Reading with my Children

For Relief Society this week I was asked to share some thoughts about reading with my children. In summary here are the 3 reasons I shared.

1. Reading together enhances and builds a relationship because it initiates conversation. From the time my kids were infants we've read books together and it always gives us something to talk about. I want my kids talking to me - it doesn't always matter what we talk about, I just want to establish open lines of communication. I remember after reading Walk Two Moons (Creech), one child said it was the saddest book he had ever read. We still have sayings that come from that book, that we say in our home. I'm glad we've talked about sad things - I hope that in the future when sad things come into his life, he'll be able to talk to me about them. Last summer, I read The Circuit (Jimenez), and then had all my family members that could, read it as well. However, I had one who child who refused to read it. When he returned to school in the fall, he found that he could earn extra points by reading this book, so he did and once he was finished I asked him about it. He said, "I don't discuss books". Ouch that hurt me. So I thought about it all day and decided that I really wanted this boy to talk to me and so I went to his room and picked up two of the books that he enjoys and read them. I found that he would talk about books - as long as we were talking about gadgets, scientific experiments, and flying children who conquered evil adults. I'm just glad to get him talking to me.

2. Books help me teach values, help us understand human nature and they make us more aware of the world. David O. McKay is said to have arisen in the early hours of the morning to read classic literature. He called those authors the "minor prophets". I think it is because these authors write about things that are true for all mankind. The feelings, emotions, problems, hardships and joys we experience in mortality are the same for humans everywhere. I love that Scott just finished reading East of Eden for the second time. I love that he comes to me and shares a paragraph and says, "Mom, this is so true". While I don't believe John Steinbeck has all the gospel truth, I do think that by reading this book, Scott has a better understanding of the story of Cain and Abel, and of human nature. In 4th grade Doug did a unit on the Japanese internment. I read every book on the topic that I could find to him. This week in the newspaper there was a picture of some elderly Japanese members of our community who were actually in an interment camp. The picture caught his eye and he read the whole article. Books make history and values personal and come alive.

3. Finally, I read to my children because I want them to hear how words are put together in a way that moves the heart. I want them to read good descriptions. I want them to learn from the experts. Great books can do all that.

On Reading

"No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance" -Townsend

"The man who does not read great books is no better than the man who can't" -Twain

Thanks to a suggestion by Peggy, I recently read The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller and have had "reading" on the brain. Miller is a school teacher and her philosophy is basically this...if you want to teach students to read, then make (or let) them read. I agree with her complaint that so much of school curriculum consists of teaching students how to read without ever letting them put it into action. The excerpts and short stories from standard reading books, read together as a class do little to get kids excited about reading. She requires her students to read 40 books during the school year. Most students come into her 6th grade classroom having read 2-3 books the previous year. I believe the best way to teach comprehension, spelling, vocabulary, and writing is to read, read, read. Each student must read some from several different genre and keep a reading journal. She corresponds with them in their journal, commenting, asking questions, giving future reading suggestions and taking suggestions from them. My kids have had a couple of teachers do this and it made the school year so exciting for them. It is similar to being in a book club. When you are going to discuss a book you pay better attention and it is so exciting to find someone who loves or hates a book as much as you do. She notes that a 2007 survey indicated that the average American adult reads only 4 books per year, in addition 25% of the adults surveyed did not read one book. She says "We have created a culture of reading poverty in which a vicious cycle of aliteracy has the potential to devolve into illiteracy for many students. By allowing students to pass through our classrooms without learning to love reading, we are creating adults (who then become parents and teachers) who don't read much. They may be capable of reading well enough to perform academic and informational reading, but they do not love to read and have few life reading habits to model for children." One of my kids favorite teachers, Mrs. Roland - 7th grade, has a reading day each week. She teaches the students for two periods each day and every Wednesday one period is devoted to reading. At first, I was so surprised by this, simply because my kids had never spent long periods of time reading in the classroom. And, I'm embarrassed to admit, I felt that maybe she wasn't doing her job, because to me, reading is a luxury. Maybe I was just jealous because they got a full hour every week devoted to uninterrupted reading. I would love to spend one hour a week, uninterrupted and reading...how about every day? True luxury! I don't think I was a great reader as a kid, but it is definitely something I've come to love and see great value in helping my kids read. My personal reading successes come from joining a book club. I have loved this group of women, simply because they are dear friends of mine and because we all love to read. Knowing that each month I'll get to talk about a book helps me actually think about and remember what I'm reading. Recently I transferred my book log to Goodreads and found that since August 2005 I've read 136 books, not counting church books or scriptures. I was absolutely tickled to see that I'm reading about 26 books per year. I think that as my kids get older I will have more time for reading and studying, something that gives me great pleasure. So, my purse holds a book and there's a stack of books on my nightstand. I'm going to follow the advise of Horace Mann, "Resolve to edge in a little reading every day, if it is but a single sentence. If you gain fifteen minutes a day, it will make itself felt at the end of the year." Do you think I can do 40 books by next October 1st?