How to cope with an eager reader-
Or, how to get a child you know to hate books. This is inspired by a discussion RJ Anderson, Deidrej and I have been having.
Maybe you know one of those kids who reads all the time. He (or she) always has his nose in a book. You'd rather he didn't waste his time on those antiquated objects. What to do?
When he goes to the library and/or brings a book home, always be sure to look it over. If it has long words in it, encourage him to put it aside. He shouldn't try to read anything that's too hard for him.
Always ask if a book is on his reading level. He needs to be reading the right books. They can't be too hard, but they can't be too easy, either. Heaven forbid that he read anything not rated "6th grade reading level" if he is in the sixth grade!
Be sure to ask him lots of factual questions so that he can prove he actually read the books he said he did. If you also make him take an online test, so much the better.
If he's a middle grader, don't ever, ever let him take out anything from the adult section. He's not an adult! What is he doing reading those books?
Also, if he's a middle grader, he mustn't touch a picture book. And keep him away from those graphic novels, whatever they are! They look like junk.
Hasn't he outgrown those series books by now?
Insist that he has to read selections from a reading list, rather than books he chooses himself.
If he's a boy, make sure all the books on the list have girls as protagonists.
Make sure there is no nonfiction on that reading list. If there is any nonfiction, make sure it's only biographies or memoirs in story form, not books on how to do stuff.
Finally, make sure you never read to him. And never, never allow him to reread a book he loves. If he's read something once, why should he waste his time reading the same book again?
If you really want to turn a kid away from reading, the above tips should be a good start. On the other hand, if you want to encourage kids to read, do the opposite. Lots of free choice, lots of formats, no quizzes, as little assigned reading as possible, IMHO. And good readers, by the time they hit ten or eleven years old, will be tackling some of the adult classics like Tolkien and Twain and Fenimore Cooper and Dickens and Bradbury and Asimov. That doesn't make those "adult" books less valuable or less appropriate for adults. It just means that there is nothing in them to keep them from a child. Some adult books are entirely appropriate for bright middle graders and younger teens. Some are not. The kids will almost invariably figure out for themselves what is suitable to them. Let them browse! And let them take out whatever they want. Sharing your own enthusiasm always helps; reading aloud to them always helps. But listen to them as well. Let them lead the way. It's their journey.
End of lecture.
BTW, the discussion RJ and Deirdre and I were having didn't inspire this rant directly. RJ was simply talking about the books she (and many other good readers, and present-day writers) loved when she was a middle grader. These included adult and YA titles, as well as genuine middle grade literature. That is very typical! A good reader will often read at a wide variety of reading levels, as well as about a wide variety of subjects. Kids often start branching out into adult literature at 10 or 11, sometimes earlier. That does not mean that the adult books they read should be reclassified as juvenile!
But this brings me to the "ghettoization" (please excuse the term) of juvenile literature. And that's the subject of another rant altogether. Juvenile literature is NOT inferior to adult lit. It is, however, different.
And that's really the end of the lecture!
Maybe you know one of those kids who reads all the time. He (or she) always has his nose in a book. You'd rather he didn't waste his time on those antiquated objects. What to do?
When he goes to the library and/or brings a book home, always be sure to look it over. If it has long words in it, encourage him to put it aside. He shouldn't try to read anything that's too hard for him.
Always ask if a book is on his reading level. He needs to be reading the right books. They can't be too hard, but they can't be too easy, either. Heaven forbid that he read anything not rated "6th grade reading level" if he is in the sixth grade!
Be sure to ask him lots of factual questions so that he can prove he actually read the books he said he did. If you also make him take an online test, so much the better.
If he's a middle grader, don't ever, ever let him take out anything from the adult section. He's not an adult! What is he doing reading those books?
Also, if he's a middle grader, he mustn't touch a picture book. And keep him away from those graphic novels, whatever they are! They look like junk.
Hasn't he outgrown those series books by now?
Insist that he has to read selections from a reading list, rather than books he chooses himself.
If he's a boy, make sure all the books on the list have girls as protagonists.
Make sure there is no nonfiction on that reading list. If there is any nonfiction, make sure it's only biographies or memoirs in story form, not books on how to do stuff.
Finally, make sure you never read to him. And never, never allow him to reread a book he loves. If he's read something once, why should he waste his time reading the same book again?
If you really want to turn a kid away from reading, the above tips should be a good start. On the other hand, if you want to encourage kids to read, do the opposite. Lots of free choice, lots of formats, no quizzes, as little assigned reading as possible, IMHO. And good readers, by the time they hit ten or eleven years old, will be tackling some of the adult classics like Tolkien and Twain and Fenimore Cooper and Dickens and Bradbury and Asimov. That doesn't make those "adult" books less valuable or less appropriate for adults. It just means that there is nothing in them to keep them from a child. Some adult books are entirely appropriate for bright middle graders and younger teens. Some are not. The kids will almost invariably figure out for themselves what is suitable to them. Let them browse! And let them take out whatever they want. Sharing your own enthusiasm always helps; reading aloud to them always helps. But listen to them as well. Let them lead the way. It's their journey.
End of lecture.
BTW, the discussion RJ and Deirdre and I were having didn't inspire this rant directly. RJ was simply talking about the books she (and many other good readers, and present-day writers) loved when she was a middle grader. These included adult and YA titles, as well as genuine middle grade literature. That is very typical! A good reader will often read at a wide variety of reading levels, as well as about a wide variety of subjects. Kids often start branching out into adult literature at 10 or 11, sometimes earlier. That does not mean that the adult books they read should be reclassified as juvenile!
But this brings me to the "ghettoization" (please excuse the term) of juvenile literature. And that's the subject of another rant altogether. Juvenile literature is NOT inferior to adult lit. It is, however, different.
And that's really the end of the lecture!