them call me "Your Excellency" as one possible address. They find that endlessly amusing. I have sound effects in my pocket, on a $10 device. I no longer fight a battle against texting addiction, because they all know I confiscate digital devices and give them to the academic dean, who approves my policy and asks the quavering student - "If this is yours, why do I have?
The readers are easily distinguished from the non-readers. The readers know grammar, spelling, and writing fairly well. That remains the best way to build language skills - reading extensively. The individual who develops a habit of reading will be much more knowledgeable in any field of study. The soft-spoken and articulate doctor/commentator Ben Carson was forced to read books and write reports each week by his impoverished mother, who cleaned houses.
My mother and my elementary school teachers read stories to us. They opened the door to that magical land of fiction. We listened to Lassie being taken away and finding her way home again. Sure, one was on TV and the other in Europe, but everyone loved that dog. We shivered when a man was trying To Build a Fire in minus 60 weather. The Secret Garden was so spooky: I can remember that story from 60 years ago.
Due to various early trips to schools and meetings, a library often baby-sat me. That led me to read all the classical children's literature books at Garfield Grade School and the rest at Moline Public Library. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe sounded good - and it was. I discovered Freddy the Pig, Heinlein, and many others.
I read stories to our children, and our son reads stories to his.
