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How much do we tell the children? Q6 What are the limits?
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From: Charles Bayless <charles.bayless_at_ttmd.com>
Date: Sun, 27 Nov 2011 13:59:10 -0500
One of the most leveling realities is that we all face the same constraints - there is only so much time and so much resource (money).
Whatever we wish to achieve with books, we are not faced with an unlimited capacity to consume books. By the time they graduate high school children have already fallen into the pattern of adulthood - 10% of the population is doing 80% of the reading (averaging about 25 books a year), 40% are reading 20% of the books consumed (averaging 6 books a year) and 50% of the population do not electively read any books in a year. The overall average is just under 5 books a year for everyone. The numbers are hard to come by at earlier ages. My best estimate based on a number of sources but involving some estimating and extrapolation, is that among readers (i.e. ignoring the non-reading population), 0-5 year-olds are consuming (being read to) perhaps 30 books a year, 5-15 year-olds are consuming perhaps 10 books a year, and 15 year-olds and older are at something less than 10 books a year. Using these as only rough guidelines, that means, whatever we wish a child to read, however much we want to tell them via books, we
are working within the following constraints:
0-5 - 150 picture books
5-15 - 100 chapter books
- 30 books
So, across their 18 years, roughly 280 books. When you start then to parse out various categories which are important, you end up with distressingly little wiggle room. For example, 5-15: In those ten years, a child might have a passing fascination with horses or dinosaurs or some such which consumes 10-15 of those 100 chapter books, they probably will go through a series phase such as Hardy Boys or Dear America that consumes another 20 and there will likely be another two or three series that they are less involved in that consume another 20 books. There will probably be 10-15 books that are social reading (I am reading because everyone else is reading). You have to anticipate that another 10-15 will go to classic perennials such as Little House on the Prairie, Little Women, Anne of Green Gables, etc. All of sudden, right off the bat you are down from 100 books to 15-20 books over which you might have some influence should you wish to steer their reading interests. An alternative way of putting it is, whate ver you want to tell the children, you only have a few books in which to tell it. Ouch. And remember with these numbers, we are only talking about the half of the population that electively read.
This highlights one of the issues with bibliotherapy and identity enforcement. 1) They displace other books in a constrained reading environment and 2) they may undermine the development of a love of reading. If every time something bad happens, your parents are handing you some well-meaning book that will help you address some negative issue, it is not hard for the act of reading to become associated with negative things. The surest way to get less of something is to make it more expensive or less rewarding or more negative.
Charles
Received on Sun 27 Nov 2011 01:59:10 PM CST
Date: Sun, 27 Nov 2011 13:59:10 -0500
One of the most leveling realities is that we all face the same constraints - there is only so much time and so much resource (money).
Whatever we wish to achieve with books, we are not faced with an unlimited capacity to consume books. By the time they graduate high school children have already fallen into the pattern of adulthood - 10% of the population is doing 80% of the reading (averaging about 25 books a year), 40% are reading 20% of the books consumed (averaging 6 books a year) and 50% of the population do not electively read any books in a year. The overall average is just under 5 books a year for everyone. The numbers are hard to come by at earlier ages. My best estimate based on a number of sources but involving some estimating and extrapolation, is that among readers (i.e. ignoring the non-reading population), 0-5 year-olds are consuming (being read to) perhaps 30 books a year, 5-15 year-olds are consuming perhaps 10 books a year, and 15 year-olds and older are at something less than 10 books a year. Using these as only rough guidelines, that means, whatever we wish a child to read, however much we want to tell them via books, we
are working within the following constraints:
0-5 - 150 picture books
5-15 - 100 chapter books
- 30 books
So, across their 18 years, roughly 280 books. When you start then to parse out various categories which are important, you end up with distressingly little wiggle room. For example, 5-15: In those ten years, a child might have a passing fascination with horses or dinosaurs or some such which consumes 10-15 of those 100 chapter books, they probably will go through a series phase such as Hardy Boys or Dear America that consumes another 20 and there will likely be another two or three series that they are less involved in that consume another 20 books. There will probably be 10-15 books that are social reading (I am reading because everyone else is reading). You have to anticipate that another 10-15 will go to classic perennials such as Little House on the Prairie, Little Women, Anne of Green Gables, etc. All of sudden, right off the bat you are down from 100 books to 15-20 books over which you might have some influence should you wish to steer their reading interests. An alternative way of putting it is, whate ver you want to tell the children, you only have a few books in which to tell it. Ouch. And remember with these numbers, we are only talking about the half of the population that electively read.
This highlights one of the issues with bibliotherapy and identity enforcement. 1) They displace other books in a constrained reading environment and 2) they may undermine the development of a love of reading. If every time something bad happens, your parents are handing you some well-meaning book that will help you address some negative issue, it is not hard for the act of reading to become associated with negative things. The surest way to get less of something is to make it more expensive or less rewarding or more negative.
Charles
Received on Sun 27 Nov 2011 01:59:10 PM CST
