Tag Archives: reading

The Right Book Really Does Matter

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Books have always been a priority in our home.  In their preschool years, reading several books every night was a part of our bedtime routine.

Caden is our third child.  He was a puzzle to me.  He baulked at many of the books his older brother and sister had enjoyed.  He showed no interest in the majority of the 200+ books in his bedroom but he really loved to be read to.  He certainly had his favorites.

I hadn’t given much real thought to the books he was choosing and those he quickly dismissed…  I was simply tired of the messiness of his bookshelves.  So I sat down with my then 4 year old and we made 2 piles:  1) books I want to read and 2) books I don’t want to read.  Those piles allowed me to clearly see Caden’s preference.  We eliminated the clutter by eliminating, for a season, all fiction.  The pile of keepers was exclusively non-fiction, information rich books.

For Caden, both then and now, The Right Book Really Did (Does) Matter.

the right book

Caden is 9 now and he’s a good little reader.  We tackle Bible, history, and science texts daily as a part of our home-school curriculum and at some point Caden realized the joy to be found in imaginative stories.  Much of his independent, self selected reading is fiction.

While he’s progressing well in his reading skills, I still have to carefully consider the books I suggest.  The books he reads fall into 3 categories:

Read Alouds – Read Alouds are books that we read out loud for Caden.  He isn’t expected to read them for himself yet.  Caden (and children in general) needs to hear fluent reading every day.  His comprehension, vocabulary and language development, and listening skills need to be challenged.  He needs to hear good phrasing and expression modeled.  He needs to be able to sit back, relax, mentally create a movie of the story he’s hearing, and enjoy stories and information without the mental and emotional tax that too-difficult reading often produces.

Read Togethers – Read Togethers are books that Caden and I will read shoulder to shoulder.  I will read some and he will read some.  Caden is not quite ready to tackle a 300 page story without some support from a more proficient reader.  Cognitively, he’ll understand the majority of what he reads but he wrestles with attention span.  He’ll start a lengthy book and become “bored”.  He’ll assume the book isn’t a good match when what he really needs is a bit of encouragement.

Challenging my young reader requires wisdom on my part and scaffolding, offering strategies, problem solving suggestions, and encouragement.  Caden needs to be challenged as a young reader.  He needs to be pushed into that next level of text complexity.  He won’t continue to progress if he’s not encouraged to reach a little further.  But I also need to know when to take over and read for a bit.

Caden, my husband Franklin, and I read Roald Dahl’s The BFG this winter.  Caden read several pages then my husband or I finished the chapter.  We all enjoyed the book, Caden had to grapple with some difficult reading and comprehension ideas (making sense of words like whoppsy, scrumplet, jipping, skumping, strawbunkles, propsposterous, and snozzcumbers), and Caden gained confidence in completing a longer chapter book.

Read Alones  – Read Alones are books that a child reads without any support.  Caden (and children in general) needs to read books every day that are easy for him to read.  They are below his “instructional” level but he gains fluency and accuracy while reading these books.  He enjoys reading, because this reading is easy, he can quickly read through several stories, and he feels like an accomplished reader.

Caden’s my 3rd and final “young reader” and I’m certainly aware that these moments are precious and fleeting.  Before I know it, he will no longer be a “young reader”.  Neither will your children.  They will no longer want to sit as close as possible and read with us daily.  What an opportunity we have as parents to help our children understand the value and richness books will add to their lives.

Here’s to a lifetime love of literacy!  Cheers!

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For more from Marea, check out Me and Thee Studios’ faith based leveled readers for 1st-2nd graders at http://www.meandtheestudios.com/early-reader-collection.html

Garage Sale Gems

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My husband and I enjoy browsing local garage sales on Saturday mornings. We often do not purchase anything. Occasionally, we find an item or two that might, at some point in the foreseeable future, be useful and sometimes we hit upon a gold mine.

In particular, old books and vinyl records draw my attention. I enjoy many different literary genre and drop a quarter on lots of books that look interesting for one of any number of reasons. I might read 1 of every 5 garage sale finds as I am often already reading 3 or more books (although for years it’s taken me a month or longer to finish a book with our busyness) and have 5 or more on my “I want to read” waiting list. I store my garage sale books on a bookshelf in my office, browse the titles when I’m looking for a new read, and sell many unread at our own annual yard sale every summer.

As Franklin and I readied to leave home for a quick 2 day trip to Albuquerque I picked up one of my latest garage sale finds, I Didn’t Know That (Dear Word Press, I can’t find your underline tool anywhere…???) by Karlen Evins. A collection of 300 words, phrases, and expressions with unusual origins, I read this book aloud to Franklin as he drove and we enjoyed learning a little more about several words and phrases in our unique language. I thought I’d share some of the origins we found most interesting with you. You might enjoy them as well.

“Armed to the Teeth” – Today this phrase means, “Being on the attack, prepared for any confrontation.” Its roots can be found in an ancient Nordic tribe known as the Berserkers who were certainly “armed to the teeth”. They filed their teeth into sharp points and savagely attacked their enemies.

“Clean as a Whistle” – The original whistle was a hollowed out reed. For the reed to ring with a pure tone the hollowed out stalk had to be completely free of all debris, perfectly clean and dry.

“Mad as a Hatter” – Many hatters of bygone days developed mental and neurological troubles because of their work with mercury, used for many years as a processing agent in felt hats.

“Jeep” – Originally built as an all-terrain vehicle for the U.S. Army, the first were painted with the letters G.P. on their doors. Short for “general purpose,” the G.P. morphed into the word jeep as the abbreviation was read on the doors as these vehicles drove by.

“Hick” –Dating back to early American schoolrooms and the early public controversy over corporal punishment, “hick,” an abbreviation of “hickory,” was used to describe “country folk” who continued to practice corporal punishment with hickory sticks to discipline students.

“In the Groove” – A more recent expression, “In the Groove,” is a product of the Swing Era and the advent of the phonograph. Upon careful study of a vinyl record, one would notice that a record has just one continuous groove. As long as the needle stayed in the groove, the music would continue without interruption.

“Blackball” – The term was coined initially in the late 1700s in English social clubs, but the practice dates back to ancient Greek and Roman times when white balls were dropped into a “ballot box” for a “yea” vote and black balls were dropped as a “nay”. In fact the word we continue to use today, ballot, refers to voting by little balls.

“Getting One’s Goat” – In the early days of horse racing it was not unusual to place a goat in the stall of a high-strung race horse. The small roommate often helped to calm the horse before a race. On the flip side, it became common place to steal the small friend of an opponent to upset the horse just before the race began.

“Limelight” – Long before technological advances made bright electrical lighting readily available, chemists learned that a stream of oxygen crossed with hydrogen on a lime surface gave out a brilliant white light. Used initially in lighthouses and eventually in stage productions, “standing in the limelight” once had a very literal connotation.

I’ve saved the most base for last. I apologize in advance.

“In a Pickle” – As pickle barrels were transported to America in the cargo hulls of large ships, pickle juice was found to be useful in preserving both pickles and the occasional human who died at sea. To be “in a pickle” was certainly to be in an unfortunate situation.