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Re: Trying to define "reluctant readers"
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From: Christine Taylor-Butler <kansascitymom_at_earthlink.net>
Date: Fri, 04 Feb 2011 16:37:00 -0600 (GMT-06:00)
I think Nell and Meghan are on to something. I've noticed a tendency for the world to try to "categorize" readers and then we develop one size ( or two size) fits all strategies. Really - each kid is different and even those with "issues" don't necessarily learn or are motivated the same way.
I have one daughter who has Attention Deficit. She also test of f the charts on IQ. We've learned that students with ADD and ADHD oft en have "high interest" topics which you have to drag them away from becaus e they'd do it ad nauseum - in her case, reading. And low interest to pics that don't interest them (in her case math). When she was in Hig h School she struggled with grades and classwork until a doctor told us tha t schools determine progress by the ability of a student to complete the ta sk on the school's timeline rather than the student's. The school the n balked when - for a final assignment she had to pick an author and a book to read and while her peers picked short stories, she picked Atlas Shrugge d (don't ask - I can't explain that one). She completed the assignment ahea d of time and included notes from audio interviews she found on Youtube.&nb sp; The key was that as a family we supplemented what she "had to read" for class with what she wanted to read for pleasure.
That's been the phi losophy since she was in kindergarten. Back then, we played audio books whi le we worked on chores and that may have been a factor.
Contrast tha t to her younger sister who was a reluctant reader and no amount of shoving books at her could get her to read independently. We finally found t he magic key - audio books. Turns out she had advanced comprehension and wa nted to read above the level of books provided for her in elementary school . Her intellectual interests were in line with her sisters (5 year age gap) . So we bought audio versions of books her older sister was reading (Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Dark Materials trilogy, etc.). Her oral co mprehension began skyrocketing, but her reading skills were still lacking. Her elementary school - using "designer techniques" had not taught her any "decoding" skills. So reading was mentally exhausting for her. Then w e bought Artemis Fowl when she was in middle school. She burned through the first four on audio while getting tutoring, then demanded to get the next in the series as a book. She carried the book around like a bible, even ask ing me to drive her back to school one afternoon when she discovered she'd left it in her locker. Afterwards I did the unthinkable - I gave her Twilight. She balked at the 450 pages - I acknowledged the books were a bit weird - but told her I wanted to see if she could tackle something that si ze. She burned through the first three books at lightening pace, and is now so "hungry" for YA books she's digging through my boxes of ARC's and asking to join YALSA. She's coming with me to ALA-NOLA in the summer. The right book - for the right kid - MAY be what flips that switch. As an African American writer and parent I'm always mystified that peop le translate the idea that urban kids want to read about students like them selves to mean "exactly like the stereotype." We get ghettos and drug s, and bleak environments, etc. The kids tell you they like those boo ks because they want to please you, but all of my daughter's friends at the college prep school (boys and girls) hate them with a passion. We ha ve a hard time convincing local schools to give students something that wil l stretch their imagination a bit more even as those students are sneaking those books into school and recommending them to each other. I can't tell you how often Twilight was borrowed by boys (scratching my head over t hat one).
So from my perspective - what the "system" wanted my child ren to read turned them off to reading (peruse a school's summer reading li st and see what I mean). What my children wanted to read turned them "on." We emphasize both since required reading is just that - required to g et the needed "grade". But I wanted to raise children with a lifelong love of reading. That's why there are so many books on our shelves a nd in a library and in a bookstore. Because somewhere in that pile is a sto ry that will captivate a child and not let them go.
But if reading i s a chore - then turn them on with an audio that has a good reader. I tell urban parents to do that when they are too tired to read to their child at night, or use them at bath time, or in the car.
Maybe if we worked h arder to match the right book to the right child - ones they love instead o f the ones WE love, this conversation about reluctant readers would be less urgent......Christine le
99
p
7_at_
Received on Fri 04 Feb 2011 04:37:00 PM CST
Date: Fri, 04 Feb 2011 16:37:00 -0600 (GMT-06:00)
I think Nell and Meghan are on to something. I've noticed a tendency for the world to try to "categorize" readers and then we develop one size ( or two size) fits all strategies. Really - each kid is different and even those with "issues" don't necessarily learn or are motivated the same way.
I have one daughter who has Attention Deficit. She also test of f the charts on IQ. We've learned that students with ADD and ADHD oft en have "high interest" topics which you have to drag them away from becaus e they'd do it ad nauseum - in her case, reading. And low interest to pics that don't interest them (in her case math). When she was in Hig h School she struggled with grades and classwork until a doctor told us tha t schools determine progress by the ability of a student to complete the ta sk on the school's timeline rather than the student's. The school the n balked when - for a final assignment she had to pick an author and a book to read and while her peers picked short stories, she picked Atlas Shrugge d (don't ask - I can't explain that one). She completed the assignment ahea d of time and included notes from audio interviews she found on Youtube.&nb sp; The key was that as a family we supplemented what she "had to read" for class with what she wanted to read for pleasure.
That's been the phi losophy since she was in kindergarten. Back then, we played audio books whi le we worked on chores and that may have been a factor.
Contrast tha t to her younger sister who was a reluctant reader and no amount of shoving books at her could get her to read independently. We finally found t he magic key - audio books. Turns out she had advanced comprehension and wa nted to read above the level of books provided for her in elementary school . Her intellectual interests were in line with her sisters (5 year age gap) . So we bought audio versions of books her older sister was reading (Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Dark Materials trilogy, etc.). Her oral co mprehension began skyrocketing, but her reading skills were still lacking. Her elementary school - using "designer techniques" had not taught her any "decoding" skills. So reading was mentally exhausting for her. Then w e bought Artemis Fowl when she was in middle school. She burned through the first four on audio while getting tutoring, then demanded to get the next in the series as a book. She carried the book around like a bible, even ask ing me to drive her back to school one afternoon when she discovered she'd left it in her locker. Afterwards I did the unthinkable - I gave her Twilight. She balked at the 450 pages - I acknowledged the books were a bit weird - but told her I wanted to see if she could tackle something that si ze. She burned through the first three books at lightening pace, and is now so "hungry" for YA books she's digging through my boxes of ARC's and asking to join YALSA. She's coming with me to ALA-NOLA in the summer. The right book - for the right kid - MAY be what flips that switch. As an African American writer and parent I'm always mystified that peop le translate the idea that urban kids want to read about students like them selves to mean "exactly like the stereotype." We get ghettos and drug s, and bleak environments, etc. The kids tell you they like those boo ks because they want to please you, but all of my daughter's friends at the college prep school (boys and girls) hate them with a passion. We ha ve a hard time convincing local schools to give students something that wil l stretch their imagination a bit more even as those students are sneaking those books into school and recommending them to each other. I can't tell you how often Twilight was borrowed by boys (scratching my head over t hat one).
So from my perspective - what the "system" wanted my child ren to read turned them off to reading (peruse a school's summer reading li st and see what I mean). What my children wanted to read turned them "on." We emphasize both since required reading is just that - required to g et the needed "grade". But I wanted to raise children with a lifelong love of reading. That's why there are so many books on our shelves a nd in a library and in a bookstore. Because somewhere in that pile is a sto ry that will captivate a child and not let them go.
But if reading i s a chore - then turn them on with an audio that has a good reader. I tell urban parents to do that when they are too tired to read to their child at night, or use them at bath time, or in the car.
Maybe if we worked h arder to match the right book to the right child - ones they love instead o f the ones WE love, this conversation about reluctant readers would be less urgent......Christine le
99
p
7_at_
Received on Fri 04 Feb 2011 04:37:00 PM CST
