Want Smarter Kids? READ TO THEM! Feb. 29, 2008
A friend of mine emailed wondering why I hadn't put anything up on my blog in a while. I answered that I hadn't had any epiphanies lately. Most folks have an epiphany every now and then. You probably remember the one you had in high school when you realized that most of your "friends" were really just acquaintances. (You did have that one, didn't you?) This posting is not the result of an epiphany. It is the recognition of a deeply held belief, a belief that needed to be said.
Today I went to a web site that sells nice children's' toys and provides "professional" child rearing advice in the form of articles written by experts. I read one such article, written by a PhD. regarding reducing the need for parental discipline with kids by having routines in the home, regular activities that give children a sense of security and comfort. He said these routines included things like a regular bath time, brushing teeth, bedtime, etc.
He missed an opportunity to promote one of the most important rituals a parent could do with their child: nightly reading! The simple act of reading to or with your child can have enormous, positive life-long effects. By just reading to your child every night from an age level appropriate book you are generating in your child an interest in books and the world of information and entertainment books can contain. The child learns from your modeling that reading is important and fun. They take this positive attitude towards books with them to school, and the effects are easy to discern as the child's grades and performance in school is likely to be better than if they had not had these nightly experiences. The child will likely understand plot structure, character motives, and be able to predict outcomes in stories better. They will recognize different words on the printed page with increased frequency and probably develop reading skills for unknown words much faster than children not read to on a regular basis. These children (usually) quickly learn to read because they want to emulate the parent. Kids like to copy what parents do, good and bad.
The main point I am trying to make here is that by nightly reading for just 10 to 20 minutes with your child you are cultivating A POSITIVE ATTITUDE TOWARD BOOKS that will likely last a lifetime.
I'm a retired reading and English teacher, and I can attest to the fact that way too many students come to school with horrible attitudes towards books. They don't often see their parents reading books, so that positive modeling never occurs. The students usually prefer movies and videos to books. Why? Because they require NO WORK to enjoy. They're easier and a whole lot faster than actually reading the words on the page and using the imagination to picture characters and situations in a story. Television, DVD movies, and video games have deeply hurt most students' abilities and true enjoyment of reading. Books simply can't compete with the instant gratification found in these other mediums.
It might be futile for me to rant about this decline in ability and enjoyment in reading. It does appear to be a widespread cultural phenomena to desire instant gratification. Folks (not just kids) want something without waiting for it. They want it NOW. They don't want to earn that new $125 pair of jeans, or that $300 iPod. So we seem to have a credit card crisis occurring in America. Reading is an activity that I fear will be relegated to only the (elite?) few who study it in the future. There will always be a need for future writers and readers- if for no other reason than to write those movies and video games being enjoyed. But, imagine a world where only a few choose to learn to read and write because computers are able to do those tasks through speech recognition software. Just because something is different does not mean it is necessarily bad. But in this case I fear the decline of actual reading will result in people who do not truly enjoy a good story, a vivid description, or an enduring thought on the printed page.
A friend of mine recently told me he had only read one book in his 49 years. But he is an avid listener to books on tape. He has a long drive to work and back home, so he has devoured hundreds of books this way. Has he enjoyed it? Yes. He often talks about the books he has listened to. He has been empowered through his listening, is more well-rounded and articulate because of it, no doubt. Though he is to be commended for this, I had to tell him that I thought listening to books had too many limitations for me to advocate "everyone" doing it. Foremost, when you listen to a professional reader, you are giving up the chance to imagine just how the character in the story would say a passage. The reader does this for you. Professional readers tend to not use much emphasis and inflection in their readings. They simply don't sound like actors on a stage, as a general rule. Their energy level can't come close to what a good reader could imagine a story's character saying or doing on the printed page. My imagination works far better than what most oral readers deliver on tape. They tend to sound dull and flat.
Secondly, the listener to a book on tape is unlikely to rewind often enough to get the nuance or full meaning a well written passage can offer. I frequently reread a passage. Sometimes I do so in total awe of the writer's prowess (i.e.- Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath) and sometimes I reread simply for enhanced comprehension. That's right, I often reread so I understand exactly what the author is trying to say to me. I'm no genius; I have to reread if I truly care about my comprehension. Tell me people who listen to books on tape do the rewind shuffle very often. I sincerely doubt they do. They're busy driving, or doing lawn chores with headphones on. Their activities preclude them having the chance to rewind. Consequently, real enjoyment and comprehension suffers.
Books on tape (or CD, or MP3, etc.) have their place, especially for the visually impaired. But not much can compare to the actual physical holding of a real book, turning its pages, and letting the eyes linger on a turn of phrase that interests the reader.
I am deeply afraid reading will become a thing of the past. Too many students have told me they've never read an entire book. The first was the son of a school principal. The latest, last week, was a college bound S.A.T. student of mine, and he wasn't ashamed of saying it at all. In fact he was kind of proud of it, like "look what I got away with, without getting caught." Remember, these students raise their children to have their values- or the lack of them!
Please read to your child every night. Your child will benefit in ways you can't measure, and the snuggle time together makes it all worthwhile. Too soon will come the time when your child will start to read to you. Let it happen. And too soon will come the time when the maturity of the child will mean the end of the nightly readings. Sad. But at least you can say you did your best, and hopefully your child when grown will do their best. Who knows, they may even read every night to your grandchildren.
