Today in class the subject of having a parent clip articles or short stories for a child to read was touched on. While some, or maybe even most, people might think back about this time with fond remembrance, that is certainly not the case for me. I can vividly remember being a kid and my dad sharing articles with me, and it felt like homework. I hated when he would bring me things to read, and then expected us to talk about it. It was always so frustrating, I couldn’t understand why on earth my dad wanted me to take MORE time on (what felt like) assigned reading when I already had homework to do. I think even if he had sat there and read it with me it would have felt like a punishment of some kind. That’s not to say all the reading we did felt like punishment because when it came to bed time stories The Hobbit was something I looked forward to every night. So, is the problem with the article the expectation of conversation? The anticipation of reading something which was probably going to be really boring? I guess in my point of view, because it was such a negative experience, it is hard for me to see how any child could appreciate these instances of knowledge dispersal.
Now, that I am older my dad still sends me articles, and while I do read them on occasion and they do have value, I still have enough assigned reading to keep me plenty occupied. Quite frankly, I still don’t want to read random articles in my free time unless they are of my choosing. It could be that just the memory of having to do this extra work disinclines me to read what he sends. So, as parents and I suppose even teachers, how do we make reading feel like less of an assignment? Is it possible to appease students when it comes to reading? Is there a formula to add an element of fun which can make these little tid-bits of knowledge more bearable? I know, as a parent myself, I will one day want to impose knowledge on my child that he may not necessarily want to participate in. However, I think in order for him to have a more positive outlook on these extra nuggets of knowledge I throw his way I will try to do it in a more approachable way. What that way might be is still a mystery, but maybe some of you have suggestions!
