As a young mother I decided there were two gifts I would do everything in my power to give my children. My children would be strong swimmers and strong readers.
Consciously and unconsciously, I had seen the consequences of children who lacked these skills. I remembered friends who had to hold back because they weren’t at ease in the water and children held back because they stumbled on words.
My children are fish. My children are great readers. I discovered that two of my daughter’s speed read without even realizing their skill. All of my daughters are as comfortable in a cold ocean as a warm bath.
Their swimming skills came easy; their reading skills did not always come as easy. I’ve had two reluctant readers and two children who were frustrated by words they couldn’t easily sound out. One summer a daughter and I started over with basic vowel sounds. I am forever grateful for Grant Von Harrison’s big blue reading book.
This September I came back to school to earn my teaching certificate. In what I see as a teacher’s equivalent to a doctor’s rotation, I am currently spending three weeks in a junior high school. The two classes I help with and learn from, are Reading 180 classes. The classes are for children who fell short on their reading proficiency exams. The extra attention is to help them become better readers…and supposedly it works. But in the meantime…after two days, I am even more convinced that the greatest gift a parent can help their child acquire is the gift of proficient reading. I am seeing the insecurities and the undermining labels that kids stick on themselves. It may take extra work to help a child love reading, but every child deserves that work.
A few suggestions that originate with my own mother:
- · Take your children to the library and let them pick out any and all books.
- · Read to them before bedtime, when they are open to any delay. Not only do your children gain reading skills but important and positive reading/memory connections are made. I treasure the memory of discovering Tuck Everlasting with my daughter Jillian.
- · Give books as birthday and Christmas presents.
- · Insist that fathers read to children. Studies show children are more likely to read when fathers are an example. My husband loved reading the Chris Van Allsburg picture books to our little ones.
- · Investigate the best books for your children like you’re investigating the best price on a loan. There are a multitude of websites, columns, librarian lists, and librarians, with suggestions books for children's different tastes.
- · If your child is reading resistant with you, enlist the help of others. One summer my creative sister turned reading with my daughter, into an adventure. They hopped into the elevator, got off and read, got on the elevator to the next floor and read some more.
o My fifteen-year-old next door neighbor is reading two times a week with a neighbor’s son. When he finishes a book, she has a mini-candy bar for him.
- · There are alternatives to books: a friend made sure he bought car magazines for his teenage son who wouldn’t read anything else.
- · A poster board: Color the poster board like a Candy land board game. At the end of the boxes, where you have written in the titles of books read, is a reward. A big reward: cupcakes, new shoes, lunch out with mom, picnic in the canyon, a new book from the bookstore, Disneyland!
- · Support the book fairs at your school. Order from the school book orders-the prices are right and it is exciting to receive new books during school.
- · Do not be ashamed that your child is having difficulty reading—get help. There are resources galore. The earlier the intervention the better.
- · Do not depend on the school system. You are your children’s advocate!
- · Always remember: reading is one of the greatest gifts we possess. It is a lifelong needed skill. Without reading skills, a person’s life can be limited.
My latest pursuit of seeking a teaching certificate put me smack in the middle of 7th grade. Again. And it's funner the second time.
