Read? ya gotta be kidding
A post by Tinker, Tailor Read to your kid, and a few scary experiences recently, made me wonder about the future of book reading – and reading generally.
Kids do read a lot – but it is mostly on screen reading, scanning in nature and rarely deep and reflective. Give ‘em the answer in the first line or two, or forget it. Instant gratification.
Do they read the complicated intricacies of game rules? You bet. Do they read the news? No way.
Reading is a key to learning. And if teachers do not have a love of reading, god help us all…
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2 Mar 2008 at 9:53 pm Link to this comment
Then give them two choices, no highway option:
A. Read
B. Listen
Most of us regard listening as harder work, so they’d rather read.
Another option set:
a. Uninteresting (to the kid), cluttering and unclear essays
b. Interesting (to the kid), concise and clear articles
For reflection, the articles have to prompt them!
3 Mar 2008 at 12:21 pm Link to this comment
Hi Li-sa and good to hear from you again.
It’s an interesting coincidence that I was reading about Oprah Winfrey’s Book Club this morning. Her aim was to ‘get America reading again’ and she has had some very good successes.
The books that Oprah recommends resonate with her readers on a strong emotional level.
So you’re right, the reading needs to be interesting and it needs to prompt reflection. This is unlikely if it is dry and boring.
That’s the reality for all of us that suffer from ‘attention deficit‘. You may also find this interesting: Click stream dating.