A friend of mine emailed wondering why I hadn't put anything up on my blog in a while. I answered that I hadn't had any epiphanies lately. Most folks have an epiphany every now and then. You probably remember the one you had in high school when you realized that most of your "friends" were really just acquaintances. (You did have that one, didn't you?) This posting is not the result of an epiphany. It is the recognition of a deeply held belief, a belief that needed to be said.
Today I went to a web site that sells nice children's' toys and provides "professional" child rearing advice in the form of articles written by experts. I read one such article, written by a PhD. regarding reducing the need for parental discipline with kids by having routines in the home, regular activities that give children a sense of security and comfort. He said these routines included things like a regular bath time, brushing teeth, bedtime, etc.
He missed an opportunity to promote one of the most important rituals a parent could do with their child: nightly reading! The simple act of reading to or with your child can have enormous, positive life-long effects. By just reading to your child every night from an age level appropriate book you are generating in your child an interest in books and the world of information and entertainment books can contain. The child learns from your modeling that reading is important and fun. They take this positive attitude towards books with them to school, and the effects are easy to discern as the child's grades and performance in school is likely to be better than if they had not had these nightly experiences. The child will likely understand plot structure, character motives, and be able to predict outcomes in stories better. They will recognize different words on the printed page with increased frequency and probably develop reading skills for unknown words much faster than children not read to on a regular basis. These children (usually) quickly learn to read because they want to emulate the parent. Kids like to copy what parents do, good and bad.
The main point I am trying to make here is that by nightly reading for just 10 to 20 minutes with your child you are cultivating A POSITIVE ATTITUDE TOWARD BOOKS that will likely last a lifetime.
I'm a retired reading and English teacher, and I can attest to the fact that way too many students come to school with horrible attitudes towards books. They don't often see their parents reading books, so that positive modeling never occurs. The students usually prefer movies and videos to books. Why? Because they require NO WORK to enjoy. They're easier and a whole lot faster than actually reading the words on the page and using the imagination to picture characters and situations in a story. Television, DVD movies, and video games have deeply hurt most students' abilities and true enjoyment of reading. Books simply can't compete with the instant gratification found in these other mediums.
It might be futile for me to rant about this decline in ability and enjoyment in reading. It does appear to be a widespread cultural phenomena to desire instant gratification. Folks (not just kids) want something without waiting for it. They want it NOW. They don't want to earn that new $125 pair of jeans, or that $300 iPod. So we seem to have a credit card crisis occurring in America. Reading is an activity that I fear will be relegated to only the (elite?) few who study it in the future. There will always be a need for future writers and readers- if for no other reason than to write those movies and video games being enjoyed. But, imagine a world where only a few choose to learn to read and write because computers are able to do those tasks through speech recognition software. Just because something is different does not mean it is necessarily bad. But in this case I fear the decline of actual reading will result in people who do not truly enjoy a good story, a vivid description, or an enduring thought on the printed page.
A friend of mine recently told me he had only read one book in his 49 years. But he is an avid listener to books on tape. He has a long drive to work and back home, so he has devoured hundreds of books this way. Has he enjoyed it? Yes. He often talks about the books he has listened to. He has been empowered through his listening, is more well-rounded and articulate because of it, no doubt. Though he is to be commended for this, I had to tell him that I thought listening to books had too many limitations for me to advocate "everyone" doing it. Foremost, when you listen to a professional reader, you are giving up the chance to imagine just how the character in the story would say a passage. The reader does this for you. Professional readers tend to not use much emphasis and inflection in their readings. They simply don't sound like actors on a stage, as a general rule. Their energy level can't come close to what a good reader could imagine a story's character saying or doing on the printed page. My imagination works far better than what most oral readers deliver on tape. They tend to sound dull and flat.
Secondly, the listener to a book on tape is unlikely to rewind often enough to get the nuance or full meaning a well written passage can offer. I frequently reread a passage. Sometimes I do so in total awe of the writer's prowess (i.e.- Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath) and sometimes I reread simply for enhanced comprehension. That's right, I often reread so I understand exactly what the author is trying to say to me. I'm no genius; I have to reread if I truly care about my comprehension. Tell me people who listen to books on tape do the rewind shuffle very often. I sincerely doubt they do. They're busy driving, or doing lawn chores with headphones on. Their activities preclude them having the chance to rewind. Consequently, real enjoyment and comprehension suffers.
Books on tape (or CD, or MP3, etc.) have their place, especially for the visually impaired. But not much can compare to the actual physical holding of a real book, turning its pages, and letting the eyes linger on a turn of phrase that interests the reader.
I am deeply afraid reading will become a thing of the past. Too many students have told me they've never read an entire book. The first was the son of a school principal. The latest, last week, was a college bound S.A.T. student of mine, and he wasn't ashamed of saying it at all. In fact he was kind of proud of it, like "look what I got away with, without getting caught." Remember, these students raise their children to have their values- or the lack of them!
Please read to your child every night. Your child will benefit in ways you can't measure, and the snuggle time together makes it all worthwhile. Too soon will come the time when your child will start to read to you. Let it happen. And too soon will come the time when the maturity of the child will mean the end of the nightly readings. Sad. But at least you can say you did your best, and hopefully your child when grown will do their best. Who knows, they may even read every night to your grandchildren.
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