Getting kids to read at a young age makes the kids more inclined to enjoy reading when they are older. It is hard to pressure kids into reading books, especially ones that they do not enjoy. If you have the students do book reports in your classroom make sure they are allowed to pick the book. You can pick the genre of book they have to read but make sure you allow them to pick a book that is interesting to them within that genre. Doing this makes the student enjoy reading and feel more in control of what they can read.
If students are read to when they are younger and enjoy reading in school when they are younger, then they will excel in reading when they are older. In many ways this will help the student in further education because if you do not do the readings for class then you do not grasp the whole concept of what you are being taught in your classes.
From personal experience I like the read in elementary school but after that I became more into sports and after school activities that I did not have time to read for fun anymore. So in coming to college I found that it is more of a job to read for all of my classes because I do not enjoy to read like I used too.
I absolutely agree with you Jenny about encouraging it when kids are younger and hopefully that instills in them the love and desire to read as they get older. I too became more wrapped up in sports and afterschool activities and now with all of the required reading in school it is extremely hard to make time to read for enjoyment. I think it is still so important to stress it at a young age because I feel my education has been much better and beneficial because of my reading ability and even though I have been away from enjoyment reading for quite a few years now, I think once I am out of school I will have a little more time (hopefully) to enjoy it once again because of the values and love for reading that were instilled in me when I was young.
ReplyDeleteAs I have grown up, I have seen what a difference there is between reading a book you are assigned (and have no interest in) and reading a book that you choose for yourself. When I get wrapped in a book, I can't put it down. I could pick up a 300 page book and finish it within hours if it capture my attention. However I can also stare at the same 6 pages of a textbook for the same amount of time, and not understand what it is saying. I find myself distracted by every little thing and not able to comprehend the book. I think for many classes as you get older, there is not much that can be done to counter-act this problem. However it is detrimental student's motivation to read. Since I, and so many people I know, spend so much time scraping through readings for classes, I often want to sit down and watch a mindless TV show when I have a free minute. It is difficult to pick up a book after I have spent my weekend reading text after text. I often forget how much I love to read because of this. I think that in classes that are exploring elements of text, and wherever else possible, it is vital that teachers allow students to choose the books for themselves. We need to find a way to mix academic reading with enjoyable readings so as to not discourage our youth from reading for pleasure.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Jenny! I feel that it is more than vital to make sure that children keep an interest in reading to help them out in the long run. I see to many people in college now who hate reading and dread reading assignments and I feel bad they should have been exposed to better techniques to love reading. I enjoy reading now in my life but I was without a doubt more interested when I was younger. Instilling good reading habits into kids at a young age cant do any harm in my opinion so I believe it is a great idea.
ReplyDeleteI believe as future teachers it is our responsibility to keep our kids intrigued with the reading they are doing as well as staying focused on learning. I thought that was a really good idea to chose a genre and let them choose the book. I also think the children need to feel like they chose the book they are reading so they can feel more relaxed about reading because it will be of interest to them. This is a really beneficial post to consider putting into the classroom to help the advancement of children and their reading skills.
I also agree with you Jenny. It is important for children to read and school and have the privilege to choose what they read. I think that the freedom to choose what they want to read is important because they will most likely pick a book that has a cover that attracts them. At a young age, children often choose a book based on what the cover looks like and if you hand them a book that does not interest them, they will not fully embrace the story. When I was a child, I loved to read but like you, I also became more engaged in sports. I spent my free time practicing and playing instead of reading. It became less and less of a priority for me and now I am not very fond of reading. I only read when I am required to and often have to force myself to sit down and read. I believe if I had more free time I would actually enjoy reading and would do it more often.
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