Comments on: Kids Don’t Have To Think Reading’s A Chore

By: Venomous Kate

Venomous Kate — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 00:44:58 +0000

Yes, I suppose that’s a possibility, although I do love reading stories to myself.

By: kimsch

kimsch — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 00:40:46 +0000

And you can get the entire “A Series of Unfortunate Events” read out loud to you!

Oh, and the “Mysterious Benedict Society” books are very similar to the “A Series of Unfortunate Events” books. Same kind of weird just slightly alternate universe.

By: Venomous Kate

Venomous Kate — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 00:38:04 +0000

Oooh, I like that idea! VH and the Big-Eyed Boy spend a lot of father-son time together these days — often excluding me because I’m not “one of the boys” — but I bet that would be a great addition to our nightly routine!

By: kimsch

kimsch — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 18:24:12 +0000

The Little Guy is reading to his Dad for thirty minutes every night. He started out reading the entire Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, moved on to the entire Chronicles of Narnia, and is now on the Harry Potter series (book three at this point in time.) After that they’ll be on to the The Mysterious Benedict Society books.

Having The Little Guy read aloud to Dad ensures that the 30 minutes is actually spent reading and gives The Little Guy and Dad special time that is all theirs. We’re keeping the reading up all summer long.

By: Venomous Kate

Venomous Kate — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 15:22:26 +0000

Reading for work does take the fun out of it, doesn’t it? I think it’s the adult version of AR — once we’re expected to read and remember data from something, it’s no longer a form of entertainment and, instead, just another chore.

Love that bit about reading is how civilization remembers, etc! Susan Wise Bauer, who wrote The Well-Educated Mind: A Guide to the Classical Education You Never Had, refers to reading as taking part in a Great Conversation for the same reason.

As someone who manage to get through college with a Lit major — without actually reading the true text of many of the classics, since the Cliff Notes’ version was so much faster to read — I’ve been working my way through some of those books I missed out on. (Again, because reading became a chore, whereas now I’m doing it for the pleasure.)

By: Twoma

Twoma — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 14:57:19 +0000

.
When I was in third grade (while living in Istanbul) I was content reading Donald Duck comics until my parents started reading some of Tom Sawyer to me. Then they did not continue. That was the point when I began reading books without pictures. From then on I mostly read what I wanted, with the exception of silly books required at school. Then, while attending school at Ft.Churchill, Manitoba, I was required to read “British Literature, memorize all the Kings and Queens of England in order and eat my chips with vinegar. All of that served me well later. I became a trained scientist and an avid SiFi reader until my employment required that I review technical documents written by the US Corps of Engineers. Really, Kate, that took all the fun out of it. My readings continue in the sciences from paleobotony to astrophysics.
Reading is how civilization remembers, debates, and speculates