Teachers, parents and eleven plus tutors are always banging on about reading.
“You need to read to try to help your comprehension and reading vocabulary.”
“I have bought you all those books and you won’t even read one. What is the matter with you?”
“I can’t keep up with all the books you read. You are ten years old and you should not be reading adult books.”
We need to look back to 1844 (Graham) to find a debating topic on reading.
Reading for Amusement
Some books are read merely with a view to pass the time – novels etc.
This kind of reading may be innocent but has bad effects. History and poetry are preferable.
Our information depends not on the quantity but the quality of the books we read.
Light reading is more allowable to those who are advanced in age.
The young should never indulge in this sort of reading.
What would Mr. Graham have thought of Harry Potter? The Potter books are long and involved! Lots of light reading there!
Reading to pass the eleven plus must be, at times, rather soul destroying. Some children could rightfully complain that reading for enlightenment – and merely to pass an examination paper – must be pointless and a consummate waste of time.
Dear Librarian
Please help me. I have twins who are about to sit the eleven plus. They have different interests, my daughter loves horses and dancing, in that order, while my son likes action adventures.
My children have just turned ten. They are both Level 5 at school in English but the teacher said they needed to read more. They don’t seem to like the book that their father and I buy for them.
Please help. I don’t want to put them off reading for ever but I do want them to read a bit more.
Thank you.
Worried Mum
Some questions that the librarian may try to answer:
Is any reading better than none?
Should we encourage our children to read uplifting and seminal books?
Is quality more important than quantity?
Showing posts with label Reading. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reading. Show all posts
Monday, April 19, 2010
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Eleven Plus Reading
“What can I do? I’m bored of the books I have. I want something to read.” Familiar words? I hope so.
You will probably have read aloud all the well known books like “Wind in the Willows” by Kenneth Grahame when your `Eleven Plus Candidate’ was little. Even though this book was written in 1908 it could still be enchanting to a ten year old – because it has fantasy characters and the story is about an illusion. Your child may want to re-read a timeless classic.
No doubt the Dr Dolittle stories (Hugh Lofting), which date back to the 1920s could also give still a good re-read to a ten year old. Other authors from the twenties like A.A, Milne with `Winnie the Poo’ and J.R.R. Tolkien with `The Hobbit’ could also stand the test of being read aloud. All you have to do is find an audience for your child to read to.
In the 1930s authors like Arthur Ransom’s Swallows and Amazons and Emil Kastner’s Emil and the Detective enthralled many children – and the appeal persists today.
Recently members of our family have been listening to the Enid Blyton’s Famous Five stories on audio and the romance of the stories persist. Perhaps you could encourage the writing of a short and simple book – and then recording the book to read to others.
In today’s world there is such a proliferation of books – that there must be something out there that will catch your child’s interest. T.V. brings stories to life in a different way to words on a page. Reading books based on television series can bring great pleasure. The Hannah Montana books, for example, are deeply satisfying to some ten to eleven year olds.
Even though paper back books are relatively cheap – buying ten to twelve of them quickly adds up.
You will probably have read aloud all the well known books like “Wind in the Willows” by Kenneth Grahame when your `Eleven Plus Candidate’ was little. Even though this book was written in 1908 it could still be enchanting to a ten year old – because it has fantasy characters and the story is about an illusion. Your child may want to re-read a timeless classic.
No doubt the Dr Dolittle stories (Hugh Lofting), which date back to the 1920s could also give still a good re-read to a ten year old. Other authors from the twenties like A.A, Milne with `Winnie the Poo’ and J.R.R. Tolkien with `The Hobbit’ could also stand the test of being read aloud. All you have to do is find an audience for your child to read to.
In the 1930s authors like Arthur Ransom’s Swallows and Amazons and Emil Kastner’s Emil and the Detective enthralled many children – and the appeal persists today.
Recently members of our family have been listening to the Enid Blyton’s Famous Five stories on audio and the romance of the stories persist. Perhaps you could encourage the writing of a short and simple book – and then recording the book to read to others.
In today’s world there is such a proliferation of books – that there must be something out there that will catch your child’s interest. T.V. brings stories to life in a different way to words on a page. Reading books based on television series can bring great pleasure. The Hannah Montana books, for example, are deeply satisfying to some ten to eleven year olds.
Even though paper back books are relatively cheap – buying ten to twelve of them quickly adds up.
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