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Fwd: Re(2): teacher as parent, school as norm
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From: Monica R. Edinger <edinger>
Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2004 06:03:03 -0400
I'm intrigued by two current threads: the perennial issue of kid appeal and the issue of school in books for kids.
First, kid appeal. This was raised by Patrick in terms of The Teacher's Funeral, but it seems larger than just that one author or that particular book. Seems to me there are always going to be a range of books, some of which are gobbled up by kids without any help from adults (Harry Potter) and some of which may well need jump starts from enthusiastic adults. All of us have certain tastes and enthusiasms and I think those of us who spend our working days with kids should absolutely share those with the children. I read aloud books I love and couldn't bear to spend week after week with a book I didn't feel passionately about. I generally try to make my read aloud books ones kids might otherwise not pick up and read on their own. I can think of several wonderful books that I suspect work particularly well as read alouds (say Harris and Me, Despereaux, The Trolls) and might not be as well received by young people on their own. I'm wondering if this is the case for some of Richard Peck's recent books. Lisa mentions reading The Teacher's Funeral aloud with great success. One of my fourth grade colleagues always reads aloud A Year Down Yonder and the kids always love it. So, it seems to me his books and others of this sort do have tremendous kid appeal, but perhaps they just need to be helped along by an enthusiastic adult.
Secondly, school in books. As someone who spends her day in a school, I do know that my students are huge fans of books that have school settings.
This seems understandable to me as they spend huge amounts of their lives in schools. Teachers of every sort have huge impact on them so the fact that so many books both take place in schools and have teachers in them makes sense to me. Homeschooling is less prevalent here in NYC (as many people cannot afford to do it --- single parents, people who need two incomes to stay afloat) so I can't really comment on that. I do think that what is most important is a good story whether the protagonist is homeschooled or not. Books like Surviving the Applewhites and Ida B speak to all sorts of people, whether they are in a community with a large proportion of homeschoolers or not.
Monica
Monica Edinger The Dalton School New York NY edinger at some.place monicaedinger at some.place
Received on Thu 30 Sep 2004 05:03:03 AM CDT
Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2004 06:03:03 -0400
I'm intrigued by two current threads: the perennial issue of kid appeal and the issue of school in books for kids.
First, kid appeal. This was raised by Patrick in terms of The Teacher's Funeral, but it seems larger than just that one author or that particular book. Seems to me there are always going to be a range of books, some of which are gobbled up by kids without any help from adults (Harry Potter) and some of which may well need jump starts from enthusiastic adults. All of us have certain tastes and enthusiasms and I think those of us who spend our working days with kids should absolutely share those with the children. I read aloud books I love and couldn't bear to spend week after week with a book I didn't feel passionately about. I generally try to make my read aloud books ones kids might otherwise not pick up and read on their own. I can think of several wonderful books that I suspect work particularly well as read alouds (say Harris and Me, Despereaux, The Trolls) and might not be as well received by young people on their own. I'm wondering if this is the case for some of Richard Peck's recent books. Lisa mentions reading The Teacher's Funeral aloud with great success. One of my fourth grade colleagues always reads aloud A Year Down Yonder and the kids always love it. So, it seems to me his books and others of this sort do have tremendous kid appeal, but perhaps they just need to be helped along by an enthusiastic adult.
Secondly, school in books. As someone who spends her day in a school, I do know that my students are huge fans of books that have school settings.
This seems understandable to me as they spend huge amounts of their lives in schools. Teachers of every sort have huge impact on them so the fact that so many books both take place in schools and have teachers in them makes sense to me. Homeschooling is less prevalent here in NYC (as many people cannot afford to do it --- single parents, people who need two incomes to stay afloat) so I can't really comment on that. I do think that what is most important is a good story whether the protagonist is homeschooled or not. Books like Surviving the Applewhites and Ida B speak to all sorts of people, whether they are in a community with a large proportion of homeschoolers or not.
Monica
Monica Edinger The Dalton School New York NY edinger at some.place monicaedinger at some.place
Received on Thu 30 Sep 2004 05:03:03 AM CDT
